08/19/2026
My Papaw played a huge role in my life, especially when it came to golf. ⛳️ I’ve told some people the story of wearing his shoes after he passed away but wanted to share the article published in the newspaper.
Here’s the transcript as it is hard to read:
“Golfer keeps grandpa nearby”
Tewell wears golf shoes of her late ‘Papaw’ to honor his memory, and her play is benefiting.
Katie Tewell watched with a smile on Monday afternoon as her birdie putt on No. 18 at The Legends of Indiana Golf Course missed the cup by an inch.
When she tapped in, the other No. 1 golfers in the group gave her a hand and a cheer.
She walked toward the scoreboard, where players were coming in from the third annual Trojan Classic. She slipped off her golf shoes and socks and danced barefooted. She handed in her card, which read 68, a Center Grove school record. A birdie on 18 would’ve tied The Legends course record for girls.
Gotta be the shoes, right? You bet.
While players from the 17-team event refueled on beverages and food, Tewell kept her shoes off.
Physically, the shoes have helped take one of the state’s best players to a higher level.
They belonged to her grandfather, Dallas Miller, who died in June from a stroke. He was 76. Tewell and her “Papaw” were extremely close. So she decided to honor his memory by wearing his shoes, which are an inch and half longer than her foot.
“I’m walking in his shoes when I play,” Tewell said.
On Monday, on No. 11, Tewell had a flashback to last year’s IHSAA state finals, where she finished in second place. Miller was standing under a tree by the green when she chipped in for a birdie. She said she saw him there under the tree again Monday.
“And I got another birdie,” Tewell said, one of five on the day. “Whenever I made a good shot, either hit it far or stuck it close, he would have the same look on his face. Like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe she just did that. That’s awesome.’ I’ll never forget his look.”
Miller came from a large family in Louisville, Ky., area. He grew up during the Depression. He fought in the Philippines during World War II.
At 20, he backed a friend’s car into a shed and decided he’d never drive again.
“So he walked everywhere he went,” Barbara Tewell, Katie’s mother, said of her father. “He was just a common laborer. But he always took pride in everything he did. He was known for his sense of humor and his ability to tell a story.”
Miller walked 54 holes a day after he retired and was an avid golfer. When he was 72 he called Katie to tell her he had made his first hole-in-one.
“So I told him, ‘Jeez, Papaw, I hope I don’t have to wait that long for my first one,’” Tewell said. “I didn’t mean it the way it came out, but he laughed about it.”
In 2000, they walked the grounds of Valhalla in Louisville and watched Tiger Woods win the PGA Championship.
“We had so many great memories,” Tewell said. “Grandpa and I were really close.”
The Tewells received another phone call in June. Miller was taken to the hospital with a possible stroke. By the time the family arrived, he was in a coma. His body temperature was 108 when he passed away a few hours later.
“My heart was broken big time,” Tewell said. “What made it so tough was he died on Tuesday, June 25th. We were supposed to have played golf on Wednesday, the first time in a couple of years. I was so looking forward to it.”
At the funeral, many of Miller’s friends came up to Tewell and told her stories about him. All of her newspaper articles were taped to Papaw’s refrigerator. People she’d never met came up to her and said, “I’ve never met you, but I know you. He was so proud of you. You were all he ever talked about.”
Tewell’s great-uncle gave her Miller’s golf equipment. She’d been struggling over the summer. She looked at the FootJoy shoes and Papaw’s hat, which says, “Golf is life.”
The next Monday she wore the shoes in the USGA junior amateur championship qualifier and tied for the last qualifying spot. She won a three-hole playoff to advance to the national championship in New Jersey.
“I thought they might bring me some luck,” Tewell said.
She broke 70 last week for the first time at the McCutcheon Invitational, winning medalist honors with a 69. And Monday’s 68 keeps the mojo working.
With shoes being a big part of a golfer’s game, basically forming the swing’s foundation, it would seem wearing shoes that are too big might make a player’s score suffer. But Center Grove coach Doug Keller disagrees.
“Golf is all in your head and heart, and whatever it takes to make you play better is what you need to do,” Keller said. “She has a certain comfort zone she likes to be in. It’s pretty obvious she’s comfortable when she’s wearing those shoes.”
Tewell plans to attach the hat to her bag and keep Papaw close to her. She hopes to earn a golf scholarship at a Division I school. But she also wants to see her grandfather under the tree at this year’s state finals.
“People might think I’m crazy, but the shoes have helped me,” Tewell said. “In those shoes I feel like I can do anything. Because he’s there with me helping me. I miss him a lot. I really do. But he’s with me on the golf course and I know he’s there.”
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