Cecile Brown, 16, warms up on the putting green at Fox Ridge Golf Club in Auburn earlier this month. Brown, a junior at St. Dominic Academy, was born without most of her right leg and wears a prosthetic leg. She finds golf to be fairly easy because she is able to put most of her weight on her left leg when she is swinging. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

AUBURN — Coach Chris Whitney knows Cecile Brown will always be up for anything he asks of the St. Dom’s golf team.

“It’s one of these things where we could come out here, and there’s one person I know on this golf team that’s never complained about being asked to do something,” Whitney said. “I could say, ‘Hey, guys, we’re going to play 100 holes of golf today and you’re walking the whole time.’ And she’s going to be the first one that wants to be up on the tee. She’s going to take care of business that way.

“But she’s a good kid like that. She’s here for the right reasons. And then, she doesn’t let anything stand in her way. Whether it’s personally, physically, or anything like that.”

Brown, a junior, was born without most of her right leg and wears a prosthetic leg.

Like most golfers, her love of the sport ebbs and flows. But, she said, the days when she does have it, the sport is “magical” to her.

“I feel like the motivation comes and goes for this sport,” Brown said. “Sometimes, I wish I had (motivation) in days I don’t, but then I guess when I feel it in the days I do, it’s really magical, and it’s super amazing to feel like you can do whatever you want in a location where you’re free to do that.”

Brown took up golf four years ago. She started by going to a driving range and quickly found it to be a great fit for her.

“Golf was and basically is the one sport where your right leg doesn’t matter, you know?” Brown said. “It’s, you swing and you hit, almost all your weight is on your left leg. And it’s great, like it’s for once in my life I didn’t feel like I was being held back. In this sport, I feel like I can really test my upper-body strength. It doesn’t rely on my ability to run or my ability to keep my breath up, keep my stamina — it’s really great.”

Cecile Brown, 16, walks on the putting green at Fox Ridge Golf Club in Auburn earlier this month. Brown, a junior at St. Dominic Academy, was born without most of her right leg and wears a prosthetic leg. She finds golf to be fairly easy because she is able to put most of her weight on her left leg when she is swinging. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Whitney explains the weight shift during the swing helps Brown because she’s a right-hander.

“A lot of your golf swing, right-handed golfers know that it’s on your hips turning back, and that weight shift does go back a little bit,” Whitney said. “But when you’re finishing, it’s all on that left leg, and she does great popping out through that and taking care of it, but she literally doesn’t let anything stop her from getting in the way of her swing.”

Teammate Aubrey Fortin said she admires Brown’s swing and her ability to help others with their swings.

“She’s a really good golfer,” Fortin said. “I was really nervous to play with her because I was not very good. But she helped me out. She knew a bunch of tips to help me out, and her swing is just like, amazing.”

When she started high school, Brown was happy to learn that St. Dominic Academy had a golf team. She said she enjoys playing at Fox Ridge, the Saints’ home course.

The sport has connected Brown with family memories, in part because her great-grandparents built Sunset Ridge in Westbrook.

“I remember playing there once with my uncle — well my great-uncle, my mom’s uncle — and he would always tell me these stories of when he was a kid,” Brown said. “My mom was also telling me stories of when she was a kid, of all of them being able to hang out at their grandparents’ golf course.

“The family memories and the family ties are really magical. I feel like it’s really cool when you can link a part of yourself to your family in a location that’s so special to so many people.”

BIG-TIME GOALS

Whitney and Brown have been taking her development as a golfer one year at a time.

Brown has been on the junior varsity team so far in her career, but the goal for this year is to qualify for the Class C individual girls tournament.

“The first year, it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s work on a swing,'” Whitney said. “Last year, it was like, ‘It’s up to you,’ and she’s just like, ‘I think I want one more year.’ I think this is the year where Cecile is going to go to that state qualifier. That’s where her game’s come now, to where both our coaches think that this is not only, she’s going to go there but she’s going to succeed in that and represent St. Dom’s at the girls golf state championship.”

Whitney said Brown is also on the cusp of playing in some varsity matches this season, with a 49.6 scoring average.

Playing on the varsity team is only one of the goals Brown is pursuing.

She said she’s also focused on preparing for the upcoming Alpine ski season, in which she represents St. Dom’s. Brown also competes in field events for the Saints’ track and field team.

“I was planning to really focus on golf, and now it’s, golf is still a focus with other focuses in mind,” Brown said.

“Yeah, I’ll say skiing is definitely the big shot. There’s a hope to make the 2030 Winter Paralympics. That’s the long-term goal. I plan to go out and race in Colorado Winter Park and Park City, Utah, a couple of times this season, this coming winter season, and I think that’s going to be hopefully really exciting. I’ve got a bunch of amazing coaches for skiing in my corner, and I don’t want to let them down.”

Cecile Brown of St. Dominic Academy in Auburn competes Feb. 14 in the giant slalom during the Class B Alpine state championships at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

The 2030 Winter Paralympics will be in the French Alps.

Fortin is also impressed with Brown’s Alpine skiing abilities.

“She’s just an overall, amazing person to be around, and it is really inspiring,” Fortin said. “I don’t ski for St. Dom’s, but I do ski, as well, and I don’t know how she does it. I’m falling all the time.”