Reed on the Greens October 12, 2020
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com

The village of Kabanjahe in North Sumatra, Indonesia is almost 15,000 kilometres from London, Ontario. Yet when Mery Tarigan returns to her homeland from her adopted home later this month, she’ll continue to hold the Forest City close to her heart.

In fact, during Tarigan’s entire stay of three years in London, she has never forgotten the people of Kabanjahe which was devastated by a deadly volcano eruption in 2010. And now, she returns to Indonesia a humble hero after fundraising enough money to build the new Sukacita school where 10 students now enjoy learning within a safe and welcoming environment.

The game of golf is often used as a metaphor for life. The sport, as in the real world, is laden with obstacles and challenges – both mental and physical – but offers rewards to those who persevere.

It’s true, one can build character through golf. But when Tarigan, now an alumnus of the Fanshawe Falcons varsity golf squad, first took up the game at age 19 at home in Indonesia, she had already brought a wealth of character with her. And now, Tarigan, 27, has used golf to help rebuild the community in her home village.

Through almost three years of fundraising, including her fundraising page, GoFundMe.com/merycristyna, and her golf tournament at Echo Valley Golf Club in Lambeth, the tiny but mighty Tarigan surpassed her goal of raising $35,000 to help build the school in Kabanjahe.

“Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this incredible accomplishment for the people of Indonesia who were displaced by the volcano,” said Tarigan, who flies home on October 28.

“Thank you for making my dream come true. I am so grateful to have met all of you. It will be hard to leave Canada, but I need to see my family in Indonesia. Hopefully we will all meet again soon,” said Tarigan.

“Life is getting back to normal (at home), but still some people who work as labourers on farms don’t have farms to go to. My dream was to build a school. All I want is to make a child’s life better than mine. I believe a school will do that – a safe and happy school,” Tarigan added.

The new school, where Mery’s sister and cousin are teachers, now provides classes which are staggered every other day during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If ever there were an inspirational story attached to golf, then Tarigan’s tale hits the mark like few others. The four-foot-five golfer from Indonesia turned down an academic scholarship in order to work after school every day with three siblings on a vegetable farm, in order to help pay for her brother to attend school.

Tarigan later caddied in Malaysia, sent her $6 daily pay back home to her family and fell in love with golf.

“I was 19 when I first picked up a golf club,” Tarigan explained. “Golf was an expensive sport. But the caddy company I was working for let the caddies play for free. I love sports, and I fell in love with golf, teaching myself while watching others. I just fell in love with the game.”

Tarigan lived in a small house with four other caddies while working in Malaysia. The five loopers had no furniture except for bunkbeds. Tarigan said when she lived at home in Indonesia, “We slept on the floor, all together in one room.”

While caddying in Malaysia, Tarigan met Londoners Paul and Janet Tufts who spent two years as members of an advisory team leading the implementation of the Malaysian government’s blueprint for school transformation.

Paul Tufts and Mery Tarigan. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.

The Tufts worried about Tarigan’s future, so with their help she moved to London during the summer of 2017 to live with them, studied in Fanshawe College’s English Language Studies program and this year graduated from both the Falcons golf program and its Golf and Club Management Program.

Tarigan spoke and wrote very little English when she arrived in Canada. Yet this fall, the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association named her the recipient of a CCAA National Scholar award. She was also MVP of the Falcons women’s golf squad for 2019-2020.

If ever there were a Hollywood ending to a story, this is it.

“When Mery caddied for me, I saw how bright she was and also how good of a golfer she was. She was a smart young woman, and a nice young woman who could do a lot if she was given the opportunity,” Paul Tufts said.

Falcons’ golf coach Colin Robertson said the squad was “very fortunate to have Mery as part of our team. She is a very smart athlete and an even better person, whose story reminds us to appreciate what we have.”

Golf is not the most important thing in Tarigan’s life, but it’s a vehicle for helping others.

Golf gives back more than any other sport, and the game is lucky to have Tarigan as a goodwill ambassador.

Londoners will miss her, but they’ll always hold her near to their hearts.

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Jeffrey Reed has covered sports in Southwestern Ontario since 1980. Reed on the Greens is a multiple award winner from the Golf Journalists Association of Canada, including the only back-to-back winner of Best Website Feature Column. Reed is also publisher and editor of LondonOntarioSports.com. Reach him at jeff@londonontariosports.com.