Angie's Story: An enigma of natural talent
3/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Angie Hill feels like she's out to prove something to somebody, she just doesn't know who or where that somebody is.
Although she plays No. 1 on the College of Charleston women's golf team, Hill is not your typical college golfer. She didn't grow up in a country-club setting and she wasn't even recruited.
But that's just part of what makes her different from all the other ponytails walking down the collegiate golf fairways.
What drives this 22-year-old from Ohio is wanting to show people that she really is special. And when you know the rest of her story, you'll understand why.
"I was given up at birth and I don't know my parents," said Hill, a senior business major. "I lived in foster homes until I was 7 years old. A wonderful family adopted me and I couldn't be happier."
But that's the abbreviated version of her story. The full telling reveals much more about this pretty young lady with a gorgeous golf swing.
Kids adopted as infants don't remember their previous life. Older kids do.
Hill, in fact, was shuffled around to numerous foster homes along the Eastern Seaboard before a family from Ohio gave her a loving home.
But abandonment has a half-life. It never dies.
She doesn't talk much about her past, preferring to look ahead. But while she tries to hide it, the secret to her success could be that tiny little hole in her heart.
No experience
As a teenager growing up in Canton, Angie Hill was a good basketball player whose coach wanted to start a golf team.
Because she was a star athlete, Hill was encouraged to take up the game she knew nothing about. Turned out, she was a natural.
"I was a junior and had never thought about the game before that," she said. "But I picked it up and couldn't get rid of it."
After high school, she went to tiny Tiffin University, a Division II school in Ohio, to get experience. She won several tournaments and quickly figured out she needed to move on.
"I wanted to move south and find a better program," she said.
Having lived in a foster home in Myrtle Beach, she thought South Carolina was a good place to start. So she started contacting colleges about playing golf as a walk-on. Most schools wouldn't even talk to her because of her inexperience.
Then she called Jamie Futrell, coach of the College of Charleston women's team, and asked for a tryout.
"He told me that if I could play three rounds under 85 he would talk to me," she said. "I went out to Patriots Point with the team, shot 71, and he told me I was on the team.
"I was so fortunate that Coach gave me a chance. I got turned down at a few other schools because I had no experience. I had only been playing golf three years. I was lucky to get the chance."
Tunnel vision
Futrell, of course, is still counting his blessings.
"She was a cocky kid," the Cougars coach recalled. "When I told her she had to break 85 for three rounds she didn't blink.
"We don't get many walk-ons. She is the first one that has really panned out."
To say the least.
Hill not only plays the top spot on the Cougars team, she is ranked 40th nationally among women's college golfers with a scoring average of 74.
This weekend the Cougars are playing a tournament in Tucson, Ariz., and should qualify for the NCAA Regionals next month. Mainly because of this kid from Ohio who came out of nowhere.
"She is driven," Futrell said. "She's a golfaholic. She wants to be on the LPGA Tour. She has tunnel vision. That's all
she wants to do. She is consistently number one on our team.
"She's been a blessing for us. Thank God I gave her the opportunity."
Too many to count
But the beauty of Hill's golf game belies the mystery that accompanies it.
She knows she's talented, she just doesn't know where it comes from.
It's easier for kids with parents. They can look into the family mirror and see themselves. Angie's mirror is murky.
"There are a lot of things I don't know," she said. "I don't remember anything before I was 4 years old. And I was in a bunch of foster homes. Too many to count.
"Being adopted at 7 years old was so overwhelming. I suddenly had aunts and uncles. It was interesting. It was fun."
But it also left her with unanswered questions about her life.
"Once in a while people ask and they want to know about me, but there is only so much I can tell," she said. "I'm not going to say it's depressing, because if it was depressing, I wouldn't be this happy.
"It's made me a better person and I wouldn't do it any other way. I think it has a lot to do with me being so determined. I'm out to do this for myself because of where I've come from. I've just got a goal in mind and I'll do anything to reach it."
Perhaps proving something, to somebody, somewhere.
Although she plays No. 1 on the College of Charleston women's golf team, Hill is not your typical college golfer. She didn't grow up in a country-club setting and she wasn't even recruited.
But that's just part of what makes her different from all the other ponytails walking down the collegiate golf fairways.
What drives this 22-year-old from Ohio is wanting to show people that she really is special. And when you know the rest of her story, you'll understand why.
"I was given up at birth and I don't know my parents," said Hill, a senior business major. "I lived in foster homes until I was 7 years old. A wonderful family adopted me and I couldn't be happier."
But that's the abbreviated version of her story. The full telling reveals much more about this pretty young lady with a gorgeous golf swing.
Kids adopted as infants don't remember their previous life. Older kids do.
Hill, in fact, was shuffled around to numerous foster homes along the Eastern Seaboard before a family from Ohio gave her a loving home.
But abandonment has a half-life. It never dies.
She doesn't talk much about her past, preferring to look ahead. But while she tries to hide it, the secret to her success could be that tiny little hole in her heart.
No experience
As a teenager growing up in Canton, Angie Hill was a good basketball player whose coach wanted to start a golf team.
Because she was a star athlete, Hill was encouraged to take up the game she knew nothing about. Turned out, she was a natural.
"I was a junior and had never thought about the game before that," she said. "But I picked it up and couldn't get rid of it."
After high school, she went to tiny Tiffin University, a Division II school in Ohio, to get experience. She won several tournaments and quickly figured out she needed to move on.
"I wanted to move south and find a better program," she said.
Having lived in a foster home in Myrtle Beach, she thought South Carolina was a good place to start. So she started contacting colleges about playing golf as a walk-on. Most schools wouldn't even talk to her because of her inexperience.
Then she called Jamie Futrell, coach of the College of Charleston women's team, and asked for a tryout.
"He told me that if I could play three rounds under 85 he would talk to me," she said. "I went out to Patriots Point with the team, shot 71, and he told me I was on the team.
"I was so fortunate that Coach gave me a chance. I got turned down at a few other schools because I had no experience. I had only been playing golf three years. I was lucky to get the chance."
Tunnel vision
Futrell, of course, is still counting his blessings.
"She was a cocky kid," the Cougars coach recalled. "When I told her she had to break 85 for three rounds she didn't blink.
"We don't get many walk-ons. She is the first one that has really panned out."
To say the least.
Hill not only plays the top spot on the Cougars team, she is ranked 40th nationally among women's college golfers with a scoring average of 74.
This weekend the Cougars are playing a tournament in Tucson, Ariz., and should qualify for the NCAA Regionals next month. Mainly because of this kid from Ohio who came out of nowhere.
"She is driven," Futrell said. "She's a golfaholic. She wants to be on the LPGA Tour. She has tunnel vision. That's all
she wants to do. She is consistently number one on our team.
"She's been a blessing for us. Thank God I gave her the opportunity."
Too many to count
But the beauty of Hill's golf game belies the mystery that accompanies it.
She knows she's talented, she just doesn't know where it comes from.
It's easier for kids with parents. They can look into the family mirror and see themselves. Angie's mirror is murky.
"There are a lot of things I don't know," she said. "I don't remember anything before I was 4 years old. And I was in a bunch of foster homes. Too many to count.
"Being adopted at 7 years old was so overwhelming. I suddenly had aunts and uncles. It was interesting. It was fun."
But it also left her with unanswered questions about her life.
"Once in a while people ask and they want to know about me, but there is only so much I can tell," she said. "I'm not going to say it's depressing, because if it was depressing, I wouldn't be this happy.
"It's made me a better person and I wouldn't do it any other way. I think it has a lot to do with me being so determined. I'm out to do this for myself because of where I've come from. I've just got a goal in mind and I'll do anything to reach it."
Perhaps proving something, to somebody, somewhere.
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