Rookie
Angie Hill: Finding The Place Where She Belongs

By
Lisa D. Mickey

For
the first seven and a half years of her life, Angie Hill was a
beautiful little child looking for a place to belong. From foster
home to foster home, she would pack her little bundle of belongings
and move to the next house – just hoping that the doors she
walked through would become her one true home and the arms that
greeted her would offer the love and support she wanted so badly.

It
was a bumpy start and one that rendered more lessons than Hill, now a
rookie on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, can even begin to describe. But
no doubt, the constant yearning in those early days stirred the soul
of a child who would emerge as a determined young woman – a
woman who turned pro one day before last year’s LPGA Sectional
Qualifying Tournament in Venice, Fla., and who fired a career-low
round of 66 on the final day to finish as co-medalist of the event.

This
is the same young woman who began playing golf seven continued on
page 4 years ago, becoming proficient and hopeful enough to travel to
the College of Charleston (S.C.) to ask for a tryout. The coach there
told her she needed to be able to break 85. Hill played the first
nine holes of her tryout at two-under par, beating every player on
the team. That was all coach Jamie Futrell needed to see. He pulled
her off the course, gave her a scholarship and she went on to break
14 school records in women’s golf. Hill played three years for
the Cougars, won three college tournaments, won the 2006 Southern
Conference Championship, earned an NCAA Division I collegiate ranking
of 20th and was the 2006 Southern Conference Player of the Year.

So
it was odd, but perhaps more oddly understandable, when Hill spoke
quietly to the media a few weeks ago in McAllen, Texas and admitted
that she was “starting to get more confidence playing with all
of these big names.” She had just finished second in McAllen.
She had just beaten most of those “big names,” and had
rocketed from No. 119th to No. 10 on the Tour’s money list.
What could Angie Hill possibly think she lacked?

“I
guess I just wanted to feel like I really belong out here,”
said Hill, 23, of Canton, Ohio, who is now ranked 14th on the Tour’s
money list after six events. “After I finished second and had a
chance to win, it was kind of scary in a way. I didn’t know
that I’d feel like I belong to something as much as I do, but I
feel like I belong to a tour and I finally feel a lot better about
things.”

On
the surface, those words are surprising from a professional who must
regularly propel herself on confidence to perform. But coming from
Hill, such heart-felt honesty is the fuel that has pushed her to
reach for the things she has wanted throughout her life. Even her
adoptive mother can hear a new confidence in Hill’s voice
whenever they talk on the telephone.

“When
this child gets something in her mind, she won’t stop until she
gets there,” said Jan Hill of Canton, Ohio. “I don’t
know where she gets her drive. And the more I think about her
journey, it appears that maybe it has to do with her struggle as a
child – just wanting and waiting to belong somewhere.”

“I
think she’s scared that she’s not going to become
anything,” said her boyfriend Gary Farrar of Charleston, S.C.,
a touring pro who plays on the Tar Heel Tour. “She’s the
only person I know who’s been through what she’s been
through who hasn’t turned to drugs or alcohol. She just wants a
chance. She wants to be somebody. It drives her.”

Additional
Editorial Note:

After
listening to what Angie has had to overcome in life is a true
testimony and inspiration to anyone. Angie has displayed the true
character of what heroes are made of. She has show the heart,
courage, desire, determination and
the will to not let anything stand in her way of acheiving her goal
in life, wanting and waiting to belong somewhere. Well done, Angie.

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