Australian Hillier Enjoying American Odyssey

By David Shefter, USGA

West Hartford, Conn. – By the time Whitney Hillier signed her scorecard Monday at Hartford Golf Club for a 4-over-par 75, it was already Tuesday morning back home in Western Australia.

Some family members, including her mom, might have consumed some extra coffee to stay up to follow her progress in the first round of stroke-play qualifying at the 2008 U.S. Girls’ Junior via the Internet as her hometown of Connolly, Australia is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.

Only Hillier’s father, a bricklayer by trade, accompanied her on the long journey to the U.S., an excursion she estimated cost between $10,000 and $15,000.

On June 26, the 17-year-old Hillier, competing in her first and only Girls’ Junior, arrived in the U.S. She and her father won’t return until next month. Since her arrival, Hillier competed in the Junior World Golf Championship in San Diego for a third consecutive year (T28) and won the San Diego Junior Masters by four strokes at Carlton Oaks, the same site where the Junior Worlds were  held this year since Torrey Pines was unavailable after just hosting the U.S. Open.

“It’s been a good trip,” said Hillier, who learned about the Girls’ Junior by doing a search of USGA competitions. “I’ve been told in Australia that this is a very prestigious tournament. I just wanted to try and qualify for it.”

Back home, Hillier is one of Australia’s best juniors. She won the 2008 Australia Junior Championship and is the youngest member of the six-person Australian National Team. Her tournament performances caught the eye of the prestigious Australian Institute of Sport located a four-hour plane ride away in Melbourne, which has helped spawn the careers of 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott. Duke University’s Alison Whitaker, a semifinalist at the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur, is also a member of the Australian Institute for Sport.

In the coming months, Hillier might be selected to represent Australia at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship, which will be held in Adelaide Oct. 8-11.

“Maybe,” she said. “The team has not been picked yet.”

For the last few years, Hillier has been quite the traveler, going to San Diego for the Junior Worlds and to Scotland to play in the St. Andrews Ladies Open, where she won the title in 2006 and finished second last year. But her highlight came at the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews, where she served as a volunteer standard bearer and walked with eventual champion Lorena Ochoa on the Old Course in the final round when she won her first major title.

“It was very exciting,” said Hillier, who didn’t ask for any signed memorabilia. “I got to talk with her. That was all I needed. She’s a really nice person. She didn’t make any mistakes. She just played awesome.”

Being such a long way from home over the past month hasn’t bothered Hillier. Modern conveniences such as e-mail and text-messaging allow her to keep in touch with family and friends. And if Hillier decides to attend college in the U.S., it’s a good chance to get accustomed to the long-distance factor.

“I love it over here,” said Hillier, who has been looking at a few schools in California, mainly Southern California and Pepperdine.

Hillier graduated from high school last December, but since the Australian college system doesn’t offer athletics, she would need to come to the U.S. in order to play and get an education at the same time.

 “I am pretty interested, but it’s also a long way from home,” she said. “I’m still not sure yet.”

Even if she doesn’t play college golf, there is one thing Hillier wants to see before returning to Australia.

“A baseball game,” she said. “We have a little bit in Australia, but it’s not very good.”

David Shefter is a USGA New Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.