New Jersey is rarely at the top of the list when it comes to summer vacation destinations.
Former Woodrow Wilson standout golfer Jackson Hill is thinking the Garden State will be a great place to spend a week in August.
Although New York City is close by, sightseeing will not the first order of business for the rising senior at Wofford College.
Hill will in Paramus, NJ, Aug. 15-21 to play in the 122nd U.S. Amateur at Ridgeway Country Club.
“I wasn’t sure how real something like this could be, but I had been playing some good golf since this past spring. I was close to being really good outside of a couple of dumb mistakes and bad putting performances,” Hill said. “The few events I have played, I have played well. I told myself to keep trying and something would break through.”
Reaching the pinnacle event of amateur golf involved qualifying at one of the numerous sites around the United States.
The qualifying site for Hill was Edgewood Country Club last Thursday in Sissonville, W.Va where the top two players would head to New Jersey.
“I love Edgewood. I feel like if you told me I had to pick a course to shoot three or four-under par at, I would probably choose Edgewood,” Hill said.
Although he was comfortable with the course, Hill knew he would have to be at the top of his game to punch a ticket to Ridgeway Country Club.
“I knew historically that the scores at Edgewood have been really low,” Hill explained. “Last year in qualifying, the guy that finished runner-up in the U.S. Am qualified there and shot 15-under for two rounds. The second spot was 9-under. There was no tournament in 2020 due to Covid, but in 2019, one spot was available and the winner shot 14-under for 36 holes.”
“This year, there was really no other sites that fit my schedule very well. Edgewood gave me an opportunity to come back home and visit with my family, plus, last year I qualified for the Southern Amateur there. I have good vibes at Edgewood for sure, but I knew I would have to make birdies on all of the holes I should birdie and make a handful more.”
After a solid high school career at Woodrow Wilson that included a top-5 and top-10 individual finish at the state golf tournament, Hill headed for Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC with no guarantee of playing golf for the Terriers.
“I had a couple of offers locally, but I wanted to get away and go play at a bigger school or a place that would give me a better option to advance. I had never heard of Wofford until Thanksgiving of my senior year,” Hill said. “I ended up touring Wofford and I loved it. The atmosphere there was great and they gave me just enough academic money to make it affordable. My goal was to try and find a way on the golf team any way that I could.”
Typically, Wofford did not have system in place for walk-ons to qualify. However, the success of a pair of walk-ons at Southern Conference rival Furman, changed the coach’s thinking.
“Furman’s No. 1 player at that time, a two-time SoCon Player of the Year, was a walk-on and their No. 2 player was a walk-on,” Hill said. “It was the first year that the coach decided to do it thinking they might have a guy like that on our campus.”
The opportunity to qualify for a spot on the team never materialized, but Hill remained persistent staying in the coaches ear and practicing.
Just before Thanksgiving of his freshman year, Hill’s persistence paid dividends.
“The coach gave me playing and practicing privileges at our home course, Country Club of Spartanburg. I could practice and play with the team for a couple of weeks before heading home for Christmas break,” Hill said.
Over the holiday break, Hill continued to work on his game in hopes of furthering his chances of grabbing a spot on the Terriers’ roster.
“I played the Country Club of North Carolina Amateur that a lot of college guys play,” Hill said. “It was a good event on a good course for guys that don’t have a high ranking. They use it to get in some of the bigger events later in Florida.”
“I played in it and didn’t play well at all, but I was one of four guys that were on the team that played in an event over the winter,” Hill went on to say. “I think it showed the coach that I wanted to play and compete. It showed I was diligent about seeking out competition. When I got back to school in the coach gave me a spot on the team.”
Covid restrictions brought a quick halt to his freshman season, but ironically, it was Covid that gave Hill a big break a year later.
“Spring of my sophomore year, it was Covid that gave me the break to get in the lineup. I think I was seventh in qualifying, but our No. 1 player got Covid. His roommate was the player in fifth or sixth, so it took out two spots. That moved me up to the fifth spot,” Hill explained. “Things just fell into place where I got to play several events. I was also picked to play in the conference tournament which gave me some much needed experience at the college level.”
The experience gained the last two years was a crucial element for Hill in his quest for a spot in the U.S. Amateur.
After 36 holes of play at Edgewood, three players were tied at 6-under par for the final qualifying spot forcing a sudden death playoff.
Hill, Davey Jude and Tanner Johnson all returned to the first tee to begin the playoff.
As much as Hill loves the Edgewood layout, he admitted he could do without hole No. 1.
With Jude already safely in the middle of the fairway, Hill hit next and his result was not so favorable.
“I don’t like the tee shot on the first hole. I never have. I have come to the realization that I should hit an iron off the first tee and take as much risk as possible out of play,” Hill said. “Even hitting an iron, I hit a bad shot with (out of bounds) looming right. I pulled it left into the fairway bunker and it rolled up close to the left edge of the bunker.”
Hill’s troubles were compounded when Johnson also striped his ball down the middle of the first fairway.
As if being in the bunker wasn’t even bad news, when Hill reached his ball, the chances of making birdie, or par for that matter, looked razor thin.
“Not only am I in the fairway bunker, they’re both in the fairway and closer to the green,” Hill said. “I had about 145 yards to the hole and my stance was hindered. My back right foot was out of the bunker. I had one foot in and one foot out, but the lie was pretty good and the line was good.”
“There was a tree on the left, but it wasn’t really in play with the way the green sloped” Hill went on to say. I play a draw, so I was hoping to get myself on the green and have a look at the hole. I was also hoping the other two didn’t make birdie.”
Needing a solid shot just to stay in the match, Hill hit what he called the shot of his career and the ball settled just five feet away from the hole for birdie.
His ticket to the U.S. Amateur was still by no means a guarantee.
“Tanner hit his ball to about 15 feet and Davey hit his shot to 10 feet from the hole. Either of them could have made their putt and won the spot,” Hill said. “Tanner (putts) it just short of the hole in what looked like the center from my angle. Davey’s putt grazes the edge.”
Hill now stood five feet away from his dream.
“I have definitely been plagued in the past by getting ahead of myself. I still had thoughts of that playing in the first two rounds since I was playing well,” Hill admitted. “Lately I have learned how important slowing down is and getting your mind off things.”
Some may call it destiny, but for Hill, he feels his strength comes from God. Either way, everything lined up perfectly as prepared for his career changing putt.
“I like to pick out a defining feature on the green that I like to roll my putts over and there was something that stuck out on my line that I could see pretty good,” Hill said. “It felt good when I hit it and I thought it had a good chance of going in.”
Before Hill makes his way north in mid-August, he will play this weekend in the Eastern Amateur at Elizabeth Manor Golf & Country Club in Portsmouth, Va.
He will follow that up with a trip to the Greenbrier for the 103rd edition of the W.Va. Amateur, July 31- Aug. 3.
