Golfweek Article – USC:
Golfweek featured an article on USC as an “Unusually Strong Class,” centered on the top-ranked golfers such as Rory and Jamie Lovemark who decided to join the team as 2006 signees. View the article here.
When Jamie Lovemark decided to sign a letter of intent to attend the University of Southern California, Rory Hie, another standout, elected to become a Trojan as well. That coup made the USC recruiting class the best in the country.
“We’re pumped about these kids, we really are,” said Gleason, who has one scholarship available for ‘07. “(Jamie and Rory) were certainly at the top of our list. And Bo and Tyler, maybe not as far as the other coaches were concerned on the national scene, but we sure knew about them and knew they were very good players.”
Southland Golf Magazine
Rory is featured in the December issue of Southland Golf Magazine. Pick up a copy, or go to the website to view the article.
AMERICAN DREAM
Rory Hie arrived in the country six years ago and has worked his way toward the top of the national rankings
BY PAUL STERMAN
 Photo by Eddie Meeks |
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Rory Hie grew up in a remote area of Indonesia. The first time he practiced golf, he didn’t swing his club at a small, white ball; he swung it at an orange.
Crush.
“It went flying in all these little pieces,” said his dad, Tommy, chuckling at the memory of splattered pulp.
Fortunately for fruit lovers, Hie has confined his bruising swings to golf balls since he and his family moved to Southern California six years ago. And he has become quite good at it. The 17-year-old Lakewood resident is ranked No. 2 in the Golfweek/Titleist national junior ratings. He’s been running nip-and-tuck with fellow 17-year-old Philip Francis of Scottsdale as the two vie for the top position.
A senior at Cerritos High School, Hie has played in junior events for about five years, but it’s been during the past two that he’s broken from the pack. The turning point came in April 2004 at the Heather Farr Classic in Arizona, when he shot an opening-round 64 to set the 18-hole tournament record as well as the men’s competitive course record at Longbow Golf Club. He won the Boys Division in the 36-hole stroke-play event by six strokes for his first victory in an American Junior Golf Association event.
“That really jump-started my year,” Hie said. “I was really working hard on my game and practicing really hard. I was hitting five buckets a day.”
Hie went on to win another national junior event in 2004 the Mission Hills Desert tournament and also triumphed at the SCPGA Tournament of Champions.
While he didn’t win any tournaments this year, Hie amassed six top-five finishes in eight AJGA events, including second place at the Heather Farr Classic and third at the Rolex Tournament of Champions in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
In October, AJGA officials selected Hie as a first-team Rolex Junior All-American for 2005. He also earned the honor in 2004.
Hie’s emergence as a top player on the U.S. junior scene has earned him a scholarship offer to USC and made his parents proud.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Tommy while watching his son on the range at Heartwell Golf Course in Long Beach on a recent afternoon.
At Heartwell, Hie works with instructor Dana Dahlquist, who is revamping his swing mechanics.
“Like a lot of juniors, Rory wasn’t attacking the ball on line. He was striking it from inside the line too much,” Dahlquist said. “So the main thing now is that in his golf swing he’s attacking the ball more on line than he has in the past.”
Hie also has played smarter, and his confidence is obviously skyrocketing because of his success,” Dahlquist said. “They tend to breed each other.”
Hie, who at 13 won The Golf Channel’s Drive, Chip and Putt Champ-ionship for his age group, also plays at Industry Hills Golf Club. His typical weekday schedule has him in school until 2:30 p.m. and at the golf course until 9:30 p.m. before he ends the day with homework and sleep.
But the effort has been worth it, he said, because the endless hours of hitting buckets of balls has paid off with victories in national tournaments.
“It’s a good feeling,” he said, “when you see something come out of the effort you put into it.”