Hoggard girls golf seniors excited and ready for state championship

Vikings are poised for a top finish after securing another undefeated conference title

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – After another undefeated conference season, the Hoggard girl’s golf team is once again going back to the state championship. The rounds will be Monday and Tuesday at the historic Pinehurst golf course.

The group of seniors competing on the top stage have never lost locally, having completed a perfect 36-0 record in the conference and just securing their fourth straight Mideastern title.

Ellie Hildreth led the Vikings and East Regional field with a 69 at the Bentwinds Golf and Country Club on Tuesday to repeat in the top spot as individual champion. The likely four-time conference player of the year has her eyes set on a prize that has eluded her otherwise hardware-filled amateur career: the 4A NCHSAA State Championship.

“It would mean a lot,” says Hildreth, speaking of that state title. “I’ve been trying to do it since freshman year. It was my goal in 8th grade. I’d get to do it with my team and that would mean the most to me. I’m looking forward to spending the last run with my team.”

She has played the Pinehurst #6 numerous times; last year’s state championship and other individual tournaments. She says to be successful, she’s ready to roll with the punches and deal with the adversity that is bound to come her way.

“There’s going to be bad holes, you’re going to hit bad shots… that’s part of it. There’s also going to be a field of really talented players, but those are things you can’t control. You need to focus on everything you can control in your game.”

“My main priority is to stay as positive as possible no matter how I am playing. Most important thing is having a good time with my teammates because it’s my last run with them and we’ve gotten really close.”

Even though Hildreth is individually fantastic, scoring no higher than a 72 in a round this season, all five of her teammates will also be competing starting Monday.

Madison Fankboner is another senior on the Viking squad. This fall, she has scored in the 80s for every 18 hole event in conference play. She got her first taste of Pinehurst for last year’s championship and thinks having experience going back will pay dividends.

“There’s a lot of out of bounds, it’s very long, one of the harder courses I’ve ever played,” says Fankboner. “Knowing the greens will help me a lot. The greens there are tough. The first day last year – the first couple holes … a mess on the greens.”

“This would be the cherry on top. We’ve been a really successful program over the last four years and getting top ten in state would be really great for us.”

The Vikings travel Sunday to the historic golf course. Competitions begin Monday morning.

Good luck Vikings!