After an impressive 2024, Hallie Wilson begins 2025 with a higher profile and striving for more on bigger stages.
Winning the North-South Girls’ Amateur last summer — while shooting the girls’ course record at Pinehurst No. 6 — and winning the Carolinas Golf Association’s N.C. Junior Girls Championship should allow the 15-year-old from Lewisville the ability to play in the nation’s top junior tournaments.
The competition will be tougher, but Wilson said her goals will be higher. She’ll focus on playing in the American Junior Golf Association’s top-tier events, carefully choosing the five AJGA events she can enter in addition to invitationals.
“I definitely want to get my first AJGA win this year and be dominant out there,” said Wilson, a sophomore homeschooler who plays out of Bermuda Run.
Wilson’s goals seem realistic based on her victory in early July at the North-South, where she opened with a credible 76 over about 6,000 yards at Pinehurst No. 2 then fired the record-setting rounds of 66 and 67 for an 11-under-par, 36-hole total at No. 6. The fantastic finish allowed her to overcome an 8-shot deficit after the opening round and finish at 7-under 209.
“It was interesting playing (No. 2) right after the U.S. Open,” Wilson said. “It was just so hard to stick the greens.”
But Wilson played the back nine bogey-free at No. 2, gaining momentum for the final two rounds.
“Going into No. 6 carefree, knowing that my game was feeling pretty good, I just put a good round together,” she said. “I was so locked in. Even after the tournament was over, I didn’t know I had shot the course record. I kind of stayed in my own lane and played the best I could.”
In late June at the state amateur, Wilson had showed steady and consistent play, shooting 73 for three straight rounds to win by four strokes at Brook Valley Country Club in Greenville.
“The final day was windy,” Wilson said,. “I was just making sure I wasn’t taking foolish chances. It was hard navigating the heat, staying in your zone, keeping your clubs in check.”
For winning the state amateur, Wilson earned a spot in mid-July at the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship in Tarzana, California, where she shot 79 and 75, missing the cut. The experience left her wanting for more.
In addition to top regional and AJGA events, Wilson plans to tee it up against women amateurs, playing longer distances.
I’m definitely going to try to play more amateur events, try to push myself, and play more AJGAs. I think there’s a lot of good in that.”
Wilson took up golf at age 8 when she started swinging the clubs used by her older brother Julian. The siblings hit balls on the range at R.A.’s Golf in Pfaffown. She played with her brother’s clubs when she took part in her initial First Tee event.
“After that, I fell in love with the game and wanted to get good at it,” she said.
Hot or cold, rain or shine, Wilson puts in the work. During the school year, she does her course work in the mornings and practices much of the afternoon. She plans out each week in advance. Winter weather doesn’t keep her off the range at Bermuda Run. But this past year, she got a simulator to allow her to practice in the family garage, honing in her distances.
“Golf is a journey,” said Wilson. “There’s always something to work on. I love going to tournaments and putting my all out there, getting the results. Golf isn’t some handout. You have to work for it.”
Until she turns 16, she relies on her mother Hannah to drive her.
“I love practicing. I love being out here.,” Wilson said on a recent cold day on the range. “When I get my license, I’ll probably be out here til dark.”
When Macy Pate was in high school, Wilson said she often played with the current Wake Forest star from Winston-Salem, who won the North-South Girls’ in 2023.
“She’s someone I’ve always looked up to,” Wilson said. “It’s hard to find people out here playing at the same level.”
So, for competition, Wilson also plays with men — sometimes in team matches — at Bermuda Run.
Though active in her church youth activities, much of Wilson’s focus is on golf. In fact, for Halloween, she planned to dress as Scottie Scheffler in a prison uniform, but couldn’t come up with a good costume.
“Golf takes up a huge portion of my life,” said Wilson. “it’s hard to have a strong hobby.”
Wilson’s next step is college golf. In June, college coaches can contact her. Until then, Wilson is doing her own research on college programs.
Her priorities: a program with great on-campus practice facilities, and a school not “too far” from home.
In the last year or so, she has met with Sea Island, Georgia, sports psychologist Morris Pickens, whose clients include several PGA Tour players. She also gets swing advice from Justin Parsons, an elite instructor at Sea Island. At home, her father Jeff helps analyze her swing. In the past year, Wilson has received golf merchandise from Titleist/Footjoy.
Wilson is also active in the gym, working on strength training. She said her drives currently travel 240-250 yards, competitive distance for major-college golf.
Unable to play high school golf, Wilson said her college goals include playing in Curtis Cup and Palmer Cup matches.
Wilson expects the college recruiting process to be exciting. Until then, she has time to work on her game. As a homeschooler, she could accelerate her studies and graduate before 2027, though she said that’s not her current plan.
With only five starting spots on a golf team, schools don’t always have immediate vacancies in their lineup.
“I Would be open to anything. I would be open to the change,” Wilson said of the possibility to graduate early if it would benefit her school of choice. “It’s tricky with everything, and that’s another reason I’ll wait to worry about recruiting for now. I’ll enjoy the tournaments I can play in right now.”
