Lawton Announces Signing of Hawkins to Upstate Women's Golf Program
12/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Spartanburg, S.C. – Already armed with solid young talent that has helped turn the program around, USC Upstate head women's golf coach Todd Lawton has signed Hendersonville High School standout Allea Hawkins to a National Letter of Intent with the hopes of continuing in the progress of building the program.
Hawkins, who has completed her senior season at Hendersonville while leading the team to a second place finish in the 2A/1A state tournament in North Carolina, will certainly bring a strong resume to campus next fall. She is a two-time Western Highlands Conference Player of the Year selection after winning the individual title in the last two conference tournaments in 2011 and 2012.
"As a coach, you want players that have passion and energy. As a golfer, Allea has both, which makes her a great addition for us," said Lawton. "Over the past three years, her game has grown and improved tremendously. Her scores in the regional and state tournaments in North Carolina have placed her among the best and I feel she will make an immediate impact on our team as a freshman."
In addition to being a two-time conference player of the year selection, Hawkins has also earned several other individual honors. She is a two-time All-State selection, a three-time Western North Carolina All-Region pick, the Western North Carolina Junior Golf Association Player of the Year in 2011 and the Western North Carolina Girls Golfer of the Year by the Asheville Citizen Times in 2011.
Hawkins has had a steady progression throughout her high school career. She owned a 79 stroke average as a sophomore in 2010 before fine-tuning her game. She had a breakout year as a junior in 2011, lowering her average to 76 while winning the individual championship at the Western Highlands Conference Tournament with rounds of 73 and 78 at the Black Mountain Golf Course. She finished second in the 2A/1A State Tournament at the Longleaf Golf Club in Pinehurst with rounds of 77 and 81. She also finished fourth at the Tom Fazio Masters tournament.
Hawkins continued to shine as a senior this fall. She lowered her scoring average to 74 en route to earning her second straight conference player of the year honor after winning her second consecutive conference tournament. She won the conference championship by 30 strokes in leading Hendersonville High School to the team title as well. She went on to finish second in the 2A/1A West Region Championship while leading the Lady Bearcats to the region title. She finished sixth with a final round 78 in the state tournament played at the FoxFire Resort in Pinehurst and led Hendersonville to a second-place finish in the championship. She also finished second in the Tom Fazio Masters.
