Rory shot 71 in the final round of the 2006 Dogwood Invitational in Atlanta, GA for a total of 9-under 279, over 72 holes (68-69-71-71) . He tied for 6th place in the tournament.
Golf: Dream season for Hie and Orr
By Matt Zimmerman, Staff writer
Focus and finish.
A motto, a style, a mantra, a motivation. A mandate to stay the course, to keep one’s head in the game, to close out strong.
At Cerritos High, Rory Hie has been a major part of the boys golf team. For a squad that was always in the thick of the Suburban League race, he played four years, winning the Knabe Cup and the league individual title among his personal accolades.
But it was this season, the final one in high school for the USC-bound Hie, that he dominated. Indeed, he found the focus to finish his career on its highest note, winning the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament and the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) Tournament.
“It’s just because I’m playing in less national junior tournaments this year,” said Hie, who joined Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win both tournaments in the same season. “I had a lot of time, therefore I could prepare better for (CIF) than in the previous years. That’s why I played pretty well this year.”
***For their efforts this season, for focusing well and finishing strong, Hie is the 2006 Press-Telegram Dream Team Boys Golf Player of the Year, and Orr is the Coach of the Year.
***Hie closed out his prep career with a fifth-place finish at the CIF State tournament, three strokes under par at 69. Though he expressed the disappointment that can be expected from an athlete who sets high personal standards, Hie had driven from a U.S. Open qualifying tournament in Northern California, where he finished just out of a playoff.
“That’s a goal that I set every year, is to improve what I did the previous year,” Hie said. “If I continue improving, then I think I have a lot better chance next year of getting in the U.S. Open.”
Rory was featured in a local ABC Unified Talk Show, which will air in July.
Rory with the host
Rory shot 69 - 69 –138 to take 17th place in the 2006 Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I. In the third round, Rory was 3-under through six holes, but due to weather problems, the play was stopped.
The tournament was scheduled to be 72 holes, but since in the next day the weather did not get better, it was cut short to only 36 holes.
