By JARROD POTTER
ALEXANDRA Hilliard is in the midst of a breakout season on the golf courses across Australia.
Her 2016 form has been elite – Hilliard, 16, from Beaconsfield, she made the cut at the Victorian Open in February, captained Golf Victoria’s junior female golf team in the interstate matchplay as well as earning a top-10 finish at the Australian Boys and Girls Amateur Championships.
The Haileybury student didn’t have much time to look around Tasmania across two recent trips, as recently as she focused on the amateur championships and Junior Interstate Series.
Striking rounds of 70, 73, 73 and 72, Hilliard finished 14 strokes off winner Karis Davidson, but took plenty award from her experience in Tasmania.
“It went really well – it was great to go over to Tasmania and represent Victoria in both the Australian junior championships and the interstate series,” Hilliard said. “I played really well; over four rounds I shot eight under and finished eighth so that was good for me and I was the top Victorian.”
She was named captain of the Victorian side that finished third in the interstate tournament to cap off another stellar result for the Beaconsfield golfing prodigy.
“With the interstate matchplay, it was really exciting for me when I found out that I was the captain,” Hilliard said. “We came third out of the states and won five out of our contests and only lost one – which was the same as New South Wales and Queensland – but we came third on matches so it was pretty close.
“I played really well – I won four of my matches and lost one – and they were all pretty close, so I was happy with the way that I played.”
“I kind of learnt in both tournaments that I can perform as well as the top juniors in Australia.”
She started the year with a bang – as she emphatically took to 13th Beach Golf Links in Feburary.
Hilliard matched it with professionals and the best amateur players at the Victorian Open, after earning her invite at a pre-qualifier at Kooringal and she was good enough to make the cut.
“Played on the Thursday and Friday and made the cut for the third round – that was good as I was the only Victorian women’s amateur to make the cut, so that was nice,” Hilliard said. “It was surprising for me to perform well in the Vic Open and I didn’t think I’d do so well and compare against the professionals and other amateurs, so it was really nice to see where all my hard work was paying off.”
She’ll head north for the respective Queensland and New South Wales boys and girls amateur tournaments this month and above all she wants to focus on improvement and keep the pressure at bay.
“Probably targeting a little bit my short game – making sure my putting and chipping is really good – also my mental game,” Hilliard said. “Making sure I can perform under pressure and keep a level head.”
HIlliard wanted to thank her parents and Haileybury for their support.
