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By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(September 4, 2022 8:00 AM) COVID-19 canceled a lot of events for people over the last two-and-a-half years.

Events like weddings, family gatherings, and athletic events.

So it is like a twist of fate that Lumen Christi Catholic High School golfer Ashley Hilderley joined her high school golf team because of COVID 19.

Hilderley was big into volleyball, but in August of 2020 it was announced that the sport would be canceled for the season due to COVID 19.  

The then-sophomore joined the golf team.

“I have played golf forever, but I liked volleyball more,” Hilderley said of the fall sport. “I never thought about playing golf in high school.”

A couple of weeks later, volleyball was reinstated with a number of restrictions and Hilderley just decided to play both.

Today, she is the No. 1 golfer for the Titans – who have won a couple of invitationals and jamborees in the Interstate-8 Conference. She also competes as an outside hitter on offense and middle back on defense for the varsity volleyball team at LCCHS. 

Playing both has Hilderley hopping during the fall months.

“Last year we had a golf match in Marshall at 3:30 p.m. and a volleyball match at Western (about 7 p.m.),” Hilderley said. “I got to the volleyball match 10 minutes before it started.

“I try to stay rested.”

Hilderley comes from a golfing family as her mother played for Michigan State University and nearly everyone in the family plays the sport. She has played golf since age 4.

She came of age last summer during tournament play.

The LCCHS senior advanced to the Jackson County Womens Golf Association Match Play finals this past summer, losing to Kamryn Shannon. During the championship flight tournament, she knocked off Andrea Clark – winner of the event for more than a decade. 

“I went into the tournament not thinking too much (about the results),” Hilderley said. “People said I had to ‘go for it’ against Clark, but I just played my game and made some putts.”

Hilderley shot a 77 earlier in the week as the Titans won the first two Interstate-8 Conference jamborees at Arbor Hills. She also shot a 78 at the Western Invitational and another 78 at the Mason Invitational. 

She would like to play college golf but also wants to attend a larger university in Michigan.

“I don’t want to give up where I want to attend college just to play golf,” Hilderley said. 

She says that golf has taught her life lessons that will last for years.

“I have learned that not everything is going to go your way,” Hilderley said. “I have met so many people through golf … it teaches you to respect everyone.”

Hilderley maintains a 3.8 GPA (on a 4.0 scale), is a National Honor Society and Student Council member and is part of a student body group that supports the Interfaith Shelter in Jackson.

“I have learned to be grateful for what I have,” Hilderley said. “ Most of the people at the shelter are very nice.”

Ashley Hilderley of Lumen Christi Catholic High School follows through on a shot during a match earlier in the season. Photos by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.
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