By the end of the week, the Southern Pines golfer had runner-up finishes in that event coupled with a second in the Mid Pines Junior Invitational over the weekend to his credit.
"Going into the golf tournament I wasn't expecting too much," Hoadley said of the first event of the week. "After shooting a 77, I was thinking this obviously wasn't going to be my tournament, if that was the best I could do."
The rising sophomore at Union Pines had a close call in his fourth match, defeating Drew Page of Waynesville 1-up on Friday morning. Next up was Daniel Meggs, sixth in the CGA's state rankings compared to Hoadley at 51st.
In a round that nothing went right for Meggs early, Hoadley advanced to the championship match 4 and 2.
"I was a little nervous, going into the match," Hoadley said. "After the match, I couldn't believe what I had done."
Hoadley and the other finalist, Will Collins of Salisbury, both wanted to continue playing even though they had already played 36 holes.
"I had the Mid Pines tournament on Saturday and I had the momentum," Hoadley was thinking.
But it was Collins that had the hot hand right from the start and the University of Virginia signee for 2007 was never seriously threatened on the way to a 4 and 3 victory.
The championship match ended at about 6:30 p.m. His tee time the next morning at Mid Pines was 8 a.m. He parred the first hole before putting a five iron to within about four feet on the par three second hole and making birdie. He also birdied the fourth, fifth and sixth holes.
"I'm thinking maybe I should play 50 holes more often," he said.
Hoadley's three-under par score of 69 stood up for second place in the 15-16 age group when Sunday's round was canceled after 11 holes and a second rain delay. Patrick Barrett of Pinehurst was first with a 68.
"He's a range ball beater," says Al Arrigoni, Hoadley's coach at Union Pines and the executive director of the First Tee of the Sandhills youth golf program. "When you get into a marathon, being able to make a repeatable swing is where the practice pays off for him."
The successful week should spike his confidence and his state ranking. On Thursday, he and Barrett will try to qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur in Greenville.
"I just hope I can continue it on to the U.S. Junior Amateur and grab a spot," he said.
Also ahead is a trip to Kansas, representing the First Tee of the Sandhills program. He is one of 90 candidates from around the country, bidding for one of 40 spots for a trip to the First Tee Champions Tour event held at Pebble Beach, Calif., over the Labor day weekend. It would be his third time qualifying for the event that pairs juniors with the pros.
