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All-area girls golf - Hoggard's Pagrabs credits candy for start

Wed. December 21, 2011 at 1:39 p.m. | By StarNews Sports Department


Hoggard golfer Emiley Pagrabs stands on the first tee at Pine Valley Country Club in Wilmington on Thursday, December 7, 2011. Pagrabs is the 2011 StarNews all-area girls golf player. (Photo by Matt Born)

By Tyler Heffernan
Sports@StarNewsOnline.com

Emiley Pagrabs is not one of those golfers that learned to putt about the same time she learned to walk. Golf clubs were not her first toys. And she wasn’t making tee times before she could tell time.
“I started with my dad, because my dad tried to get me and my mom into it at the same time,” Pagrabs said. “He wanted to have this ideal of a whole family going out and spending time together.”
At age 7, she was less than thrilled. “I hated it,” she said. “I mean, I absolutely did not like it at all.”
Over a decade later, the Hoggard High School senior is the StarNews All-Area girls golfer of the year. Her success on the course can be attributed to a few things: a competitive drive, a strong work ethic and family support, especially from her mother, Pam, who took over as interim head coach this past season.
But her Mideastern Conference dominance might not have come to fruition if not for a couple types of candy bars.
“(My mom and dad) used to bribe me to go out,” Pagrabs said, explaining her elementary despise of golf. “We didn’t have candy in our house – very healthy household – so, to get me to go out they would promise me a candy bar. And I would go, but I really wasn’t into it.
“It was a Milky Way or a 3 Musketeers bar. It was one of those two.”
Pagrabs traded her companionship on the golf course for candy bars for about six years while the family lived in Ohio. Then they moved to Wilmington and her attitude changed.
“It just kind of stuck,” she said. “It just all of the sudden clicked.
“I golf everyday unless I’m sick or really tired. It’s just one of those things; it’s my life.”
Now she’s fueled by a strong desire to succeed. “Everything with me is a competition,” she said. “It doesn’t matter; I’m going to win. I’ve never lost a chipping contest at a Hoggard golf practice, like never, because I’m going to win. It’s just the need to win.”
Pagrabs was the Hoggard team captain this season, and she led the Vikings to their first state championship appearance in school history. As an individual, she finished sixth but entered the final round trailing the leader by one stroke.
Pagrabs has committed to Wofford College to play for former LPGA Tour player Angie Ridgeway, who spent 12 years on the professional circuit.
“When I went on my unofficial visit (junior year), I sat in her office with my dad for two hours just talking, and from that I knew this person will help me,” she said.
It was a decision that didn’t require any coaxing – or candy bars.

 

All-Area Girls Golf
First Team
Emiley Pagrabs, Sr., Hoggard (Player of the Year): 3rd at Class 4A Central regional, then tied for sixth at 4A state championships.
Sydney Boyd, Sr., Laney: Laney’s top golfer, took 40th overall in 4A state championships.
Elly Cosgrove, Fr., Hoggard: Finished fifth in 4A Central regional with an 84, took 45th overall at 4A state championships.
Mary Katherine Donovan, Sr., Topsail: Finished 6th at Class 2A state meet, maintained a 1-under par average for regular season, undefeated in East Central Conference play. Signed with Gardner-Webb.
Ashley Sloup, Soph., South Brunswick: 3A East regional individual champion, finished 15th in 3A state championships.
All-Conference
Mideastern Conference
First Team: Sidney Boyd (Laney), Lauren Coltrain (Rose), Elly Cosgrove (Rose), Ashley Osiecki (New Bern), Shelby Osiecki (New Bern), Emily Pagrabs (Hoggard), Madison Thompson (NH). Second Team: Mary-Katherine DeBruhl (New Bern), Morgan Kurki (Hoggard), Danielle Pierson (Hoggard), Lily Sala (NH). Player of the Year: Ashley Osiecki (New Bern). Coach of the Year: Dutch Overton (New Bern). Team Sportsmanship Award: New Bern
East Central Conference
Croatan–LeAnn Domitrovits, Mary Leonard, Abigail VanPelt, Mary Hogan. Richlands–Christie Herring, Ashley Broan. Swansboro–Sarah Wright. Topsail–Mary Katherine Donovan. Player of the Year: Mary Katherine Donovan (Topsail). Coach of the Year: Joe Banks (Croatan).
Waccamaw Conference
Christina Tolley (SB), Ashley Sloup (SB), Cameryn Smith (WB), Lauren Demko (WB).