Nancy Hillard

Golf, Class of 2010

Nancy Hillard began playing golf in 1957 under the direction of Lionel Callaway. He taught the importance of the short game and putting. She had a long fluid swing which was natural and consistent. ‘That swing never changed throughout her golf career,’ reported her husband and greatest supporter Dale Hillard.

Just three years later after learning the game, Nancy won her first club championship in 1960 and started a run of championships which endured the next thirty-five years. In that time she won thirty-one more championships of which twenty-five were consecutive. In 1962 Nancy had won the Club Championship at Maplehurst. In nearby Lakewood, NY. Her husband, Dale won the Mens’ Championship for a family first in keeping both the mens and womens titles in the family. This was a feat that the couple had accomplished a total of three times.

At Maplehurst in nearby Lakewood, NY she won the Ladies Club Championships in the years of 1960, ’62, ’67 through ’69. She won two Championships at Lakeview in Northeast in the years of 1963 and ’65. She won a total of twenty-five championships at Jackson Valley Country Club in the years from 1969 through 1991, and also in 1993 and 1995. In addition, Nancy won the Warren County Open Championships a total of six times to include: 1978, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1993, and 1994. All totaled, Nancy Hillard won a total of thirty-two Championships.

In 1981 Nancy Hillard surprised the local media recording high scores in bowling a 180, 177 and a 213 to report a high 566 series. In addition to her many wins on the links, Nancy broke and set a new course record at Jackson Valley in 1980 with a blazing 39 on the front side, 39 on the backside for a new standard of 78.