Palmetto Golfer - Fall 2020

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New Kid on THE BLOCK Griz Becomes Youngest State Amateur Winner

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Who’s Your Caddy Aces Are Wild

T H E S O U T H C A R O L I N A G O L F A S S O C I AT I O N

Congratulates Columbia Country Club on successfully hosting the

2020 STATE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Thank you to the members, management and staff for providing a fitting test for our state’s best.

CO LU MB I A CO UNTRY C LUB Host of the State Amateur Championship in 2020 Jonathan Griz 1985 David DuPre PalmettoGolfer_Fall2020.indd 2

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2010 Drew Ernst 1973 David DuPre

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2004 Alex Hamilton •

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

6 Entering the Hall of Fame 8 Golfing Cabin Fever 10 Who’s Loading Your Bag 13 Aces in the Hole 17 Record Setting State Am Winner 20 World Am is About Making Friends 23 Veteran Teacher with Timeless Lesson 24 Pandemic Presents Superintendent Puzzle 26

SC WOMEN’S GOLF COLUMN

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STATEWIDE

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CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

COVER & LEFT: At 16, Jonathan Griz is the youngest winner in State Amateur Championship history.

South Carolina Golf Association PRESIDENT Vic Hannon, Camden VICE-PRESIDENT Jeff Connell, Columbia SECRETARY John Durst, Columbia TREASURER Rick Miller, Pawleys Island IMMEDIATE PAST-PRESIDENT Ron Swinson, Blythewood

Executive Committee Larry Beidelman, Dataw Island Lea Anne Brown, Charleston Justin Converse, Spartanburg Paul T. Davis, Florence Will Dennis, Greenville David Ellison, Columbia Bennett Jordan, Rock Hill Brian Price, Greenville Rob Reeves, Greer David Seawell, Aiken Rob Simmons, Beaufort Danny Stubbs, Columbia Blake Williamson, Anderson

Past-Presidents

Charlie Bryan, Greenville Charlie Drawdy, Hampton Steve Fuller, Bluffton Bobby Hathaway, Blythewood John Lopez, Murrells Inlet Pat McKinney, Charleston Charlie Rountree, III, Columbia Doug Smith, Spartanburg Rick Vieth, Taylors

Committee Emeritus

Bob Cunningham, Kissimmee, FL Dan O’Connell, Spartanburg

Legal Counsel

Joel Stoudenmire, Greenville

Lifetime Honorary Tom Meeks, Far Hills, NJ

South Carolina Junior Golf Association Committee – Randy Adams, Bear Boyd,

Jeff Burton, John Durst, Bobby Hathaway, Taylor Hough, Wayne Howle, Victor Huskey, Charlie Ipock, Brandi Jackson, David Johnson, Larry Kellogg, Ellen Miller, Lee Palms, Charlie Rountree, III, Roger Smith, Amy Spencer

Staff

Senior Director – Justin Fleming Assistant Tournament Director – Michael McKee

South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation Officers Chairman – Rick Vieth Vice Chairman – Harry Huntley Secretary – Happ Lathrop Treasurer – Jesse Smith

Board of Trustees – Charlie Bryan, Charlie Drawdy, Paul Graham, Chuck Howell, Tim Kreger, Mike Mahoney, Rick Miller, John Orr, Barry Reynolds, Jesse Smith, Jerry Stafford, Steve Wilmot

Palmetto Golfer Editor, Trent Bouts, trentb@charter.net Art Director, Kristy Adair Published By Community Journals Media Group (864) 679-1200, communityjournals.com

Advertising Meredith Rice (864) 679-1200 meredith@communityjournals.com

Subscriptions or Address Changes

(803) 732-9311 or info@scgolf.org

SCGA Staff

About Us

Executive Director............................Biff Lathrop Member Services........................... James Park Director of Operations.........................Kirk Page Director of Competitions.................Kyle Maloney Director of Marketing.........Ann Maness Maloney Office Manager...............................Susan Avery Executive Director, Emeritus...........Happ Lathrop

HEADQUARTERS 7451 Irmo Drive, Columbia, SC 29212 (803) 732-9311; Fax: (803) 732-7406 www.scgolf.org | www.scjga.org www.scjgf.org MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 286, Irmo, SC 29063

SCJGA Staff Senior Director............................Justin Fleming Assistant Director.......................Michael Mckee Tournament Coordinator.................... Mark Elam

SCJGF Staff Senior Director – Joe Quick

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Kudos for Our Game’s Role During Pandemic

participation as safe as possible for THINGS ARE SURELY different now players, officials and everyone involved than when I wrote my first article for at our host clubs. Both documents are the Palmetto Golfer just six months ago. available on the Competitions tab at The coronavirus pandemic has changed scgolf.org. our lives drastically, but we are a resilient To maintain social distancing, people and we will find a vaccine and players now review and validate their cure for this life disrupting virus. scores electronically in the scorer’s tent.

We are honored and fortunate to There are no main scoreboards being have Lea Anne Brown join our executive maintained on site, instead scores are committee. She brings with her a wealth posted on the website. We have eliminated of experience in the golfing world, double tee starts and shotgun starts, and not to mention her individual playing every tournament begins on the No. 1 achievements and her place in the South tee. A downside to this is that we have Carolina Golf Hall of Fame. January to limit the number of players in some brought the South Carolina Hall of tournaments. But many tournaments Fame induction of two very deserving have gone ahead and done so safely. individuals, Mike Lawrence and Kevin One of those tournaments was the King.

South Carolina Amateur Championship I am proud to see that golf has been I want to commend at Columbia Country Club in August. a great example of that resilience. With all the golf course Jonathan Griz created history by some pro and celebrity charity contests, the becoming the youngest player to win the game provided some of the first televised owners, managements, championship, prevailing over a very sports we saw after the virus shut every memberships and talented field with an amazing score of 14 major league back in March. Then the PGA superintendents on under par. This young man possesses a Tour resumed a modified schedule with no keeping South Carolina’s level of maturity far beyond his young age spectators. By providing some live sport to of 16 both on and off the course and it was watch on TV, golf offered some respite and courses open for play a thrill to see him in action. something to feel good about. throughout.

Many thanks to Columbia Country Closer to home, I want to commend Club members and staff for providing all the golf course owners, managements, a championship experience for all memberships and superintendents on participants. I also want to thank our own staff for their work keeping South Carolina’s courses open for play throughout. during the State Amateur and throughout these challenging The creativity they showed in finding ways to operate while still times. observing safety protocols was impressive. Not only did this allow Rest assured that the South Carolina Golf Association will us to keep playing, it also kept thousands of people in their jobs. continue to keep safety at the top of the priority list for players That is something our industry and our game should be proud of. and staff. It is our hope and prayer that we can return to some Similarly, the South Carolina Golf Association implemented type of normalcy in the very near future. creative rules and guidelines in order to conduct our major Stay safe and don’t forget to #playgolfsc. tournament schedule for 2020. Players must now sign a Players Assumption of Risk and Waiver of Liability and are issued SCGA Covid-19 Protocols, Policies and Guidelines. The goal is to make

Vic Hannon

Vic Hannon is president of the South Carolina Golf Association 4

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Pride, Praise and an Appeal On Behalf of Our Game

together in the very beginning of all I HOPE THIS MESSAGE finds all of this to make sure that we kept the our friends, members and supporters game of golf alive and open in South to be in good health and successfully Carolina. We were very fortunate to navigating your way through these offer golf as one of the few socially strange times we’re in. I know here at distanced and healthy outlets during the SCGA, the year has called for some the early months of the pandemic. hard decisions and major changes so Those groups working alongside the that we could continue to provide the SCGA included the Carolinas Golf tournaments and services that you have Course Superintendents Association, become accustomed to.

SC Golf Course Owners Association, I want to thank our incredible Carolinas Chapter of the Club staff here at the South Carolina Golf Management Association of America, Association, SC Junior Golf Association Carolinas PGA Section, Carolinas Golf and SC Junior Golf Foundation for Association and the SC Women’s Golf all of the hard work in planning and Association. pulling off a very successful summer As people have stayed closer to home, and ongoing tournament season.

I am pleased to see that rounds are Back in May, there were countless up at many of our private and public hours spent developing and By doing your part courses. But the same is not true for implementing a plan that would allow many of our resort courses, which are so us to safely conduct our championships through patience and integral to the tourism industry in our at the level that our participants expect following mandates, state. So, as we head into fall, I appeal to and deserve. I have never been so excited we have made running all golfers in our state to do their best to and nervous at the same time as I was support these facilities. Spending your for our Junior Championship at the events a successful golfing travel dollars close to home in the Tradition Club in Pawleys Island, which venture during this coming months will be an investment on was our first event of the COVID-19 era. behalf of South Carolina.

I’m proud to say we passed the test with pandemic.

In closing, I would like to remind flying colors. you that the SCGA is here for you, A huge thank you to everyone who has our member clubs and our individual participated in our SCGA and SCJGA members. Our team continues to work events since our COVID-19 protocols very hard to grow this great game of golf and to keep making were put in place. By doing your part through patience it better. If any of our staff members can ever be of assistance, and following mandates, we have made running events a please do not hesitate to contact us. successful venture during this pandemic. Players, parents Stay safe and I hope to see you on the golf course soon. and spectators have all done a fantastic job in following COVID-19 guidelines and we are grateful for that. Without the cooperation of all involved, competitive tournament golf would not have been possible in 2020.

I also want to recognize our allied associations that came

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Schaal and Turner to Enter SC Golf Hall of Fame

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A PAST-PRESIDENT OF THE PGA of America and a former LPGA Player of the Year will bring further luster to the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame when they are inducted in the new year.

Longtime golf professional and industry leader Gary Schaal and Sheri Turner, a member of Furman’s 1976 NCAA championship team, will join the legends of South Carolina golf in a special ceremony at Columbia Country Club in Columbia in March.

Schaal, from Murrells Inlet, grew up with a passion for the game at a young age. He earned a playing spot on the Ohio Wesleyan collegiate team from 1960-’63, serving as captain in ’62 and ’63. He earned all-conference honors in his final year. Out of college, Schaal became captain in the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1964-’73 and playing on the USAF golf team.

With an honorable discharge, Schaal became an assistant professional at Myrtle Beach National Golf Club in 1973. He was elected as a member of the Carolinas Section of the PGA of America in 1976 and served as a committee member. He was elected to the board of directors in 1980 and served until 1989.

Along the way he held the offices of secretary, treasurer and president from 1983-’85. He was voted Carolinas PGA Professional of the Year in 1985.

In 1987, he was elected to the PGA of America board of directors and served as president in 1993-’94. In that role, he presented the Wannamaker Trophy to 1993 PGA Championship winner Paul Azinger, after Azinger beat Greg Norman in a playoff at Inverness Club in Ohio.

In 1995, Schaal was elected to the Carolinas PGA Section Hall of Fame. By

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Gary Schaal has been a fixture on the South Carolina golf scene for nearly 50 years.

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Sheri Turner won three LPGA Tour events, including the Women’s PGA Championship.

then he was already a member of the Ohio Wesleyan College Hall of Fame (1993). Other honors would follow. He became a member of the PGA of America Hall of Fame in 2005, the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 2007 and Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame in 2010.

Schaal was among the founding partners of Indigo Creek Golf Club, Wicked Stick Golf Club and Woodland Valley (formerly Diamondback Golf Club) in Myrtle Beach. He also was a partner in the TSC Golf management company that managed several courses along the Grand Strand, and owned and operated his own course management company that ran two courses at Deer Track Golf Links for several years.

Through his connections in the golf industry, Schaal played a significant role in luring the Senior Tour Championship to Myrtle Beach, from 1994 to 2000. One of those ties is with former long-serving PGA Tour commissioner Dean Beman, who Schaal partnered with in developing Cannon Ridge Golf Club in Fredericksburg, VA. Schaal helped launch the Myrtle Beach Junior Golf Association and served on numerous golf-related boards of

directors including The First Tee, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, National Golf Foundation, Gene’s Dream and Project Golf.

Sheri Turner was born in Greenville and distinguished herself in the game at an early age.

She won the State High School Championship and the Carolinas Junior Girls Championship in 1974 and 1975.

The following year, as a freshman at Furman, she played alongside future legends of the game, Beth Daniel and Betsy King, to win the NCAA National Championship. Turner won three tournaments during her collegiate career, was selected as a 1979 All-American and was inducted to the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.

In 1983, she earned her playing card for the following year’s LPGA Tour season. But it would take several more years before the first of her three wins on Tour. And it came in a big way, winning the Women’s PGA Championship in 1988. Turner came from six shots behind in the final round to beat future World Golf Hall of Famer Amy Alcott by one stroke thanks to birdies on the final two holes.

A week later, she won again thanks to a second round 63, the lowest round of her career.

She finished on top of the money list that year and was named LPGA Player of the Year. Her next best finish in a major was as runner-up in the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open. In total, Turner claimed three LPGA Tour victories and 68 top-10 finishes, seven holes-in-one and earned nearly $3 million during a 23-year professional career.

In 1997, she won the William and Mousie Powell Award which recognizes a player “whose behavior and deeds best exemplifies the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA” as judged by her peers. She also served on the LPGA executive committee from 1997-’99.

Following her LPGA career, Turner won three events on the Legends Tour, which she helped establish. She was elected to that tour’s Hall of Fame in 2018.

Turner now lives in Phoenix, AZ where she volunteers for the Marilynn Smith Charity ProAm each year helping generate revenues for scholarships.

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New Putting Course Helps Resort Traverse Pandemic Interruptions

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BY BOB GILLESPIE

ON A RAINY, typically steamy August afternoon, Steve Smart is giving a brief tour of Santee Cooper Resort’s latest golf amenity: The Palmetto Traverse, a 3,500-sq. ft. putting course located adjacent to Lake Marion Golf Course’s Villa and Townhouse Complex.

The Traverse, with 18 holes and teeing areas, was modeled on the Himalayas putting course at St. Andrews in Scotland and Thistle Dhu course at Pinehurst Resort.

It’s an ideal after-hours recreation for visitors to the cost-friendly resort located near Interstates 26 and 95 on the shores of Lake Marion.

“We get a lot of juniors, and seniors who can still play but not walk a regular course” playing the Traverse, says Smart, head professional at Lake Marion’s companion Santee Cooper Country Club.

“It’s lighted, convenient to the villas, and a fun competition thing. When it opened (in August 2019), we thought it’d be a big hit for this year’s spring tourist season.”

Then the coronavirus pandemic

A look at Santee Cooper’s new putting course, The Palmetto Traverse.

happened. And that spring season largely didn’t happen. “(The pandemic) reminded us that we’re not just golf, but a destination,” says Todd Miller, Lake Marion’s head professional and the resort’s general manager. Between March and mid-May, “the villas stood empty, though the golf courses were okay. Rentals are where we took the biggest impact. We were about $1 million behind where we were a year ago.”

That’s the bad news and remained so, even as South Carolina’s golf resorts began reopening in late May and June. Smart says quarantines killed nearly 100 percent of package play that Todd Miller says Santee Cooper is targeting traffic from closer to home as a normally makes up result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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the bulk of spring business: 80 percent of Santee Cooper’s traffic vs. 20 percent locals.

This year, those numbers were reversed.

The good news: While lost revenue can’t be recouped, the fall tourism season seems headed for a bounce-back, Miller says. “In June, it began to turn,” he says. “People were more comfortable” with traveling as the state opened up again.

Also, Santee Cooper refocused on clients from the home state, pitching itself as a lesstraveled way to break out of golfers’ “cabin fever” syndrome. “Santee is a little safer, more rural,” Miller says. “We’re targeting in-close people who can get a night or two away (from home).

“We know the Canadians aren’t coming this year, unfortunately. Folks don’t want to travel so far, but (people in) neighboring states – North Carolina, Georgia, even West Virginia – can come, it’s a shorter drive, and they can still have fun.”

As have all South Carolina resorts, Santee Cooper has instituted safety procedures to reassure visitors. Masks in clubhouses, hand sanitizer, regular cleansing of carts between

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Steve Smart

rounds – it’s all part of the “new normal.”

Some things are returning to previous norms, though. Santee’s snack bars are open, at 50 percent seating, and the resort’s strongest sales pitch – low cost – remains in place.

“We customize deals, because everyone’s needs are different,” Miller says. “If you want a price point, we’ve got motel partners and can get you a real low number.”

Other industry standards – pro shop gift cards and complimentary breakfasts, plus on-site dinner specials – are still available, with diners able to pick up to-go food and eat in their villas.

And there are other attractions such as the Palmetto Traverse, offering activities that can be done safely, with social distancing or by families and travel groups comfortable with one another. “(The Traverse) is a fantastic addition,” Miller says. Free access is included in package deals, and locals can play the course for $10, or $15 for all-day play.

“It’s still new, and we’re pushing it,” Miller says.

Pinehurst-based architect Kris Spence, who designed and built the Traverse, incorporated speedy Mini-Verde greens and significant elevation changes, plus a small central grassy “island” with a sitting area and landscaped Palmetto trees.

“The green includes most every feature a golfer might experience while playing,” Spence says in a Santee Cooper release. “I think this will especially appeal to those golfers staying on the property (and) wanting something else to do following rounds on the (Lake Marion and Santee Cooper) courses.”

Miller says in addition to the golfing product, “We’re taking all the precautions we can” to assure travelers the resort is ready to welcome them back. “Now, we have to wait and see.” 

Palmetto State Resorts Making the Rebound Most of South Carolina’s golf resorts are seeing rebounds from spring with more play and returning visitors.

Hilton Head Island’s Sea Pines Resort, home to Harbour Town Golf Links and sister courses Heron Point by Pete Dye and Atlantic Dunes, has maintained good traffic, says Cary Corbitt, Sea Pines’ vice-president for sports and operations. “The golf courses are staying extremely busy,” he says. “Two things that visitors and residents are comfortable about are the beach and golf, and we have the protocols to keep those safe environments.”

Sea Pines employs single-rider carts, no rakes in bunkers and no-remove flags. After the Heritage’s April dates were scrubbed, the resort used March-May to install new cart paths and trim tree corridors at Harbour Town. At Heron Point, the 12-year-old bunkers were rebuilt in June and July.

“All the island’s resorts are having a very good summer, and the forecast is running ahead for rounds and revenue for the balance of the year,” Corbitt says. “People are more comfortable going to hotels again, and they’re choosing to come to resort areas.”

During a total shutdown of the Town of Kiawah Island from March to mid-May, Kiawah Island Golf Resort kept two courses open: Oak Point, plus a rotation of the resort’s other courses. The Sanctuary, Kiawah’s luxury hotel, reopened around Memorial Day, and all courses are open again, resort spokesman Bryan Hunter says.

“Restaurants are opening, with masks required (per a town mandate) unless you’re on the beach or playing golf,” Hunter says.

“We’re averaging 1,500 rounds of golf a day across all our courses with modified operations (no ball-washers, flags staying in cups).

South Carolina is starting to trend in the right direction (with infection rates), but we can’t let our guard down.”

Hunter says in the weeks before Memorial Day, the island hit a 16year high in lodging. “We saw a high level of pent-up desire to travel again when we were open, and most (who canceled spring visits) have rescheduled for the fall or next spring,” he says. “It doesn’t hurt that folks realize we have the 2021 PGA Championship (scheduled for May), so we’re on their minds already.”

At Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Resort, standard safety features – masks, sanitized and single-rider carts (if requested), no-touch flags, 50 percent capacity in restaurants – are being enforced, spokesman Dave Genevro says. Spiking infection rates in South Carolina slowed summer travel, but locals played more golf, he adds.

“Home rentals are doing well; if you come with a group you know vs. a hotel room, you’re still on vacation” but feel safer, he says.

Barefoot Resort was to celebrate its 20th year this past April, and “we had some spring groups move to the fall, but a lot are telling us, ‘We’ll see you in 2021,’ so we’ll do something special for that.”

Chris King with Founders Group, which owns 21 courses, says the company is allowing walking morning and afternoon, plus contactless payment. Restaurants are open with mostly outdoor dining, and staffers wear masks and gloves.

“We have the normal fall specials: free range balls, draft beers after the round, free replays in the afternoons,” King says. “We’ll see (if travel numbers return to normal) as we get closer to the fall, but we’re cautiously optimistic.”

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Who’s Your Caddie?

YOU MIGHT JUST BE SURPRISED

BY TRENT BOUTS

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THERE HAVE BEEN MOMENTS during his time as a forecaddie at Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island that Griff Rudolph has bitten his tongue. The thought, ‘If only you knew…’ slips across his mind, but only fleetingly. “Because it’s not about me,” he says.

“It’s all about them and making sure they enjoy their time here as much as possible.”

And so, with the rarest of exceptions, Rudolph’s foursomes play through their 18 holes at Harbour Town completely unaware of exactly who was at their service that day.

In hindsight, they too might wish they had known.

You see Rudolph, 57, has a perspective on the game most golfers only ever dream of. He played the PGA Tour, Canadian Tour and various mini tours. A selfdescribed “streaky player,” he won some mini tour events, including a $20,000 purse in Indianapolis on a precursor to what is today’s Korn-Ferry Tour. Among those he beat were future major winners Tom Lehmann and John Daly.

Rudolph never did win in the big time.

Still, he made the cut in seven of 15 events he played in over three years, including a tie for 11th at the Bay Hill Classic in 1988 alongside Greg Norman and Ben Crenshaw.

That start came courtesy of an invitation from the tournament host, Arnold Palmer, who’d taken an interest in the kid from Tennessee who’d earned two-time All-SEC honors at the University of Alabama.

“Arnold knew my dad and he gave me a junior membership at Bay Hill, so I’d have somewhere to play out of when I went to Florida to play the mini tours,” Rudolph says. Indeed, Palmer knew Rudolph’s dad very well. They’d seen a lot of each other over Mason Rudolph’s 505 PGA Tour starts in a career that began in the early ‘50s and 10

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Griff Rudolph and Harbour Town’s famed lighthouse at the back of the 18th green.

lasted until the late ‘70s.

If Palmer was known as The King, the elder Rudolph was a prince. His son remembers the last time he saw his dad appear in a tournament on television. “They hadn’t shown him all day, so we knew he wasn’t doing very well,” Griff Rudolph says. “But then they cut to him on the 18th green, and I’ll never forget, Dave Marr was commentating, and he said, ‘Here is the gentleman’s gentleman of the PGA Tour.’

That says it all. He was a special guy.”

Rudolph wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps but gave himself a time limit, pledging to give it away if he hadn’t established himself on the PGA Tour after four years. “I didn’t want to be one of those guys who wakes up, 35 years old, and all they know is how to hit a golf ball,” he says. He kept his word at the end of the 1989 season and barely touched a club for 25 years.

He became a stockbroker, but health issues

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eventually forced him out of the field, and he began to think about golf again. That’s when he reached out to Sea Pines Resort president Steve Birdwell. They had grown up on the same street in Clarksville, TN. “I talked to Steve and he said, ‘You should come and help us out on the golf side.’”

So, for the past two years, Rudolph has caddied for the breadth of recreational golfing “talent” at Harbour Town, as well as Heron Point by Pete Dye and Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III. As qualified as he is as a player, he was a relative novice as a bagman. His only previous experience was a single round for his late-brother Craig on the Friday of the 1990 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

When Craig’s caddie didn’t show that day, Griff went from spectator to a supporting role. But because caddies weren’t allowed to wear shorts back then, he had to find some long pants in a hurry. The best he could do was to borrow the rain gear of another player, Harry Taylor. There was no chance of rain that day, but it was soon wet inside those pants. “Let me tell you, in Memphis in

July, those pants were hot!” Rudolph laughs.

Even today, Rudolph doesn’t think of what he does as caddying. “I’m more of a tour guide around one of the most beautiful golf courses ever built,” he says. “I’ve always had a soft place in my heart for Harbour Town. Back when Dad was playing, The Heritage (tournament on the PGA Tour) used to be played at Thanksgiving. So, I have a lot of fond memories.”

After taking the job at Sea Pines, Rudolph had the chance to walk memory lane as a dinner guest of South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame couple Jim and Karen Ferree, who live at nearby Long Cove. “Mr. Ferree was close with my dad. He watched me grow up,” Rudolph says. “It was real nice to see them.”

That kind of hospitality and familiarity has helped him feel at home. The work has gone well, too. “In two years here, there’s only one group that comes to mind that I really didn’t have a very good time with,” he says. “Shoot man, I’m not leaving here unless they run me off. I’m blessed.”

A couple hundred miles north along the

PGA Tour veteran Mason Rudolph, left, with grandson Griffin and son Griff who also played on Tour and now works as a forecaddie and caddie master at Sea Pines Resort.

Atlantic coast in Myrtle Beach, Craig Smith rides the fairways at Legends Resort as a ranger. He used to work the bag drop but “old and with a heart valve replacement,” he eased off on such close contact at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. “Now, I’m just the old guy riding around asking people to catch up,” he chuckles.

That’s a far cry from working with the biggest names in the game, which Smith, 65, did as director of media relations for the United States Golf Association. It just so happened that his 20 years with the USGA from 1989 to 2009 paralleled Tiger Woods’ rise to prominence then unprecedented dominance. Smith was the man guiding Woods to the microphone for his three U.S. Junior Championships, three U.S. Amateurs and three U.S. Opens. It wasn’t always easy.

In his first U.S. Open as a pro, Woods went in having blown away the field for his first Masters win, and his first major win – by 12 strokes – just a few weeks earlier. If he was a hot favorite before round one at Congressional, he was hotter still under the collar after play having shot a 74.

“So, he wasn’t a happy camper and he was still then a petulant college-age kid,” Smith recalls. “I knew he was going to walk away and walk away fast.” Heading off in pursuit, Smith called for someone to grab a tape recorder and keep up. Smith tracked Woods amid the throng, across the patio, through the clubhouse and eventually into the fitness center. But along the way his aide and the tape recorder fell behind.

By the time they found Smith awkwardly making small talk, Woods’ patience was running thin. “He was getting a little antsy by then, so I just grabbed the recorder and went straight into questions. I was going to be the reporter for the press pool, and I got him talking for about 15 minutes.”

We’ll never know exactly what was said because the pause button was on the whole time.

“I thought I was done,” Smith says. The man with the delicate task of balancing the needs of both the press and the players had effectively served neither. But the next day, Woods found Smith and … “It was as funny as could be,” Smith says. “Tiger just came straight up with this big smile on his (CONTINUED ON PAGE 12) FA LL 2 0 2 0

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face and said, ‘Oh, thanks a lot for that!’ I remember thinking that if he didn’t want me fired overnight for that then I must have something pretty special.”

And that was true. Smith had known Woods for nearly a decade by then, beginning with the U.S. Championship where Smith, Woods and Notah Begay would recruit a fourth most days for post-play ping pong. “I got to know him that way and, seemingly, he befriended me, and it lasted,” Smith says. “I guess I didn’t do anything to tick him off because he had a track record of being done with you if you did.”

Smith might be the only person alive who owns a copy of the official programs autographed by Woods from each of his three U.S. Amateur wins. But Smith cherishes even more a photo he has of a moment he didn’t think much of at the time.

“It was the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and I just walked over to the range and Tiger was hitting balls,” Smith says. “He saw me, stopped and came over and gave me a big hug. Later, one of the Getty photographers handed me an 11x14 print and said, ‘Here, I think you might like this.’ I looked at it and was grateful. That was very cool.”

Craig Smith gets a warm hug from Tiger Woods on the driving range during the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

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After rubbing shoulders with the best players in the game, Craig Smith works at keeping those often farless skilled happy at Legends Resort.

There was another infamous occasion when Smith “tracked down” his target after a tough round. If not for Smith’s diligence and dedication at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, the world might never have heard Phil Mickelson utter his classic mea culpa, “I am such an idiot.” Having blown the lead at the one major he still hasn’t won with a double bogey on the 18th, a devastated Mickelson disappeared deep in the locker room.

“I had to outlast him to get him to do the flash area,” Smith says. The flash area, with an elevated platform for cameras and hardwired to the press tent, was an innovation Smith instituted years earlier to ensure that all media, not just a favored few, would have access to players post-round. “I waited for probably an hour for him to come out, but he did, and he gave that quote.”

While the flash area served the whole, some individuals were not so happy with it.

“If a player was fussy, if I could get them to do the flash area, then everybody at least got something instead of just one or two of the big guys,” Smith says. “I took some lumps for it. I remember Jimmy Roberts yelling at me ‘cause

I walked right past him once with Woods.

Woods was only going to do one interview that day and I said, ‘OK Tiger, if you’re only going to do one, I need you to do the flash area. Because everybody will get what they need, not just NBC.’ Which was dangerous I suppose because NBC was spending big money. But we just kept walking.”

In the context of Smith and his work, what constitutes big money is relative these days. When he retired to Myrtle Beach several years ago, he became a cart attendant because, he “thought it would be fun and it would mean free golf.”

“I had no idea how hard it would be some days running 600 rounds through here with three courses,” he says. “The pay was $7 an hour. I remember at the end of my first shift, somebody handed me a fistful of cash. I said, ‘What’s this?’ And he says, ‘That’s your split, your share of the tips.’ I said, ‘What, did you just rob a bank?’ He handed me $88 for four hours.

The work beat the daylights out of me but I remember thinking, ‘Well, how am I going to leave this? This is good money.’” 

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Son and father, Derek and Al Kinzer, at Thornblade Club where, with back-to-back holes-in one, they achieved the miraculous.

Aces Wild

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HOLE-IN-ONE TRIUMPHS WITH A TWIST OR TWO

EVERY HOLE-IN-ONE IS SPECIAL. For most of us, even when we don’t win a car or a million bucks, these one-shot wonders make for moments of a lifetime. After all, the odds of stepping up to the tee and knocking it straight in the hole have been measured at one in 12,500. That’s a lot of par three holes played between aces.

Of course, some golfers are better than others and your chances do increase the better you are. If you’re playing on the PGA Tour, the likelihood of holing it from the tee shrink to one in 3,000. But for most of us, the best way to improve our chances is simply by playing more.

Whitey Adams, the 81-year-old former club pro who plays at Rock Hill Country Club in Rock Hill, will tell you luck also helps. Adams has had 11 aces in his time.

BY TRENT BOUTS

The plaque commemorating Al and Derek Kinzer’s one in 159 million feat.

Sure, he was an above average player – he once missed qualifying for the U.S. Open by a single stroke – and, yes, he did play a lot.

But here’s the thing … four of those aces came after he was declared legally blind.

Adams retains some peripheral vision, but he cannot see a thing straight ahead.

Which is why he relies on his playing partners to line him up at address and square his club face to the ball. “That shows you how much luck is involved, when I can’t even see the hole!” he laughs.

What some might see as luck, others say is open to divine intervention. Abby Driscoll was playing for Presbyterian College in a match at the Country Club of Spartanburg in 2014 when she holed out on the 8th hole. Not only was it the same day as her great-grandmother’s funeral in New York, the shot was played at the same time the funeral was in progress.

While that may be coincidental, the fact that, for the first time, Driscoll had her (CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)

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Whitey Adams with Happy, his guide dog and non-playing golfing companion.

Grandma Maria’s “lucky” golf ball with her in her bag was remarkable. Her greatgrandmother loved the game and played into her mid-90s. When she finally put her clubs away, she passed her “lucky” ball to her son, Driscoll’s father. When Driscoll couldn’t make the funeral because of the conflicting match, he drove to Presbyterian to hand over the golf ball so Driscoll could honor her greatgrandmother by carrying the ball that week.

“It was the most surreal experience of my life,” says Driscoll, who now plays out of River Falls Plantation in Duncan. “I know

Whitey Adams, center, with grandson, Zach, who, as a nine-year-old, once shot a 58 over a 2,680-yard course, and son, Randy, who serves on the South Carolina Junior Golf Association committee.

without a shadow of a doubt it was her looking down on me. That will forever be my favorite golf memory.” And there has been some competition for that ranking. Last year, Driscoll and her fiancé, Ridge Connor, won the South Carolina Mixed Team Championship at Dataw Island Club.

When Ralph Braun of Greer made his first hole-in-one, there was a moment when his wife, Carrie, feared she might be going to his funeral. Playing solo just after daybreak at Carolina Golf Club at Botany Woods, a ninehole par three course, Braun knew he’d hit one straight but lost sight of the ball against the rising sun. Walking to the green, he couldn’t spot his ball anywhere.

But he did spy a straight Abby Driscoll was so sure her line in the dew running great-grandmother’s lucky golf ball was the reason for her hole-in-one she across the green right framed it along with the scorecard in to the hole, where he place of the ball she actually used. found his ball at the bottom of the cup.

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Without so much as a grounds staff member as a witness, he pulled out his cell phone and called his wife, waking her up. Breathless with excitement, Braun could barely get the words out. “I couldn’t understand what he was saying,” Carrie says. “I honestly thought he was having a heart attack.”

Garland Ferrell, 33, was a little more composed when he watched a “perfect” pitching wedge roll into the hole from 140 yards on the 8th at Greenville Country Club’s Riverside Course this spring. After all, the former mini-tour player already had 10 aces in his career to that point. But he was dumbfounded when, later in the same round, he did the same thing on the 17th hole.

“I didn’t actually see it go in. It was a back right pin that was blind from the tee,” he says.

“But there was a group of ladies in front of us and as they were heading over to the 18th tee they looked back and started screaming.”

Ferrell says he was lost for words. “I mean, you dream about shooting really low, like a 59 or something like that, but two holes-in-one in the same round, that’s not even something you think about,” he says. “Someone told me the chances of that happening are like one in 67 million.”

And that was during peak restrictions

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early in the coronavirus pandemic. “It was just park and play then,” Ferrell says. “We didn’t even get to warm up.” Which is why he says he will remember one of his playing partner’s feats as much as his own. At age 71, Johnny Davis shot a seven under par round of 64 that day. “The odds of someone shooting that far below their age are also staggering,” Ferrell says.

So are the chances of anyone, or any two people, doing what Ric Edgar and Joe Padgette achieved at Coosaw Creek Country Club in North Charleston in the early 2000s.

On the 15th hole, Padgette holed out with a six-iron. After the celebrating died down, Edgar stepped up next and produced the same result with his six-iron.

“Then when we got up there, my ball was literally sitting on top of his,” Edgar says.

“We were pretty ecstatic, but we didn’t really know what to say, because you don’t expect something like that to happen.”

Edgar, 65, who carries a handicap index of 1.5, has seven career aces to his credit.

His biggest win was in the Berkeley County Senior Amateur in 2015. Some of the credit, he says, stems back to his first lessons in the

Garland Ferrell after his ace on the 8th hole at Greenville Country Club’s Riverside course and then his next on the 17th in the same round.

game, with a then-young assistant pro at Charleston Municipal Golf Course by the name of Terry Florence. Florence, of course, went on to become a beloved and respected figure in South Carolina golf in a long career that included time at Wild Dunes Resort and

Bulls Bay Golf Club. He was inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in 2005 and died in 2013.

If Edgar’s and Padgette’s back-to-back aces between friends was freakish, then the same (CONTINUED ON PAGE 16)

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feat by family, like father and son Al and spectacular to happen that day,” he said later.

Derek Kinzer, was closer to miraculous. The “I was just happy to make the tee time and Kinzers were in the second of two groups keep my breakfast down!” playing a skins game at Thornblade Club The Associated Press picked up on the when they came to the 17th. Derek, then a story and by the time Derek landed in three-handicapper, launched Hawaii for his honeymoon he a seven wood from the back had a message to call a Boston tees at 211 yards and watched number. Soon he found himself it land, spin left and drop into on a radio show talking with the cup.

Sam Snead. “He told me it was He says he ran half-way one of the greatest hole-in-one to the hole, screaming and stories he’d ever heard,” Derek yelling, just like his friends says. “And that’s from a guy who were in the group in front, had 42 hole-in-ones himself!” when he remembered his The Kinzer’s double was dad, then president of BMW in 1997 and those shots still Ric Edgar Manufacturing, was yet to hit. reverberate. At Thornblade Back on the members tee, someone said to at least, people’s memories are constantly Al, playing off 14, that he had better knock refreshed by a plaque set in the ground near it in the hole in order to push the skin. He the 17th tee commemorating the feat. The promptly did so with a four iron from 190 story came up when Derek moved back to yards. Mayhem ensued and why not, with the Greenville earlier this year to become program odds of that happening estimated at one in director for the First Tee of the Upstate. In his 159 million. job interview, he was asked if he was one of It also happened to be the day before the Kinzers with the back-to-back hole-inDerek’s wedding and the day after his ones. “I still hear it all the time,” he says. bachelor party. “I didn’t expect anything For some, or at least one person, the story

is not one you would want to tell.

Without divulging names, there was a golf writer (not this one!) playing in a media outing who had a lifetime moment he would rather forget. He struck his tee shot well but lost it in the sun. Failing to find his ball on the putting surface, he and his playing partners began a search over the back of the green.

A few minutes passed without luck, so the golfer in question suggested everyone go and play their shots while he took one last look around. No sooner had his partners turned their backs when, lo and behold, he calls out that he’s found his ball at last. He then chips onto the green and marks his ball.

As the next player steps up to putt, another tending the flag looks down to see a ball in the bottom of the cup. Turns out, the writer had made a hole-in-one. But no one was celebrating. They all knew the ball he’d just marked had come from his pocket.

That’s a far cry from Whitey Adams’ experience with one of his most recent aces.

When his playing partners told him he’d just holed his tee shot, the blind golfer refused to join the party. “I told them, ‘Don’t you bull crap me!’” 

WHERE THERE’S A WILL… There’s a way forward for Junior Golf.

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Include the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation in your will. Your bequest will help future generations grow and thrive, both on the course and off.

To learn more, call 803.732.9311 or email jquick@scgolf.org

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State Amateur Champ Is Anything But a Griz-zled Veteran

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PAUL GRIZ VIVIDLY REMEMBERS the day he realized his son might one day become a champion player. It was “the very first time” the two went out together to the driving range at Bear Creek Golf in Hilton Head. “I knew the very first time he hit a golf ball, actually,” the elder Griz says. “I showed him how to stand, how to hit the ball, and then said, ‘All right, little buddy, go ahead.’ Sure enough, he was hitting small baby draws; his shot pattern was unbelievable. I knew right then he was going to be a good golfer.”

Jonathan Griz was 5 years old at the time.

Some 11 years later, the rising high school junior remains astoundingly precocious. On August 9 at Columbia Country Club, Griz came from three shots behind defending champion Tyler Gray, of Lugoff, in the final round to win the 88th South Carolina Amateur Championship.

Firing a 5-under par 67 for a 14-under

BY BOB GILLESPIE par total and three-shot winning margin, he became the youngest ever to claim the Billy Lewis Trophy. He eclipsed SC Golf Hall of Famer Jack Lewis, who was 17 when he won in 1964.

In the final round, the 16-year-old needed just three holes to vault into a tie for the lead, going birdie-eagle on the second and third holes. “I just stayed focused,” he said afterward. “When I made eagle at the third (with a 40-foot putt), I was like, ‘All right, we’re in this now.’”

Griz remained “in this” until the par-5 12th hole. There, his second eagle of the round – courtesy of a majestic 3-iron shot from 245 yards that stopped three feet from the flag – coupled with Gray’s bogey, produced a three-shot swing. Suddenly, Gray was three shots back. Sumter’s Christian Salzer emerged as the new challenger pulling within a shot thanks to a birdie on the 13th and a bogey by Griz.

Griz birdied 14 to go two clear, but an

eagle by Salzer on 15 gave him a brief share of the lead until Griz sank a birdie on top of him to maintain a one-shot margin. His Sunday play – the field’s best closing round by two shots – and his composure left a string of impressed opponents in his wake.

Salzer said that “every chance he had, (Griz) made his putts. He putted great all day.”

Kyle Bearden, the 2018 State MidAmateur champion whose 2-under 70 tied Salzer for second at 11-under, laughed at the realization that, at 30, “I’m almost twice (Griz’s) age … and he let me know about it. The kid is 16 and absolutely ‘tanks it’ off the tee. All day, he was 20 yards by me. He’s going to be really, really good; he’ll be a heckuva player for a long time.”

His early start notwithstanding, it was the eagle by Griz at the 12th that most impressed Bearden and spectators following the final group. “He hit it great, on a string, and he’s saying, ‘Come on, baby, be right!’” Bearden says, laughing at the memory. “I told him, ‘Don’t worry, it is.’ And when we saw it was (three) feet, he was like, ‘Oh man!’”

Probably the final word on Griz’s ability at such a callow age came from 1990 State Amateur winner and five-time SC Player of the Year, Todd White, who shot 69 to finish sixth. “He hits it a long way, which is big, especially here,” White says. “But (the real difference) is that he’s better at a younger age than most. He’s already seasoned, tournament-toughened; he knows how to play.”

Paul Griz, 51 and a Certified Public Accountant, says his son has been that way for a long time. “He’s always so focused, and he’s worked so hard – he’s the hardestworking 16-year-old I know,” he says. “He doesn’t play video games, any of that. He just really works hard on his golf game.”

Until a year ago, Paul Griz says, that work didn’t include lifting weights, but “the doctors back home gave him the green light.” Since then, the elder Griz says his son (CONTINUED ON PAGE 18) FA LL 2 0 2 0

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Jonathan Griz celebrates another made putt.

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At 16, Jonathan Griz is the youngest champion in the history of the South Carolina State Amateur, first played in 1929.

“For me to be the youngest champion ever … it’s an honor and a pleasure.

It gives me a lot of confidence, because obviously I want to play on the PGA Tour and do big things in golf.”

has added 50 pounds and now is a well2017 PGA Championship winner – “and what his future might hold. He credits his hopefully I’ll be one of those.” faith and his father, whom he calls “my coach, muscled 155 pounds. “That’s really helped SC Amateur Sunday gave him a taste of my caddie, my mentor, my everything. He his driving distance, given him a lot of taught me everything I know, and it strength.” And, he adds with a laugh, was awesome to have him here when I something else to do besides hit balls won. To be able to give him a big hug at Bluffton’s Colleton River, where on 18 meant a lot to me.” they are members.

Maybe there was something in Jonathan Griz, with a sheepish grin, the air that Sunday. Hours later in echoes his father. “I work out … I see San Francisco, Collin Morikawa, my girlfriend … that’s about it,” he 23 and playing in only his second says, laughing. “All I do is play golf.” major, shot a 64 to win the PGA It shows in his resume and in his Championship, becoming the well-laid-out plans. Griz won the youngest player to break 65 in the North & South Junior in Pinehurst final round of any major. Like Griz, in July and the Hilton Head Amateur his winning margin came courtesy of two years in a row, though he says his a back-nine eagle. biggest victory “until this one” was For his part, Griz was thrilled to the 2018 Bobby Chapman Junior.

Barnwell’s Kyle Bearden finished in a tie for second in the win his own “major” title. “That His next two years, he’ll attend State Amateur. means so much to me,” he says.

Technical College of the Lowcountry, “Look at the winners on that trophy earning credits toward his degree at – there’s PGA Tour winners on that Alabama, where, as a ninth-grader, trophy,” among them Jonathan Byrd, he committed to play golf. The Lucas Glover and D.J. Trahan.

Crimson Tide won the 2014 NCAA “For me to be the youngest title and is coached by Aiken native champion ever … it’s an honor Jay Seawell, a two-time NCAA coach and a pleasure.

It gives me a lot of of the year in his 15th season. confidence, because obviously I want “I love the crew there, it’s just a to play on the PGA Tour and do big championship school,” Griz says. things in golf. I really look forward to “Coach Seawell is awesome, and I’m the future.” excited to be a part of that. A lot of And at 16, Griz has plenty of big names have come out of there” Christian Salzer from Sumter was one of two players to finish future left ahead of him.  – most recently Justin Thomas, the tied for second, three shots back.

BY TRENT BOUTS

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Wilson Dondo and Russ Blanton didn’t know each other on the first tee but were friends long before they reached the 18th

Making Friends Matters as Much as Making Putts at the World Am

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BY TRENT BOUTS

LESS THAN 24 HOURS before the first tee shot in this year’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot, the enthusiasm is palpable in the voice of golf radio show host Brian Katrek. After running through some last-minute technical tests on site, Katrek is emphatic. “I love it,” he says. “Absolutely love it.”

No surprise there you might think, but the thing is, Katrek isn’t talking about the U.S. Open. Instead, he’s all fired up about the Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship he played in a few weeks earlier. There’s no Tiger, D.J. 20

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or Rory in that event but it has a special place in Katrek’s heart all the same. “To me, it’s a major,” he says.

Every year since 1993, the same becomes true for thousands of golfers from across the country, and even overseas, who travel to Myrtle Beach for a chance to call themselves a world champion. As Katrek says, “When I tell people I’m playing in the World Am, they look at me like I’m some kind of royalty. I mean, it does sound way bigger than the U.S. Am.” It may sound that way, but of course, it’s not. You’ve got to be good, exceptionally

good, to get into the U.S. Amateur. By contrast, to get into the World Am all you need is your clubs, a week off and a few hundred bucks. Technically, you don’t even need a handicap. There is a Just for Fun division where no one keeps score and winners are chosen randomly.

Even for everyone else, you don’t need to be good to win the whole thing. As a handicap, or net, event, you just have to be better than you usually are. Grouped by handicap in flights of 36, players compete over four rounds. Each flight leader then

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qualifies for the championship round at the end of the week.

This year’s World Am champ, Harry Radley, 59, is an ex-pat Australian and now U.S. citizen from Indianapolis with an 8.4 index. The two men he beat in a suddendeath playoff at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Course were super seniors, that is, between the ages of 70 and 79. These are not guys deadlifting 300 pounds along with Brooks Koepka.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.

Indeed, Radley, a retired police officer, was moved to tears talking about his win, and in that moment, explained everything you need to know about the World Am. It wasn’t the victory that choked him up. It was that the person he dedicated it to wasn’t there this year.

“This is for my good buddy, ‘Lanyard.’ He comes here every year,” Radley said, his voice quavering. “He’s a guy in his 70s, can’t break 100. But he’s such a good guy. I dedicate this win to him.”

Every year, except this year. “Lanyard” was part of a roughly 33 percent drop in participation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of 3,000-plus, this year’s dipped to 2,150, still enough to keep it as the world’s largest single-site tournament.

Formally, “Lanyard” is Landon Asakawa, from Washington State. He and Radley met at the World Am years ago and have been great friends since. “I just call him ‘Lanyard’ because I tell him all the time that he’s a rope around my neck!” Radley laughs.

“Truly, he can’t break 110. People ask him why he comes all the way from Washington State when he doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning anything. He tells them, ‘Because I enjoy it.’ And that’s what it’s all about. The friendships you make are what makes the World Am special.”

That became apparent to Russ Blanton, an area bank manager from Rockingham, VA, in this, his first year at the World Am. In his younger days, Blanton was a pitcher

and designated hitter at Berea College in Kentucky. He had his eye on the World Am for a few years, thinking it might scratch the competitive itch endured by many former athletes.

So, when a former baseball teammate said he was going and had a spare room, Blanton jumped on board. He even practiced. “I wanted that competitive part of it,” he says. So much so, he was surprised by the nerves he felt on the first tee. “It was nice to see one somewhere near the middle of the fairway,” he says.

But from there, the golf didn’t go as planned. Playing off a 7.8 index, Blanton shot rounds of 88, 87, 94 and 92. Still, he’ll be back. “Absolutely. My buddy and I are already making plans for next year,” he says.

“It wasn’t just the golf. Playing with the people I did, all four days, it was great, a great experience. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know that’s what I would get out of it, initially. But I told my wife, meeting the people I did was special.”

One of those people was Wilson Dondo, an investor from Miami, FL, a World Am veteran who won his flight on debut in 2001.

Dondo traveled solo the first few years but eventually his friends became intrigued. In 2019, nine of them shared a house. “We don’t play for what we win because whatever you win is way less than you spend,” he says. “We just go for the fun and to meet new people from different parts of the country. In that regard, once again, it was very nice.”

Like a kind of golf dating site, the World Am kind of prequalifies you as likely to get along with those in your group. As tournament director Scott Tomasello explains, “You’re playing with people in a similar age group and of similar playing ability and you love golf enough to be here.”

Even for the best players in the field, it’s the people they talk about when they’re done. Camden’s Ryan Reynolds won the gross division with rounds of 69, 74, 70 and 71. Outside of qualifying for last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, the win was the highlight of a golfing career that began when his grandmother put a club in his hands as a 2-year-old.

This was Reynold’s fifth tilt at the World Am that has helped him create

This year’s World Am champion Harry Radley

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friendships from Idaho to California.

“That’s so much fun,” he says. “There’s a bunch of good guys who play and it’s cool to get to know them and hear about life in diverse parts of the country.”

Two or three holes into a round, Blanton says, you find a level with these otherwise complete strangers. “At first you’re wondering what the other guys are going to be like. Are they sticklers for the rules, or they the guy who jiggles the coins in his pocket while he waits to putt,” he says. “By the end of the round, you’ve talked about your family, your different life experiences. It really is neat.”

One of Blanton’s best laughs of the week came courtesy of Dondo during their round at Arcadian Shores Golf Club. Dondo told how one year, by week’s end, both he and his roommate were worn out. Neither had played particularly well and it had been hot.

Still, there was one round to go. So, they ate breakfast in their rental, wished each other luck, loaded their clubs and drove off, seemingly to their respective courses. One went left, one went right.

But once he was around the corner, Dondo made a U-turn and went back to the apartment. “I was too tired,” he says. “I go inside then I hear this noise and it’s my buddy.

He made a U-turn too! Each of us was too tired but didn’t want to tell the other.”

Trading stories like that normally dominates at what organizers call the “world’s largest 19th hole,” a kind of golf carnival at Myrtle Beach Convention Center each night. With an open bar, free food from area restaurants, live entertainment, celebrity guests and exhibiting companies, it is as Tomasello says, “the heartbeat of it all.” “You make friends on the golf course and then you spend time with them and catch up with old ones at the 19th hole,” he says.

Because of the virus, there was no 19th hole this year. Indeed, for a time it looked like there might be no World Am at all.

“Obviously, we had our doubts about being able to pull it off,” Tomasello says.

“But even right back during the worst of it, our participants were telling us, ‘We need this. Don’t take this away from us.’

Yes, we saw some cancellations, but more people were signing up. I would consider it an overwhelming success, given the circumstances.”

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T Ryan Reynolds from Camden won the gross division

To accommodate health concerns, the tournament went from foursomes in shotgun starts to threesomes in single carts with tee-times from the 1st and 10th tees.

Flagsticks remained in the hole and no spectators were allowed. Scorecards were distributed outdoors and, in most cases, the only time a player entered the clubhouse was to hand in cards at the end of the round.

Anyone who registered before the 19th hole was cancelled received $100 back on their $595 registration fee or had the choice of a new range finder, putter or restaurant gift cards. Everyone still received their welcome package with about $300 worth of clothing and golfing paraphernalia. Value for money is never an issue at the World Am. But as Dondo suggested, the money is not what the week is about and Katrek agrees. It’s the richness of the experience that he values most, even as much as he

does getting paid to watch and interview the best players in the world.

“I love it all equally,” he says. “Yes, the vibe at the World Am is different to watching the best players in the world compete. But I get to compete at the World Am. So, they’re both very exciting to me. It’s kind of like your kids. They’re all different but they’re all special in their own way. I love golf, so it’s all of a one to me.”

It didn’t hurt that Katrek played well this year. So well, that he was one half of a team that won a pairs event within the tournament. He didn’t know his partner, Californian Todd Stiles, until they met and hit it off at the World Am a few years ago.

Their prize, a four-day, three-night stay at Casa de Campo, a luxury resort in the Dominican Republic, is the stuff of lifetime memories, just like the friendships the World Am generates. 

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Veteran Teacher’s Approach: Simple ... and More Than Enough

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THERE JUST AREN’T MANY golf teachers like John Gerring left in the world. Spend a few minutes with him and you’ll understand why. Gerring has spent over 50 years as a golf professional around some very fancy clubs and very famous people – including Bobby Jones, titans of industry, and former Presidents of the United States. But you’d never know it. In fact, he has no room for pretentiousness or pretentious people. He enjoys life simply, more comfortable in the back of the room than fighting for a seat in the front row.

Gerring was born in 1936 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the eldest of seven children including four boys – each of whom attended Division I universities on golf scholarships. His father, Al Gerring, was a self-taught, working-class golf professional who employed a doit-all approach as many did at the time.

The family moved several times before settling in High Point, NC where Al Gerring became golf professional at Blair Park Golf Course.

At the time, Blair Park was a busy municipal course with some very good players. Under Al Gerring’s direction, the caddie program grew to over 50 kids – so many that he rented a bus to take them to the big junior tournament in Greensboro each year. John Gerring’s career in golf began as one of those caddies at the age of 8. He was barely big enough to carry a bag. Initially, Blair Park served as babysitter to him and his brothers and later, their proving grounds.

Now at age 84, Gerring still loves teaching, at the Haas Family Golf Center in Greenville.

Even today, he tries to learn something from everyone he has the “privilege” to instruct. As a freshman at Wake Forest, he learned to play with courage from Arnold Palmer. He learned humility from long-time friend and former multiple major champion Larry Nelson. He learned to embrace new opportunities from Jay Haas.

His work ethic and the importance of education, he says, came from his father. But probably the most influential lesson he learned

BY DOUG BROWN

came from his first golf client, an older man with one-arm who owned five doughnut shops in High Point, named Mr. O’Henry.

Mr. O’Henry was by far the worst player at the course. And as a result, none of the older boys wanted to caddie for him. With the assistance of a metal clamp, he was only able to hit the ball about 100 yards at a time.

So, naturally, Mr. O’Henry was stuck with 8-year old Gerring. The first time they worked together, Gerring remembers hearing the caddie master say, “There goes the sorriest golfer with the sorriest caddie.”

Gerring caddied for Mr. O’Henry for several years, including three times a week in summer.

Mr. O’Henry’s game never improved but he never stopped trying, never lost enthusiasm and never stopped playing. “It didn’t mean much to

me then,” Gerring says, “but looking back on it now, what a thrill it was to be out on the golf course with this man who had this handicap. He enjoyed every moment.”

Gerring’s career as a golf professional included stops at well-known private clubs such as Biltmore Forest, East Lake, Atlanta Country Club, Peachtree Country Club and Bloomfield Hills Country Club in Michigan, among others.

His simplistic teaching style is rooted in early advice from his father: caddie for the best players around and mimic how they swing. And many of his philosophies were molded in part by all-time great teachers like Harvey Penick and Bob Toski. In an age where Trackman and cameras capture every angle, his lessons focus on the basic geometry of the golf swing. He teaches his students how to control their club face and club path.

“Simple will always out-perform hightech and complicated,” he says. “Because the flight of the golf ball cannot tell a lie.”

Gerring comes from a different era and perhaps one that, deep down, some of us would love to experience. This was a golf world where everyone walked, caddies were the organic “grow the game” initiative, and tour players had to play aggressively to win as there were no careers to be made from just making cuts.

He has impacted the lives of thousands of people both on and off the course. But perhaps the approach that helps most was actually forged through his relationship with the hopeless one-armed golfer Mr. O’Henry.

Have any doubts? Look no further than page four from Gerring’s book with the title that explains his teaching philosophy, “Simple Enough.”

“Success depends on pounding the rock…

This is not about developing the best swing,” he writes. “It’s about swinging and enjoying the greatest game.”  Doug Brown carries a single-digit handicap and helps lead Grow Golf Now programs in Greenville FA LL 2 0 2 0

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Superintendents are Short on Time, Labor While Pandemic Play Wears on Courses

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LATE SUMMER, there looked to be nothing out of the ordinary with the guy wielding a weed-eater on bunker edges at one course in the Upstate. That’s what golf course maintenance workers do after all.

Except this “worker” was Tim Kreger, the executive director of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association.

As an organization with some 1,800 members and an annual operating budget of $1.2 million, it’s not like Kreger isn’t busy enough with his day job. But these days aren’t like the old ones. Even with millions of Americans unemployed because of the coronavirus pandemic, golf simply cannot find people to fill positions.

This comes at a time when many courses across the Palmetto State are as busy or busier than ever, thanks to the game’s inherent social distancing and open-air setting. But those packed tee sheets compress the time available for golf course superintendents to prepare the fields of play. They also increase the amount of wear and tear on the living, breathing turf the game is played on.

As a result, there is more to do for superintendents when they are already short-staffed and short on time. As one superintendent at a semi-private facility, whose staff is less than half what it was a year ago, says, “It feels like there are thousands of things we haven’t been able to do this season.”

Golfers, or at least some of them, are starting to notice as bermudagrass runners encroach onto cart paths and into bunkers, as broken tees and divots build up on tee boxes mowed less frequently, and greens

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start to run a little bumpy from reduced verticutting and topdressing.

Confronted with so many unknowns at the outset of the pandemic, some facilities looking to preserve resources instituted a hiring freeze. But even where those policies have eased, the problem is that rates for hourly workers aren’t enough to compete with other industries, or with emergency unemployment benefits that came with federal stimulus packages.

Paying more to attract help is out of the question for many operations, even though their fairways may be covered

with golfers right now. While it is true that some benefited heartily from virusrelated demand, those are generally smaller operations where, apart from the odd hot dog and Budweiser sale, most revenue is generated from the course itself.

At facilities where weddings, conferences and the like are major contributors, the busy golf course sits in stark contrast to ballrooms and dining rooms that have been largely empty since March. At private clubs where members only pay a cart fee each time they play (at many clubs, guest play wasn’t allowed for months) that’s meant

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a whole lot of busy-ness as distinct from business.

So, when Kreger noticed some tell-tale signs that one of his members was feeling the squeeze, he lent some elbow grease. It took him the best part of a week after hours to get around every bunker on the course, but he made it and enjoyed getting away from his phone and computer.

It’s hardly the first time Kreger has pitched in. He is often among the army of volunteers who supplement the golf course maintenance staff during PGA Tour and other significant events in the Carolinas.

Many golfers don’t realize that the conditions they see on television are often beyond what the host facility could manage without the extra help.

Hand-filling fairway divots, hand-raking bunkers and daily mowing and doublerolling greens are just part of the extra mile that most host courses go down to be at their best when the very best come to play.

It is common, even standard practice, for neighboring superintendents and assistant superintendents to volunteer in support of a colleague. They’ll work for six or eight hours or more each day in tournament week before heading back to devote another six or eight to their own course.

“A lot of golfers wonder why their course doesn’t look like Augusta National all the time,” Kreger says. “The truth is, even Augusta National doesn’t always look like it does when we normally see it in April. The same goes for any tournament we see on television. Generally, every tournament is scheduled during the best time of year for the types of grass on the host course. And clearly not every golf course has the budget and resources of an Augusta National. That’s why volunteers can really help elevate the level of conditioning.”

Those volunteers and the rest of the golf course maintenance team will sometimes be on deck as early as 4:30 a.m. if machines have lights. By the time spectators arrive or television cameras switch on, they are likely to be well out of sight, taking a well-earned break before taking care of post-play clean up late in the day.

“Golf is generally not a team sport, unless it’s something like the Ryder Cup,” Kreger says. “But it is always a team effort when it comes to getting the course ready. I honestly think most golf fans would enjoy it if they could get a taste of the camaraderie and spirit that develops amongst the volunteers and the permanent staff over the course of a tournament. It can be exhausting, and the

public never know just what is entailed, but the people doing the work know and it’s an incredibly satisfying experience.”

Well, almost always. On the last day of one of Kreger’s early volunteer weeks at a PGA Tour event in the Carolinas, he arrived before daybreak to see his name listed to mow “clean up laps on fairways.” Kreger may be handy with a blower or a weed-eater, like any home gardener, but he’s the first to admit he’s not a trained superintendent, or even crew member.

Honored but nervous that he was entrusted with such a job - a big step up from collecting flagsticks and tee-markers at the end of the day - off he went with his heart pounding in his chest. From there, the details are in dispute. One story goes that he completed several holes before someone let him know that the mowing reels were raised just high enough to be spinning harmlessly above the grass. Kreger says otherwise, but still admits, he’s more comfortable edging bunkers. 

Golf courses that host most televised tournaments benefit from the help of an army of expert volunteers, a luxury most superintendents never have.

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Big Field for Women’s Amateur Highlights Competition Return

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BY CLARISSA CHILDS

FROM WHERE WE WERE just a few weeks earlier, the sight of 100 players teeing up for the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association State Amateur Championship at Columbia Country Club was both welcome and wonderful. Like so many other organizations in sports, our operations had been on hold for several months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Through that time, we worked hard to create protocols and guidelines to keep our players and staff at our host clubs safe. We resumed competitions the week before the State Amateur with a one-day event at Port Royal Golf Club on Hilton Head Island.

Some of the changes we instituted included replacing shotgun starts with teetimes off both the 1st and 10th tees. Players were paired by flight and in the same teetime sections, so when they were done we had a winner. We stopped declaring overall winners so no one had to stay around waiting for the rest of the field. So, while we have had full fields, we’ve never had more

than 30 people social distancing at one time.

We also provided masks and Muse Hand Sanitizer at every event.

The State Amateur, with the event’s largest field in history, came down to a thrilling end with a sudden death playoff that went into a second hole. Anna Morgan from the Country Club of Spartanburg prevailed over Savannah Hylton from the Golf Club of Indigo Run. Morgan fired rounds of 71, 70 and 75 for a total of 216.

The State Division Champion was Kerry Rutan from Yeamans Hall Club, returning rounds of 78, 73 and 73 (224) to edge out Pam Prescott from Pickens Country Club.

A Super Senior Division was introduced for the first time and was contested among 12 players. Nancy Dodge from Mid Carolina Club posted scores of 80, 76 and 82 (238) to come out on top.

Soon after, we saw an even bigger field, of 108 players, in the Firefly Pro-Am before the 3rd annual South Carolina Women’s Open at Cobblestone Park Golf Club in Blythewood.

We had 27 professionals compete in the event on the Garnet-Black course.

The Open itself had 83 participants from as far afield as Quebec and Arizona and many points in between. The event boasted one of its strongest fields to date, with players the caliber of Laura Diaz, Rosie Jones, Kris Tschetter, Katelyn Dambaugh, Lizzy Win, Sydney Legacy, Jayne Pardus and Gina Kim. Laura Diaz, the former LPGA Tour star, won the Senior Division/Senior Pro Division with some stellar play. Diaz set a course record 64 in the opening round followed by a 67 for a two-day total of 131 to win by one over two-time defending champion Rosie Jones 67, 65 (132).

The Senior Amateur Division was secured by Jayne Pardus with rounds of 75, 70 (145). The Open Division/Open Professional Division was won by former USC Gamecock Katelyn Dambaugh with scores of 65, 66, 69 (200) and Open Amateur Division Champion was Gina Kim with 71, 69, 66 (206).

ANNA MORGAN State Amateur Champion

JAYNE PARDUS State Senior Champion

KARIN WOLFE State Senior Legends Champion

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WOMEN’S SOUTH CAROLINA OPEN

LAURA DIAZ Senior and Senior Pro winner

JAYNE PARDUS Senior Amateur winner

Our Senior Championship was rescheduled to August 25 and 26 at Mount Vintage Plantation and Golf Club in North Augusta. The course was in perfect shape but a two-inch downpour the night before the first round made it play long.

Jayne Pardus from Bulls Bay Golf Club won the Senior Championship, enduring a couple of lightning delays to shoot scores of 75, 73 (148). Karin Wolfe from Ponderosa Country Club won her third consecutive title in the Legends Division with rounds of 80, 83 (163).

We had 51 players compete in the Women’s SCGA Junior Girls State Championship at Mount Vintage Plantation and Golf Club. They were competing for the title and to secure a place on the South Carolina team for the annual junior girls challenge against Georgia.

We have just a few championships and numerous one-day events at some great courses left on the schedule, including Tega Cay Golf and Country Club, Oldfield Club, Thornblade Club and Bulls Bay Golf Club, to name a few.

KATELYN DAMBAUGH Open and Open Pro winner

Leading the charge and claiming the title was Adrian Anderson from the International Club, posting a 75, 72, 70 (217) to win by four shots. The remaining places on the SC team to play GA were claimed by Sydney Roberts (221), Molly Hardwick (224), Chloe Holder (224), Isabella Britt (224) and Emma Schimpf (227).

The GA/SC Junior Girls Challenge Matches were hosted by Georgia at the beautiful Sea Island Club – Ocean Course on St. Simons Island on August 1 and 2. Both teams were extremely strong resulting in a 9/9 point split after the first day. On the final day, SC came back from starting slow out of the gate to again result in a 9/9 point split.

Since SC won the title last year, the tie was enough to hold onto the trophy.

We have just a few championships and numerous one-day events at some great courses left on the schedule, including Tega Cay Golf and Country Club, Oldfield Club, Thornblade Club and Bulls Bay Golf Club, to name a few.

To find out more about WSCGA events, what’s going on in the golf world, or even a good scoring tip, go to wscga.org. You can donate to the junior foundation, buy tickets in our special raffle or tune into our new Podcast: Birdies or Bust!

As Nancy Lopez always says, remember to “play happy” and I look forward to seeing you at a WSCGA event soon.

GINA KIM Open Amateur winner

ADRIAN ANDERSON State Junior Champion

Clarissa Childs is executive director of the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association.

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STATEWIDE

VIRUS RESHUFFLE LEADS TO RARE CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE IN SC

Mark Elam

South Carolina will host a major and a USGA championship next year in a rare double, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort will host its second PGA Championship from May 17 to 23 then Berkeley Hall Club in Bluffton will host the U.S. Women’s MidAmateur Championship from September 25 to 30.

The Ocean Course hosted the first major in South Carolina golfing history with the 2012 PGA Championship won by Rory McIlroy. The 2021 return has been set for a long time. But the USGA’s visit at the other end of the same season comes about because of the pandemic. Berkeley Hall was to have hosted the Women’s Mid-Amateur this year until the USGA was forced to shut down its schedule for several months.

“Berkeley Hall Club and our surrounding community are thrilled that we were able to work with the USGA to ensure the 34th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship will still be taking place here,” Berkeley Hall Club general manager and chief operating officer Adam Kushner says. “The opportunity to host some of the most talented amateur players in the world is something that we have been preparing for, and are glad that it will still be able to come to fruition. After this challenging year, next year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur is something we will all look forward to more than ever.”

The Women’s Mid-Amateur will be played on the club’s North Course, a Tom Fazio design that opened in 2001.

It will be Berkeley Hall Club’s third USGA championship. The club hosted both the Men’s and Women’s USGA State Team Championships in 2005.

JUNIOR ASSOCIATION NAMES TOURNAMENT COORDINATOR Mark Elam has joined the South Carolina Junior Golf Association as tournament coordinator. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, his first day in the office came a full two months after he started work. Staff worked from home to maintain operations through the tightest period of restrictions to date.

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A University of South Carolina graduate, Elam earned a Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality management with a direct focus on club management. Gaining experience through multiple internships and club staff roles at numerous courses within the state, Elam took his first position in golf administration in 2019 with the Golf Association of Michigan. As assistant tournament director, Elam focused on conducting events throughout Michigan.

Originally from Columbia, Elam is excited to be back in his home state and close to family and friends. “The South Carolina Golf Association is where I’ve always wanted to work,” he says. “South Carolina is home to me and it means more to me that I can now help grow the game of golf in the same place where I grew up playing.”

In his role, Elam will work closely with assistant director Michael McKee, who started with the association last summer.

Senior director of the SCJGA Justin Fleming describes Elam as “a great addition to the staff.” “I look forward to the creativity he will bring to help us continue our mission to provide the best product to the junior golfers of South Carolina,” Fleming says.

AIKEN’S RESERVE CLUB OPENS HOLLOW CREEK

Creek Nature Preserve, with rolling hills, mature hardwoods and miles of trails, is part of South Carolina’s first designated bluebird habitat. Hollow Creek Golf Course joins The Reserve Club’s Reserve Course, a Jack Nicklaus design that opened for play in 2002.

“The completion of the Hollow Creek Golf Course is exciting for our entire membership,” The Reserve Club general manager, Saul Schwartz, says. “I’m proud to be part of a team that honors its longstanding commitment to add value to its memberships. The addition of the Hollow Creek Golf Course is an example of how we deliver on that promise.”

Visitors to the area for this year’s rescheduled Masters Tournament in November can gain access to The Reserve Club during Masters Week.

BELFAIR’S RADAR WINS NANCY LOPEZ AWARD Belfair’s director of instruction Dana Rader has been honored by the LPGA with the 2020 Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award. The award was created by the LPGA Professionals in 2007 and is given to an LPGA Professionals member who embodies leadership, passion, giving and approachability.

Rader has served at Belfair, a private golf club community in Bluffton, since August 2018. She joined the Belfair team after selling her golf school in Charlotte, NC, as she wanted to return to her passion, coaching. Rader is a “Top 50 Instructor in the U.S.,” is ranked as the “Best in South Carolina” by Golf Digest and has been featured on Golf Channel numerous times. A nationally recognized leader in Sunrise on the new Hollow Creek course at The Reserve Club in Aiken.

The Reserve Club at Woodside in Aiken celebrated the grand opening of its new Hollow Creek Golf Course this summer. The par 71, 6,943-yard course completes a full 36 holes at Woodside.

Hilton Head-based architect Clyde Johnston designed the course and was at the club during opening celebrations.

Hollow Creek Golf Course takes its name from an adjacent 110-acre nature preserve. Hollow

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STATEWIDE

Dana Rader

the golf industry, Rader is a past national president of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals, now LPGA Professionals.

“I have been a huge fan and a friend of Nancy Lopez for many years,” Rader says.

“To win this award means the world to me because she holds such a high standard on her values and to have my name next to hers is truly an honor and distinction.”

“Belfair and our members could not be prouder of Dana being named the recipient of this award,” says Ken Kosak, PGA general manager and chief operating officer at Belfair. “Our club is passionate about the game of golf and we are thrilled to have her leading our instructional team.”

Lopez, a 48-time winner and four-time Rolex Player of the Year, was inducted into the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame in 1987, and captained the victorious 2005 U.S. Solheim Cup Team.

SC GOLF SCHOOLS MAKE LIST OF BEST IN U.S. Two South Carolina operations are among Golf Digest magazine’s list of Best Golf Schools and Academies. The Dustin Johnson Golf School at TPC Myrtle Beach in Murrells Inlet and the Tommy Cuthbert Golf Learning Center at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Charleston were included among 24 schools on the editor’s choice listing.

That list features renowned facilities such as the Michael Breed Golf Academy in New York, Dave Pelz Golf Schools in Texas and the PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass in Florida. Earlier this year, Golf Digest included Dustin Johnson Golf School director of coaching Allen Terrell among South Carolina’s honorees in the magazine’s Best Teachers in Your State list for 2019-2020.

HEAVY HITTERS MAKING MARK FOR JUNIORS AT FORT JACKSON Five or six years ago, a group of regulars at Fort Jackson Golf Course in Columbia decided it was time to act on what they’d talked about for a long time. Thus, Heavy Hitters Golf Club was formed to bring together amateur golfers and foster the development of juniors in the game. Today, the Heavy Hitters have about 50 members, of mostly retired military personnel who have donated about $3,500 to Fort Jackson’s junior program.

The Heavy Hitters are one of a number of small groups of golfers in the state that take their love of the game a step further by raising money for junior golf. The Heavy Hitters have a regular skins game where a percentage of the $20 entry fee goes into a junior fund. This year the club presented a check for $1,000, up from $750 in 2019, to support Fort Jackson’s junior golf initiatives. The presentation was made before the start of their annual championship, a net event won by Michael Thompson.

Vice president Daryll Averyhart, a retired First Sergeant, says club members also volunteer to help with Fort Jackson’s annual qualifiers for the national Drive, Chip and Putt skills competition run by the Masters Foundation. Averyhart says club members range in age from 40 to 75 with handicaps ranging from “quite a few single digits to 15 or 16 or so.” “We’re a very active group,” he says. “Some of our members are playing somewhere every day. We travel to courses all over the state.

We have an annual golf trip and our club championship, as well as the skins games.”

For more information, see heavyhittersftjacksonorg.

Heavy Hitters Golf Club members with the check they presented for junior golf programs at Fort Jackson last year. This year, they donated $1,000.

PALMETTO STATE CHAPTERS SHARE FIRST TEE GRANTS Two chapters of The First Tee in South Carolina are among 51 across the country sharing in $200,000 in grants from the United States Golf Association. The First Tee of Aiken and The First Tee of the Upstate each received grants made available by the USGA in markets where USGA championships were scheduled to take place in 2020. Chapters affiliated with one of the USGA’s 59 allied golf associations were also available.

The 34th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship was to be hosted at Berkeley Hall in Bluffton at the end of August but was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. It has since been rescheduled to September 25-30 next year.

The grants are part of an annual $1.3 million investment by the USGA in making the game more accessible and welcoming for juniors. In addition to the grants, the USGA pledged $125,000 to help The First Tee develop digital tools that enable stronger connections between juniors, parents, chapters and coaches, bringing the USGA’s total investment to $325,000 for 2020.

“Year after year we are seeing the positive impact that The First Tee and other junior programs are having in breaking down barriers and connecting communities through sports,” USGA chief executive officer Mike Davis says. “It is vital for golf’s long-term health that we continue to create pathways for all juniors to participate.”

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CHAMPIONSHIPS Partners Champs

WESTON BELL & ROBERT LUTOMSKI

Partners Championship Spring Valley Country Club, Columbia, & The Woodcreek Club, Elgin

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT 1

Weston Bell, Piedmont Robert Lutomski, Simpsonville 61, 61 – 122

2

Josh Branyon, Honea Path Kevin Roberts, Chesnee 61, 62 – 123

T3 Josh McMillan, Boiling Springs

Stan Sill, Spartanburg

62, 64 – 126 T3 Sam Moore, Blythewood

Caulder Moore, Mt. Pleasant

62, 64 – 126 T3 Brent Roof, Columbia

Barry Roof, Myrtle Beach

62, 64 – 126

TOURNAMENT FLIGHT 1

Richard Burgess, Greenville Ian Gohean, Leesville 68, 64 – 132

2

Landis Lane, Florence Quentin Yarborough, Florence 64, 70 – 134

T3 Duane Barnes, Simpsonville

Dennis Schwab, Simpsonville

65, 70 – 135 T3 Jeff Jackson, York

Kevin Tindal, Rock Hill

65, 70 – 135 T3 Jay Draffin, Greenville

Daniel Sloan, Columbia

65, 70 – 135 T3 Brandon Barker, Belton

Austin Finley, Greenville

66, 69 – 135 T3 Tim Eich, Elgin

Ken Taylor, Columbia

66, 69 – 135

Junior Championship Tradition Golf Club, Pawleys Island

1

Trey Crenshaw, Lancaster 67, 71, 69 – 207

2

Waymon Thomas, Mt. Pleasant 71, 66, 71 – 208

3

Jerry Bruns, Beaufort 70, 70, 69 – 209

4

Luke Walmet, Mt. Pleasant 71, 70, 69 – 210

T5 Griffin Tarver, Tega Cay

71, 70, 70 – 211 Junior Champ TREY CRENSHAW

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Amateur Champ

Dudley-Sullivan Father and Son Champs

T5 William Jennings, Greenville

70, 68, 73 – 211

JONATHAN GRIZ

NEAL TODD & WALTER TODD

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Eric Nord, Blythewood 73, 70, 69 – 212

T8 Jonathan Brennan, Greenville

79, 65, 69 – 213 T8 Matthew Hutto, Blythewood

70, 67, 76 – 213 T10 Daniel Brasington, Woodruff

78, 70, 66 – 214 T10 Adam Hunt, Columbia

67, 74, 73 – 214 T10 Tip Price, Greenville

71, 69, 74 – 214

Dudley-Sullivan Father and Son Championship The Woodcreek Club, Elgin

DIVISION I T1 Neal Todd, Laurens

Walter Todd, Laurens 68*

DIVISION III

1 Dan Williams, Columbia

Vince Williams, Columbia 71 T2 Everett Eynon, Columbia

Skip Eynon, Columbia 73 T2 Chris Weidner, Columbia

Jerry Weidner, Columbia 73 T2 Mike Burdine, Greenville

Tyler Burdine, Greenville 73

DIVISION IV

1 Cal Harbin, Anderson

Matt Harbin, Anderson 72 2 Cheney Connell, Blythewood

Jeff Connell, Blythewood 73 3 Jake Dickens, Greenville

Mac Hagler, Greenville 78 *won after a one-hole playoff

T1 Levi Moody, Greenville

Mark Moody, Greenville 68

Lefty-Righty Championship

3 Will Dennis, Greenville

John Dennis, Greenville 69

Lake Marion Golf Club, Santee

1

Brian Lee, Blythewood Ben Twilley, Columbia 62, 66 – 128

1 Denton Moore, Anderson

John Moore, Anderson 68

2

Daniel Ezelle, Taylors Jeremy Revis, Greenville 65, 65 – 130

2 Garrett Glaze, North Charleston

Gettys Glaze, Charleston 71

T3 Reid Bedell, Spartanburg

Jordan Warnock, Roebuck

68, 65 – 133

3 Connor Bright, Isle of Palms

Mike Bright, Isle of Palms 73

T3 Barry Roof, Myrtle Beach

Brent Roof, Columbia

66, 67 – 133

DIVISION II

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CHAMPIONSHIPS Lefty-Righty Championship BRIAN LEE & BEN TWILLEY

Lefthanders Champ

Senior Four-Ball Champs

REID BEDELL

STAN SILL & JEFF STEPHENS

Lefthanders Championship

T2 Michael Daniels, Murrells Inlet

Rich Weston, Pawleys Island

66, 69 – 135

Amateur Championship

Mid-Am Four-Ball Championship

Lake Marion Golf Club, Santee

T2 Eddie Hargett, Blythewood

Walter Todd, Laurens

66, 69 – 135

Columbia Country Club, Blythewood

Bulls Bay Golf Club, Awendaw

1

T1 Kevin King, Bluffton

Todd White, Roebuck 63**

1

Reid Bedell, Spartanburg 68, 68 – 136

T2 Brian Lee, Blythewood

72, 69 – 141 T2 Christian Baliker, Simpsonville

70, 73 – 143 4

Brent Roof, Columbia 72, 71 – 143

Georgia-South Carolina Junior Team Matches

T2 Christian Salzer, Sumter

70, 66, 69, 72 – 277

The Farm Golf Club, Rocky Face, GA

4

DAY ONE

Georgia – 4, South Carolina – 4

Senior Four-Ball Championship

DAY TWO

Georgia – 5, South Carolina – 3

Orangeburg Country Club, Orangeburg

FINAL RESULTS

Georgia – 9, South Carolina – 7

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT 1

Stan Sill, Spartanburg Jeff Stephens, Ware Shoals 69, 64 – 133

T2 Jack Brown, Greer

Tim Pope, Spartanburg

69, 66 – 135

Jonathan Griz, Hilton Head 68, 71, 68, 67 – 274

Congrats to all Golfers!

Georgia-South Carolina Junior Team Matches SOUTH CAROLINA TEAM

T2 Kyle Bearden, Barnwell

69, 70, 68, 70 – 277

T1 Ben Karns, Mt. Pleasant

Patrick Townes, Johns Island 63**

T3 John Assey, Mt. Pleasant Scott Smith, Mt. Pleasant Tyler Gray, Lugoff 64 70, 67, 67, 74 – 278 T3 Weston Bell, Piedmont 5 Evans Lewis, Sumter

Robert Lutomski, Simpsonville

69, 65, 75, 71 – 280 64 6 Todd White, Roebuck T3 Blake Austin, Barnwell

72, 71, 71, 69 – 283

Kyle Bearden, Barnwell T7 Christian Baliker, Simpsonville 64

73, 68, 70, 74 – 285 T3 Zack Siefert, Gaffney

Cabrick Waters, Simpsonville T7 Rafe Reynolds, Greenville 64

74, 67, 71, 73 – 285 T9 Robert Lutomski, Simpsonville T3 Cordes Ford, Charleston

Rion Moore, Georgetown

70, 71, 74, 72 – 287 64 T9 Jimmy McCollum, Greer **Declared co-champions due to weather shortened event

70, 69, 73, 75 – 287

Bulls Bay Golf Club

MID-AM FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP FA LL 2 0 2 0

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WE WERE MADE FOR EACH OTHER.

Book your Myrtle Beach golf getaway today.

When you are ready, We are ready.

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