PLAYING IT AS IT LIES

Story By JOHN DUPONT

PROFILES

TRACE CARTER

Trace poses with 2020 Masters Champion Dustin Johnson in front of the Augusta National clubhouse.

PLAYING IT

AS IT LIES

PHOTO BY CHRIS TROTMAN

WARE COUNTY HIGH STUDENT TRACE CARTER HAS A FIRM GRIP ON GOLF AND LIFE

Barely two years into his high school career, Trace Carter is already among the best golfers his age in the United States. A top performer for Ware County High School and the reigning club champion at Okefenokee Country Club, Carter is also highly ranked by the American Junior Golf

Association (AJGA). Last spring, he added another coveted entry to his resume, fi nishing as the Boys’ 14-15 runner-up at the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at

Augusta National Golf Club.

“Honestly, I was not really that nervous at fi rst,” says Carter, now 16. “I’ve been on that stage before and played against those guys, so we really just had fun. Then when we got on the greens I just felt numb. I couldn’t really take it in, but after I got home it kind of sank in.”

Golf runs deep in Carter’s family. His dad and mom each played on state championship golf teams at Pierce County High School. It was his late grandfather,

Royce Carter, though, who instilled a love of the game.

The teen explains, “When I was 7, my grandpa bought me a 7-iron at a pawn shop. He played golf with his buddies, Donnie Harris and DeDe Thomas, and I grew up around them and the game. I had played football, basketball, and baseball. But golf was special.”

Despite having never played nine holes – not even in practice – Carter fi nished second in the fi rst tournament he ever played, in 2015. Since then his game has developed exponentially. He fi nished second and third overall the past two years at the Okefenokee Invitational and helped lead Ware County High to a region title and top-fi ve state fi nish as a freshman. At press time, he was ranked fi fth in his age group in the state on the Junior Golf Scoreboard.

“From the day Trace was born he has shown determination and independence,” says his mother, Lauren. “He was fascinated with watching adults do things. He strived daily to do anything and everything those around him could do, and would not stop until he could. Instead of learning to ride a [conventional bicycle], he learned to ride a dirt bike at 4. No matter what it was, if he wanted to do it, he would fi gure it out and he wanted to fi gure it out on his own.”

Summer of 2021 was particularly busy for the golfi ng phenom. The Drive, Chip & Putt competition began with more than 10,000 young hopefuls and included three qualifying stops in Florida for Carter: Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, TPC Sawgrass, and the Bears Club. Then came the national fi nals in Augusta on the Sunday before

BELOW: Trace reacts after a chip as two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson watches during the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National in April.

PHOTO BY CHARLES LABERGE

the start of the 2022 Masters. Carter took six swings: two drives, two chips, and two putts. At the end of the day he was the national runner-up in his age group.

“Trace’s success has been everything to me,” says his father and swing coach, Rhett. “I’m one who has always liked to compete, but nothing has compared to just watching him. He and Lauren travel during the summer and they have been home fewer than 10 days each of the last two years. We love this stu and we’re in it 100 percent.”

AJGA success will likely predict where Carter plays collegiately, and he will be eligible to receive scholarship o ers beginning next June. With a chief desire to play in the Southeastern Conference, he has a wish list that includes Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt. Sporting a handicap of +2.6 – meaning, in lay terms, he’s capable of consistently posting under-par scores – he fi gures to have plenty of suitors.

“Georgia and Florida are where the best competition is, so I just kind of want to stay in this area,” Carter says. “The guys that are fl ying to tournaments are coming from places like California to play here.”

Perhaps the best is yet to come for Carter, who is not yet halfway through his prep career.

“Chipping and putting have always been my strength,” he notes. “Right now I’m working hard to improve my long irons. I actually started hitting a fade. I’d been hitting a draw and it was either too long or too short. Now I can better control where the ball is going.”

Carter’s mother describes him as “one who loves Jesus Christ, his family, and golf.” He says he dreams of raising a family of his own and becoming successful in business. His fi rst professional aim, though, is golf, which he explains in borrowing a line from golfi ng great Bobby Jones: “You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball as it lies.”

Pausing, Carter adds: “In that way, it’s a lot like life.” OL

TOP RIGHT: Trace practices for the Drive, Chip & Putt competition.

PHOTO BY HUNTER MARTIN

BOTTOM RIGHT: Trace with his father, Rhett, sisters Coast and Sofi e (front), and mother, Lauren.

PHOTO BY HUNTER MARTIN