Palmetto Golfer - Spring 2020 by Community Journals

T H E

M A G A Z I N E

O F

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

Ocean Course Part of

THE LEGACY CAST BY DYE SPRING 2020 • $5

www.scgolf.org

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Award Brings Tom to Tears SC’s Best of New and Old

COLUMBIA SC PERMIT # 535

P-A-I-D

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE

PALMETTO

GOLFER S P R I N G

2 0 2 0

Members of the South Carolina Golf Association, Much of this issue of Palmetto Golfer was prepared before the gravity of the COVID-19 outbreak took hold. This is an unprecedent period that has already forced us to cancel some events and postpone others. We are constantly monitoring mandates and directives from Federal and State authorities and remain in regular contact with our allied associations in the Carolinas and beyond. Based on the information available to us, we will continue to adjust our tournament and event schedules as needed. Our ultimate goal, of course, is to keep our participants, supporters, volunteers, employees and communities safe. I wish the best to you and your families during these challenging times and ask that let us know if we can assist or answer any questions you may have. Thank you all for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you on a golf course soon. Biff Lathrop Executive Director

Past-Presidents

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

Palmetto Golfer

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

4 Association Honors the Best 6 Sease Amazes as Player of Year 7 Senior Hargett Breaks Through 9

Handicapping’s New World Order

10 Celebrating Seabrook Island Club 13 Mason is Carolinas Top Pro 14 Golf Panel’s Best of Two Eras 16 Home State Reflections on Pete Dye 22 McCarty is Golf Turf Champion 24

STATEWIDE

SC WOMEN’S GOLF COLUMN

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

SPECIAL SECTION: ANNUAL JUNIOR REVIEW

COVER: The 17th green at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course. Inset photo: The man who designed the course, the late Pete Dye.

South Carolina Golf Association

Inside This Issue

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

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

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

Committee Emeritus

Drawdy, Paul Graham, Chuck Howell, Tim Kreger, Mike Mahoney, Rick Miller, John Orr, Barry Reynolds, Jesse Smith, Jerry Stafford, Steve Wilmot

Legal Counsel

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

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

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

SCJGA Staff Senior Director............................Justin Fleming Assistant Director.......................Michael Mckee

SCJGF Staff Senior Director – Joe Quick

Subscriptions or Address Changes

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

MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 286, Irmo, SC 29063

M E S S A G E

F R O M

T H E

P R E S I D E N T

#playgolfSC A HASHTAG WITH GAME

is a team competition, not an individual FIRST, I WANT TO EXPRESS my competition. The PGA of America, in a gratitude for the opportunity to serve joint initiative with the USGA and the as president of the South Carolina Golf Masters Tournament, created Drive, Association. I would be remiss if I failed Chip, and Putt, a free nationwide junior to congratulate past-president Ron golf competition aimed at developing Swinson on the wonderful service he junior golfers. performed during his tenure. During Maybe the old cliché “We have his term he coordinated the hire and always done it this way” needs to be transition of our new executive director, thrown out and we need alternative Biff Lathrop. Watching president ways to introduce golf to the younger Swinson in action was like watching a generation. Just a few months ago four duck on the pond; he looked very calm of our staff participated in the 100but under the water he was paddling hole challenge in support of Youth on very hard. With his skills and effort, the Course, which allows kids to play a transition was transparent. round of golf for $5. These are the kinds We are honored and fortunate of programs that make golf affordable to have Lea Anne Brown join our and fun for children. executive committee. She brings with Many clubs offer junior golf clinics to her a wealth of experience in the golfing Many clubs offer junior introduce children to the game we love. world, not to mention her individual My challenge to each of you is for you to playing achievements and her place in golf clinics to introduce look at your family and see if your children the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame. children to the game we or grandchildren have been introduced to January brought the South Carolina love. My challenge to golf. Think outside the box and go a step Hall of Fame induction of two very farther and if you have children in your deserving individuals, Mike Lawrence each of you is for you to neighborhood whose parents don’t play and Kevin King. look at your family and golf, take a moment to tell them about The In 2019, our SCGA tournament schedule see if your children or First Tee and the South Carolina Junior was again plagued by inclement weather, which seems to be becoming the norm. grandchildren have been Golf Association and all the programs that we conduct. Our staff took these setbacks in stride and introduced to golf. In closing, I look forward to working made the best of a bad situation. with the executive committee and staff in For a moment, I want to revisit a promoting golf in our state. The South situation that we have been dealing with Carolina Golf Association is in wonderful shape. We have a staff for the past few years. Country clubs and golf courses in general that is energetic, imaginative, tech-savvy and, most importantly, have experienced a notable decline in members and golfers. Why they love what they do. is this happening? My second challenge to you is for you to take your smart If you look at the demographics of the golf world, you see that phone and type in #playgolfSC and see what’s happening in the older crowd is still playing as long as their health permits. South Carolina golf. There is a lot going on and we’d like as The younger age group is spending weekends with their children many people as possible – old friends and new – making the at soccer games, swim meets and baseball games, which is most of those opportunities. admirable, but as a result, the children are not being introduced to golf. Maybe golf is too time-consuming and expensive. The PGA of America has created PGA Junior Leagues which

Vic Hannon

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

‘There’s the Moment of Silence…’ WHEN BEGINNERS GET THE GAME

BY TRENT BOUTS

AT 65, MIKE LAWRENCE IS RIGHT on retiring age but of course he has no intention of doing anything of the sort, at least not when it comes to passing on his passion for golf. Lawrence may have been inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in January, but he remains one of the more modest souls in that illustrious corridor. “Is there a grinder category?” Lawrence apparently asked in

Hall of Famer Kevin King

Hall of Famer Mike Lawrence

astonishment when he heard he was being inducted. When Joey Herbert told that story at the South Carolina Golf Association awards day at Columbia Country Club, it brought the house down. As the owner of Boscobel Golf Club in Pendleton, Herbert was speaking at Lawrence’s induction. “You’re not just getting a Hall of Fame golfer,” he said of his friend and colleague at Boscobel. “You’re getting a Hall of Fame person.” To attend his induction ceremony, Lawrence, an accomplished player and coach of the game, drove nearly 1,100 miles on a round trip between tournament rounds in Port St. Lucie, FL. Apparently, you do things like that when you love something that much. “I’m as excited about my game right now as I have ever been,” Lawrence said, explaining why he would soon be back in the car for nearly eight hours. “It’s that one solid golf shot that we hit,” he said of the hook that makes a lifelong player out of a beginner, regardless of talent. He sees it when he’s teaching. “There’s always that look, 4

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

(Above) Charles Drawdy Distinguished Service Award winner Chris Miller. (Below) Taylor Lance, Clarissa Childs and Lynn Holmes accept the Tom Fazio Service to Golf Award on behalf of the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association.

when they hit that first solid shot. They look at me and I look at them and there’s that moment of silence that we’re both enjoying.” Lawrence was inducted along with Kevin King from Bluffton, who is one of only two men to have won the state’s Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Senior championships. Like Lawrence, King’s passion for the game runs deep and it is no accident that his granddaughter is named Palmer. King was inducted by longtime friend and playing rival Todd White, himself a Walker Cup player and five-time SCGA Player of the Year. Hall of Fame chairman, Frank Ford, III, himself a member, praised both inductees for more than their playing ability. “We do definitely look for excellence in play,” he said. “But we also look at how much you give back to the game. Integrity also matters a lot. How does a person comport themselves on the golf course?” Ford said King and Lawrence commanded impeccable records on each front. The Hall of Fame inductions were the high point of a day that included a host of recognitions. Player of the Year Jordan Sease and Senior Player of the Year Eddie Hargett were both celebrated (see stories pages 6 and 7). Long time junior golf administrator Chris Miller, now retired, received the Charles Drawdy Distinguished Service Award. The Women’s South Carolina Golf Association received the Tom Fazio Service to Golf Award, and Seabrook Island Club was honored as the Club of the Year (see story page 10). SCGA executive director Biff Lathrop listed some of the contributions that led to Seabrook Island Club’s recognition. They included providing the most volunteers from any club for the U.S. Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston in 2019, hosting many SCGA championships including the Mid-Amateur, Senior and Senior Four Ball, along with 13 years of the Tommy Cuthbert All-Stars for the SCJGA. Lathrop also gave a nod to his counterpart at the Women’s SCGA. That association’s executive director Clarissa Childs received a sponsor’s exemption to last year’s Senior LPGA Championship on The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort in Indiana. Not only did she play, she made the cut, finishing tied for 41st. Preceding the awards ceremonies, Vic Hannon from Camden was elected SCGA president at the association’s annual meeting. Jeff Connell from Columbia is the association’s new vice president.  S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

P L AY E R O F T H E Y E A R

From ‘Decent’ Junior To Shining Sease B Y R O N N I E M U S S E LW H I T E

Jordan Sease won two individual championships in 2019 as well as two team championships.

IN SPORTS, THERE’S A FINE, yet very distinct, line between good and great, and try as they may, most athletes are never able to cross it. Sure, there are plenty who enjoy levels of success that the vast majority of lesser skilled or talented competitors can only hope to achieve, but few attain the status of elite. Jordan Sease is a notable exception to that rule. By edging out Raymond Wooten of Clemson to claim the 2019 South Carolina Golf Association’s Player of the Year award, the Lexington native stepped across the proverbial line into greatness and etched his name on a trophy that includes such Palmetto State golf icons as D.J. Trahan, Jonathan Byrd and Charles Warren. This accomplishment, particularly when you 6

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

consider some of the other golf legends who have hailed from South Carolina, places Sease in rarefied air. But that hasn’t always been the case. A self-described “decent” junior golfer, Sease grew up playing in South Carolina Junior Golf Association events and later at Lexington High School. But he wasn’t highly recruited by college programs. Eventually, he walked-on at Winthrop University, where he played from 2008 to 2012 for coach Kevin Pendley and teamed with Brandon Truesdale, Kyle Bearden and Walt Todd, Jr., each of whom have made their own imprints on the Carolinas amateur circuit. During his junior year at Winthrop, Sease began to truly grow as a player and realize he could more than hold his own with the best.

“Coach Pendley helped me a lot with my game, especially with the mental side and how to play the course,” Sease recounts. “He helped me understand when to attack and how to play smarter and with more strategy. He taught me how to not get as frustrated after hitting a bad shot and letting one poor shot turn into two or three.” Following graduation, Sease turned professional and plied his trade on the mini tours for two years, an experience he calls “a grind from week to week” and “a tough way to make a living.” It also taught Sease how to find pleasure in simpler things. “You can’t let it become a job,” he says. “You have to keep things in perspective and enjoy playing in the tournaments. Otherwise, you put too much pressure on (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)

S E N I O R P L AY E R O F T H E Y E A R

Hargett the Bridesmaid Finally Breaks Through BY BOB GILLESPIE

WHEN BLYTHEWOOD’S EDDIE HARGETT learned he had won the South Carolina Golf Association’s Senior Player of the Year award, his first inclination was to check the math; after all, he edged out three-time defending winner, and regular playing partner, Walter Todd by four-tenths of a point in the year-long tabulation. “Last year, I was second in the SCGA and CGA (Carolinas Golf Association) points, which has been a theme for me since I’ve been playing golf,” Hargett says with a laugh. “I’ve always been a bridesmaid.” He’s not exaggerating. In attempting to qualify for USGA events from mid-amateurs to seniors, “I’ve been an alternate 17 times and never got in (as an alternate). A couple years ago, I was first alternate for the (U.S.) Senior Open, the Senior Am and the Mid-Am … and got in none. So, to finally get over the hump is pretty gratifying.” Asked what finally breaking through to No. 1 meant, “three words come to mind: honored, thankful and grateful,” he says. Hargett listed players he was “honored” to compete against, and gratitude to the SCGA for “the opportunity to compete in a sport we love.” As for the thankful part: five years ago, Hargett was unsure whether he’d ever play golf again. Not just at the highest amateur levels, but simply being able to swing a club. In 2014, he underwent spinal (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)

yourself, and (golf) stops being fun.” After failing twice to earn his PGA Tour card at qualifying school, Sease ended his pursuit of the professional dream and returned to South Carolina, where he started working full-time and took a five-month break from the game. The following fall he entered graduate school at Clemson University to study construction science and management, during which time he regained his amateur status but refrained from competitive play until after graduation. In 2018, Sease began working as a project manager at Jumper Carter Sease Architects; it was then that he also returned to tournament golf. Though he didn’t claim any individual titles that year, he played well enough to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, advancing to the second round of match play. The turning point proved to be the 2019 Devlin Four-Ball at Secession Golf Club in Beaufort in early June, where Sease partnered with his former collegiate teammate Walt to claim the title. “That win gave me some confidence,” Sease notes. “I finally started getting some putts to fall. After seeing a couple drop in some tournaments, things just dominoed from there.” A few weeks later, he fired a final round 68 in the 2019 Festival of Flowers at The Patriot at Grand Harbor to put himself into a playoff with another former teammate, Kyle, then birdied the first playoff hole to win the title. In August, all the dominos 8

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

seemed to fall into place when Sease earned co-medalist honors in U.S. Mid-Am qualifying at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, followed a week later by a win in the SCGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball with Brandon at the Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach. Two weeks after that, Sease claimed the SCGA Mid-Am at Palmetto Hall Plantation’s Arthur Hills Course. “It’s unique from (the SCGA’s) perspective to see Jordan’s success because he’s part of a group of players who went out and played professionally, then came back and are now playing amateur golf again,” says Biff Lathrop, executive director of the SCGA. “Over the past few years, our Player of the Year has been won by college golfers, who play a lot of national events but not as many SCGA events. South Carolina has a lot of great players, so it’s fun for us to see people who actually play in our events win Player of the Year.” Looking ahead to the 2020 season, Sease hasn’t set specific goals for wins or where he hopes to land in the end-of-year points standings; rather, he’s content to embrace the moment and enjoy the ride. “I do it for fun, but I love competing and want to play well,” he says. “And I would like to play well in the State Am, which is the best tourney in the state with some great players, and qualify for U.S. Mid-Am, make match play, and then hopefully make some noise.” And, with any luck, Sease just may continue to enjoy sustained success, solidifying his legacy and proving that the path to greatness is a journey, not a destination. 

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7)

fusion surgery – “the same thing Tiger (Woods) had,” he says – and spent three-plus years getting back to “about 85 percent strength in my left arm” and perhaps 50 percent overall. “I had no indicators; I woke up one morning with a stiff neck, and by the next day, I couldn’t move,” Hargett says. A disc in the C6-C7 area of his spine was pushing against nerves, and “in a matter of two weeks, my left arm had atrophied to the point where I couldn’t hold up a glass.” After surgery, he spent weeks houseand chair-bound. “The doctors said, ‘We can fix the pain, but swinging a golf club … we don’t know,’” Hargett says. Results from rehabilitation came slowly. “It took me a year to be able to do one push up. I lost everything in my left arm … which is not good for a golfer.” Fortunately, Hargett was always a proponent of regular gym visits. “Then this year, things in the gym I couldn’t do for those (three) years, I noticed I could do again,” he says. “It was subtle – but the differences between playing and playing competitively are subtle things.” Hargett also had to regain his feel for golf. He says when he resumed playing, he’d developed some “horrible habits” to compensate for what he’d lost. In 2018, though, he started seeing promise, as he finished second in the SCGA senior ranks – to, of course, his buddy Walter Todd. In 2019, he got off to a quick start, winning the SCGA Tournament of Champions – “that absolutely got me going” – and regained lost confidence. “When you’re put in that situation and succeed, it’s a building block,”

he says. Hargett can’t pinpoint a particular tournament that secured the year-long senior award; in fact, “I didn’t think I had a chance because I didn’t play enough events (fewer than 20).” But seven top-5s, including in the prestigious North-South Senior Amateur and Sunnehanna Senior Amateur, kept him close. He says a fourth-place finish at Pine Needles late in the year might’ve secured things. “(Todd) was ahead of me until then,” he says. Even winning Senior Player of the Year, Hargett says he “felt like I underachieved this year from a wins perspective. I was in the hunt a number of times and didn’t finish.” But then he brightens: “So I’m optimistic going into (2020).” Whatever comes next, “this is a representation of a year of accomplishment,” he says. “Anyone can get hot for a week (to win a tournament). Something like this is more important.” Hargett also knows what might’ve been, even after surgery, had he slacked off on workouts. That’s made him even more a gym rat (especially on the rowing machine) and an advocate of pre-golf stretching. “A huge piece of senior golf is fitness,” he says. “I’d say the group (of players) who are competitive at 55 is probably smaller (than among nonseniors) because of the fitness part.” He laughs. “Walter (Todd) also works on fitness.” It’s a reality of age, Hargett says. “There’s an old saying: A day in senior golf where you only have one ailment is a good day.” And the day when you win Senior Player of the Year? That’s the best day of all. 

Handicaps Are No Longer What They Used to Be

BY JAMES PARK

THE LAUNCH OF THE World Handicap System in 2020 introduces golfers to some new policies and procedures that will affect their handicap indexes, course handicaps, and new playing handicaps. For many, the effects have already been experienced. For starters, the handicap index formula now uses the average of a golfer’s lowest eight score differentials; the previous formula took an average of the lowest 10, then multiplied that average by 96 percent. When the new GHIN system went live on January 6, some golfers saw a change in their handicap index, without having posted any new scores. For lower handicap golfers, the changes would have been minimal, at most. A very notable change for golfers is how much their course handicap now varies from tee to tee. Under the old system, a handicap index was converted to a course handicap to tell a golfer how many strokes

he or she needed for their net score to equal the course rating. Under the new Rules of Handicapping, a course handicap tells the golfer how many strokes are necessary for their net score to equal par. For golfers who primarily play shorter tees, where course ratings are often much lower than par, the result is a lower course handicap than they have been accustomed to. For golfers who play longer sets of tees, where course ratings are sometimes higher than par, the result is a higher course handicap than what they’re used to. Additionally, the new term − playing handicap − was introduced under the new Rules of Handicapping. A playing handicap is the actual number of strokes you give or receive for the round being played. It is typically the same number as your course handicap. The exception is when a term of the competition applies, such as a handicap

allowance used for equity in certain formats of play. The Rules of Handicapping also provide new recommended allowances for various competitions − individual, team, stroke and match play, etc., to help committees offer fair competitions to members and guests. Other features of the World Handicap System include a new extreme score reduction; soft and hard caps on how much a handicap index can increase; and a playing conditions calculation. For more information on these and many other features of the World Handicap System, please contact your home club handicap committee or visit www.carolinasghinsupport.org. 

James Park is member services director for the SCGA.

How How to to use use your your Handicap Handicap Index Index under under the the World Handicap System World Handicap System Handicap Index Handicap Index

The single measurement of golfing The single ability usedmeasurement worldwide. of golfing ability used worldwide.

Course Handicap Course Handicap

The number used to adjust hole scores Thehandicap number used to adjust hole scores for purposes. for handicap purposes.

Playing Handicap Playing Handicap The number used to PLAY! The number used to PLAY! It’s typically the same as your Course It’s typically same as your Course Handicap butthe may be adjusted based Handicap butof may adjusted based on the terms thebe competition or on the terms of the competition or format of play. format of play.

Changes under the World Handicap System Changes under the World Handicap System

Set your Target! Set your Target!

Your Course Handicap (CH) now represents the number of strokes Your Course Handicap needed to play to Par. (CH) now represents the number of strokes needed to play to Par.

Target Course = Target Course Score = Handicap Score Handicap Your Target Score is the Your Target Score is the score needed to play to scorehandicap. needed to play to your your handicap.

How will this change affect you? How will this change affect you? If the Course Rating is HIGHER than Par, your Course Handicap will go up: If the Course Rating is HIGHER than Par, your Course Handicap will go up: Course Rating Course Rating 72.0 72.0

Par Par 70 70

Impact on CH Impact on CH 2 strokes higher 2 strokes higher

Course Rating Course Rating 68.0 68.0

Par Par 70 70

Impact on CH Impact on CH 2 strokes lower 2 strokes lower

+ +

Par Par

If the Course Rating is LOWER than Par, your Course Handicap will go down: If the Course Rating is LOWER than Par, your Course Handicap will go down:

For more information or For more information or to learn more about the WHS, to learn more about the WHS, visit usga.org/whs visit usga.org/whs

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

CLUB OF THE YEAR

‘Good Friend of Golf’ Is Club of the Year

B Y R O N N I E M U S S E LW H I T E

IN LIFE, PEOPLE typically view forks in the road as moments in time when they must make choices that, to some degree, shape their futures. Golfers, vacationers and thousands of others who’ve traveled southwest from the bustle of downtown Charleston to the shores of the Atlantic have encountered one of these forks - albeit of the literal variety - when they reach the end of Bohicket Road. The winding, Spanish moss-draped thoroughfare leads travelers on a languid drive through rural enclaves of the Lowcountry before emerging from a canopy of oaks and arriving at the threshold of two barrier islands. To the left, Kiawah; to the right, Seabrook. Thanks in no small part to the notoriety of The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, most travelers have historically chosen the left turn. Increasingly, however, more and more sojourners are veering right and discovering the hidden treasures that lie behind the gates of Seabrook Island at the private Seabrook Island Club. The South Carolina Golf Association recently chose that route, naming Seabrook the 2019 Club of the Year for its willingness to host championships, non-tournament events and various initiatives to help grow the game of golf. “Seabrook Island Club has been a good friend of the SCGA for many years,” SCGA executive director Biff Lathrop says. “They’ve hosted countless championships, including the junior all-stars (14 years), four-balls and mid-am’s, and they’re very open to hosting rules seminars and other events. It’s just an all-around great experience when we go to Seabrook.” Centuries before Seabrook was developed as a private club and residential community, the island was inhabited by coastal Indians, most notably the

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Stono tribe. By 1684, the natives were persuaded to cede their lands to the Lords Proprietors, who eventually sold the property to English settlers. The island’s first two owners, Thomas Jones and Ebenezer Simmons, used the property to grow indigo, rice and cotton. In 1816, following British occupation during the Revolutionary War, William Seabrook, a Sea Island cotton planter, purchased the land and gave the island his Seabrook family name. Seabrook began using salt marsh mud as fertilizer and became one of the first to cultivate Sea Island cotton, which eventually replaced rice and indigo as the region’s main cash crop. Following his death in 1836, island ownership was divided between Seabrook’s two sons, who held the land until 1863, when they sold the island to the family of textile magnate William Gregg. Ownership changed hands several more times through the years until, in 1970, Seabrook Island Development Corporation purchased all but 230 acres. Development of Seabrook progressed slowly over the next decade as Seabrook Development Corporation acquired additional land on the island with the intent of creating a residential and resort community in a gated setting. Ocean Winds, a Willard Byrd design that meanders out to the Atlantic Ocean before heading back inland, opened for play in July 1973, followed a year later by Seabrook Island’s Beach Club in the fall of 1974. The Island House clubhouse came online in July 1980, and Crooked Oaks, a Robert Trent Jones, Sr., course that twists and turns through acres of marsh and maritime forests accented by hundreds of ancient live oaks, debuted in October 1981. Perhaps the biggest fork in Seabrook’s historical journey came in April 1991,

››

Golf courses and housing are nestled serenely among marshlands and waterways at Seabrook Island Club. S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

when about 900 property owners decided to purchase the amenities from the principal mortgage holder and formed The Club at Seabrook Island. This move facilitated the establishment of a town government and allowed owners of property at Seabrook Island to control the roads, rights-of-way, beach trust and other amenities. It also fostered a greater sense of community, the element that defines Seabrook to this day and distinguishes the island and club from its more famous neighbor. “The thing that differentiates Seabrook is its sense of community,” general manager and chief operating officer of Seabrook Island Club, Caleb Elledge, says. “Obviously, the location on the beach, the equestrian center, being gated - those are all big draws, but the reason people choose Seabrook Island over Kiawah or other places is that it’s more of a tight-knit community.” Today, Seabrook Island is home to the state’s first Audubon International Certified Sustainable Community, which recognizes demonstrated leadership in creating a sustainable future. Ocean Winds and Crooked Oaks continue to anchor the club, offering members and guests two distinctly different experiences that incorporate elements of the island’s diverse natural setting. To bolster its golf offerings, the club recently renovated several holes on Crooked Oaks and overhauled its practice facility in 2016, an expansive complex that includes a 40,000-sq.-ft. practice tee, an adjacent fairway bunker, five target greens, two putting greens totaling more 18,000 square feet, and a separate short game area. Later this year, Ocean Winds will close for Rees Jones to spearhead an extensive renovation that will include repositioning many bunkers to allow for more access to greens via the ground. Seabrook Island Club is also investing heavily in non-golf amenities. In 2009, the club unveiled a new clubhouse, beach club and racquet club, and last year completed the first phase of renovations to the equestrian center. An overhaul of the swimming complex and phase two of enhancements to the equestrian center are scheduled this year, both part of a $10 million injection into upgrades internally and around the clubhouse to accommodate the changing needs of its members. Amenities notwithstanding, Elledge contends that what truly separates Seabrook and Seabrook Island Club are people. “We don’t have a homogenous membership,” he says. “Unlike a traditional country club, more than 50 percent of our members have never belonged to a private club, so this experience is very different to them. This isn’t an ‘old money’ club, and that creates a warmer, inviting community feel.” As for that fork at the end of Bohicket Road that could easily be viewed as a negative, Elledge sees it as a positive. “Kiawah being our neighbor benefits us,” he says. “They have a tremendous name in the industry, so their marketing helps us. Folks often come here because they know about Kiawah and ‘stumble on us,’ then the community aspect draws people in.”  12

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

(Above, from top to bottom) Seabrook Island Club sits at the mouth of the North Edisto River. Seabrook’s director of golf, Brian Thelan, with the club’s golf committee chair, Fred Finke, and the SCGA’s Club of the Year award. The green at the par three fifth hole on the Ocean Winds course at Seabrook Island Club is protected by water and three hungry bunkers.

Mason Applauded As Pro of the Year

BY TRENT BOUTS

AROUND THE TIME THE CAROLINAS PGA Section sent out a press release announcing their annual award winners, Tom Mason was on his way to Pinehurst to play in a par three tournament. With his cell phone on silent, he was oblivious to the torrent of activity that release unleashed. When he finally arrived and looked at his phone, there were 126 text messages lined up. The press release named him as the 2019 Golf Professional of the Year and, clearly, that made a lot of people in golf very happy. Mason remembers his eyes welling up at the torrent of well-wishes. “It was crazy,” he says. “Just the amount of support and what it said about the fraternal part of our business, to have so many people calling saying congratulations.” Since 2013, Mason has been the resident pro at Par Tee Golf Center in West Columbia but he has been part of the Columbia, and indeed the Carolinas, golf scene far longer. As far back as 1989, when he arrived at the University of South Carolina from Pennsylvania, he was logging as many hours on courses like Oak Hills and LinRick as he was on his business degree. He wasn’t on the Gamecock golf squad. He simply loved the game. By the time he graduated, he’d found his way into the pro shop at WildeWood, learning the ropes under Clem King, a fixture in Palmetto State golf who received the South Carolina Golf Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016. “I’d gone to Carolina because I was interested in their Masters of International Business Program,” Mason says. “But after working for Clem, I thought, ‘Nah, to heck with that. I’ll just move on and do this.’” King gave Mason a full-time job and

Carolinas PGA Section Golf Professional of the Year Tom Mason with son, Palmer, at Par Tree Golf Center.

eventually the student knew enough to take over at Woodcreek Farms. His next job took him to Florida and the Diamond Players Club at Clermont. Owned by a group of pro baseball players, the club’s name suggested something else to some not familiar with the fact. “We used to get a lot of interesting calls from girls asking if we were hiring dancers,” Mason laughs. After three years in Orlando, he returned to Columbia and Oak Hills in 2011, earning back some of the money he’d invested there on green fees a decade earlier. A few years later, he moved to Woodlands where he stayed until a fateful phone call came “out of the blue” in 2013. “Some guy asked me if I wanted to buy a driving range,” Mason says. As intrigued as he was by the idea of owning the range,

Mason was unsettled by the caller himself. “Researching the guy, I wasn’t getting a warm and fuzzy feeling about him. So, I went to the guy who owned the range and said, ‘Look, I don’t know who this cat is, but get rid of him and I’ll buy the range from you.’” It wasn’t exactly the 18-hole golf course he’d dreamed about owning over the years, but Par Tee has turned out to be an ideal fit for Mason, who was ready to be his own boss. “Owning a driving range is a totally different dynamic,” he says. “There’s less maintenance. No one complains about slow greens, no one complains about someone’s handicap being too high or the bunkers being bad, or Mr. Smith’s group playing too slow.” (CONTINUED ON PAGE 23) S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

Harbour Town Golf Links was voted the Best Classic Course in the state by the South Carolina Golf Ratings Panel. Photo: Courtesy of The Sea Pines Resort/Rob Tipton.

New and Old Testaments To Grand Designs in SC

BY TRENT BOUTS

THE NEWEST GOLF course in the state turns out to be one of the very best. Congaree, a Tom Fazio design tucked off I-95 about 20 minutes north of the Georgia state line, came in at No. 2 in the first ranking of modern courses by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel. Congaree opened, very deliberately, without fanfare in 2017 and for much of the golfing public, has remained largely under the radar. But enough of the 125-member golf panel have experienced the golf course to

see it poll second only to the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort among the best courses built in the modern era. “Those panelists who have played the golf course could hardly have been more enthusiastic,” golf panel executive director Michael Whitaker says. “Each of them was impressed by the peaceful setting, the routing, variety and challenge of the greens complexes, and also the conditioning. It is a golf course designed to play firm and fast and it behaves accordingly.”

Congaree was initiated by two of the wealthiest men in the country at the time - Robert “Bob” McNair, of The McNair Group and owner of the NFL’s Houston Texans, who died in 2018, and Dan Friedkin, of the Friedkin Group. Both had golf course ownership interests in the Carolinas before developing Congaree, McNair with the Golf Club at Briar’s Creek on Johns Island, and Friedkin with Diamond Creek Golf Club in Banner Elk, NC. Their vision with Congaree was for the golf course to be a

vehicle as much as a destination, as a means of generating financial support for the Congaree Foundation, a non-profit enterprise delivering educational, vocational and golfing opportunities for underprivileged and deserving youth. In one of the first of very few sanctioned reports on the club, Forbes said: “The story of Congaree is one of hope, inspiration and giving. It’s a story of making a difference, both locally and globally, through golf and life lessons both on

C L AS S I C R A N K I N G S 1. Sea Pines Resort – Harbour Town Golf Links (Hilton Head) Pete Dye 2. Yeamans Hall Club (Hanahan) Seth Raynor 3. Palmetto Golf Club (Aiken) Alister Mackenzie 4. Greenville Country Club – Chanticleer (Greenville) Robert Trent Jones 5. The Dunes Golf & Beach Club (Myrtle Beach) Robert Trent Jones 6. Country Club of Charleston (Charleston) Seth Raynor 7. Aiken Golf Club (Aiken) John Inglis 14

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

8. Camden Country Club (Camden) Donald Ross 9. Orangeburg Country Club (Orangeburg) Ellis Maples 10. Wild Dunes Resort – Links Course (Isle of Palms) Tom Fazio 11. Surf Golf & Beach Club (North Myrtle Beach) George Cobb 12. Furman University Golf Course (Greenville) Richard Webel and Walter Cosby 13. Country Club of Spartanburg (Spartanburg) Unknown 14. Forest Lake Club (Columbia) Maurice McCarthy

15. Greenville Country Club – Riverside (Greenville) William Langford 16. King’s North at Myrtle Beach National (Myrtle Beach) Arnold Palmer 17. Florence Country Club (Florence) George Cobb 18. Pine Lakes Country Club (Myrtle Beach) Robert White 19. Columbia Country Club (Columbia) Ellis Maples 20. Palmetto Dunes Resort – Jones Course (Hilton Head) Robert Trent Jones

the course and off … while there is no initiation fee, Congaree’s “ambassadors,” as they’re called, are encouraged to not only make a financial contribution to the charitable Congaree Foundation that’s separate from the club, but to take an active role in interacting with youth and sharing their life experiences, both good and bad.” While Congaree was clearly the freshest face on the modern list, the golf panel could not go past arguably the most familiar course as the No.1 classic course in the state, Harbour Town Golf Links, at Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, and home of the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing. That made for an auspicious double for the late Pete Dye, who designed Harbour Town with Jack Nicklaus, and who also crafted the Ocean Course. In all, Dye’s name is beside seven courses on the modern list. That’s an impressive feat but is still less than half the number designed by Tom Fazio, who has a staggering 16 in the top 50 modern courses in the state. Fazio also made it onto the classic course list, with the Links Course at Wild Dunes Resort on the Isle of Palms. For the purposes of the exercise, the golf panel used 1980 - so Wild Dunes scraped in by one year - to separate modern courses from those built during what it termed the classic era. “In analyzing the history of golf course development in South Carolina, it became obvious to us that there was a major shift in course style and construction budgets beginning around 1980,” golf panel executive director Michael Whitaker says. “From that time forward, most courses were built in conjunction with a real estate development or as part of an upscale coastal resort. After 1980, very few courses were built to solely satisfy just the golfers … They were built with an emphasis on the ‘wow factor’ to attract holiday customers or sell custom homesites. “We decided to split our ranking lists into classic (designed and created before 1980) and modern (designed and created from 1980

forward) so that our rankings would better reflect the type of courses that were built during each era, and to give us a chance to honor some additional deserving courses.” Perhaps the most notable beneficiary from the entire exercise, modern or classic, was the prominent ranking earned by Aiken Golf Club, coming in at No. 7. One of the oldest courses in the state, Aiken opened in 1912 but has spent the vast majority of its 108 years in the shadow of nearby Palmetto Golf Club, which came in at No. 3. Aiken has endured the good, the bad and the ugly in its time, as a resort, a municipal course, a private facility and now as a semi-private operation. “As the ballots came in, here’s this steady flow of support for a course that, frankly, is almost pre-classic,” Whitaker says. “It’s on a tiny property in the middle of town and doesn’t even stretch to 6,000 yards. Yet, it is full of strategy and challenge and people simply love playing it. The ranking is a tribute to the hard work of owner Jim McNair Jr. and his family, who have owned the golf course for more than 60 years.” It is also a nod to the long gone and largely unknown John Inglis, the head professional credited with the course design. Though he may have been a disciple of Donald Ross, Inglis, who was Aiken’s pro from 1915 to 1939, is conspicuous by his anonymity when compared with the other architects in the classic list’s top 10. Aiken has had the golf panel’s attention before now. Last year, it received a special honor from the panel as a Best Kept Secret on the state’s golfing map. Awards for the top-ranked modern and classic courses were presented during a banquet at the golf panel’s annual spring kick-off event at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in March. The panel also announced a special Lifetime Achievement Award for the late Pete Dye (see story page 16). The award was accepted on behalf of the family by Dye’s colleague and longtime family friend, Bobby Weed. 

MODERN RANKINGS 1. Kiawah Island Resort – Ocean Course (Kiawah Island) Pete Dye 2. Congaree Golf Club (Ridgeland) Tom Fazio 3. May River Golf Club (Palmetto Bluff) Jack Nicklaus 4. Sage Valley Golf Club (Graniteville) Tom Fazio 5. Secession Golf Club (Beaufort) Bruce Devlin 6. Kiawah Island Club – Cassique Course (Kiawah Island) Tom Watson 7. Long Cove Club (Hilton Head) Pete Dye 8. Cherokee Plantation Golf Club (Yemassee) Donald Steele 9. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (Pawleys Island) Mike Strantz 10. Bulls Bay Golf Club (Awendaw) Mike Strantz 11. Chechessee Creek Club (Okatie) Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw 12. Colleton River Plantation – Nicklaus Course (Bluffton) Jack Nicklaus 13. Kiawah Island Club – River Course (Kiawah Island) Tom Fazio 14. Colleton River Plantation – Dye Course (Bluffton) Pete Dye 15. Old Tabby Links (Spring Island) Arnold Palmer 16. Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards (Sunset) Tom Fazio 17. Cliffs at Mountain Park (Travelers Rest) Gary Player 18. Musgrove Mill Golf Club (Clinton) Arnold Palmer 19. The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek (Johns Island) Rees Jones 20. Wachesaw Plantation (Murrells Inlet) Tom Fazio 21. Haig Point Club (Daufauskie Island) Rees Jones 22. Belfair Golf Club – East Course (Hilton Head) Tom Fazio 23. Cliffs at Glassy (Landrum) Tom Jackson 24. Grande Dunes Resort Course (Myrtle Beach) Roger Rulewich 25. Belfair Golf Club – West Course (Hilton Head) Tom Fazio 26. The Reserve at Lake Keowee (Sunset) Jack Nicklaus

28. Kiawah Island Resort – Cougar Point Course (Kiawah Island) Gary Player 29. Dataw Island – Cotton Dike Course (Dataw Island) Tom Fazio 30. Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation (Little River) Ken Tomlinson 31. True Blue Plantation (Pawleys Island) Mike Strantz 32. TPC of Myrtle Beach (Murrells Inlet) Tom Fazio 33. Daniel Island Club – Beresford Creek Course (Charleston) Tom Fazio 34. Dataw Island – Morgan River Course (Dataw Island) Arthur Hills 35. Cliffs Valley Golf Course (Travelers Rest) Ben Wright 36. Thornblade Club (Greer) Tom Fazio 37. Daniel Island Club – Ralston Creek Course (Charleston) Rees Jones 38. Sea Pines – Atlantic Dunes (Hilton Head) Davis Love III 39. Cliffs at Keowee Springs (Six Mile) Tom Fazio 40. Kiawah Island Resort – Turtle Point Course (Kiawah Island) Jack Nicklaus 41. Kiawah Island Resort – Osprey Point Course (Kiawah Island) Tom Fazio 42. Sea Pines – Heron Point by Pete Dye (Hilton Head) 43. Prestwick Country Club (Myrtle Beach) Pete and P.B. Dye 44. Berkeley Hall – North Course (Bluffton) Tom Fazio 45. Wexford Plantation (Hilton Head) Arnold Palmer 46. Callawassie Island Club (Okatie) Tom Fazio 47. Barefoot Resort – Dye Course (North Myrtle Beach) Pete Dye 48. Cliffs at Keowee Falls (Salem) Jack Nicklaus 49. Grande Dunes Members Club (Myrtle Beach) Craig Schreiner and Nick Price 50. The Legends – Heathland Course (Myrtle Beach) Tom Doak

27. Debordieu Club (Georgetown) Pete Dye S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

As Long as You

LOVED GOLF YOU WERE A FRIEND OF PETEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BY TRENT BOUTS 16

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

The famed 17th green at the Ocean Course today. (Inset) Pete Dye treading the tee box on No. 17 at the Ocean Course in 1990.

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

Bobby Weed and Pete Dye at work in the office.

ABOUT A QUARTER MILE into his ride, Scot Sherman climbed off his pushbike, calves and thighs screaming, and switched to dragging and wrestling the thing through the soft sand. The recently hewn track was an entry point for vehicles busy building the new golf course at Kiawah Island Resort. Eventually, Sherman got close enough to the ocean to resume his ride on sands packed hard by the Atlantic. He took off down the beach. It was 1990 and he was on a mission. He was looking for Pete Dye. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Sherman says. “Other than I knew an aesthetic and I knew a reputation that I wanted to learn from.” The year before, Sherman, then in his early 20s and just married, was struck by lightning, at least figuratively. Itching for a career in golf course design, he traveled from his home in Greenville to watch The Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in 1989. He was on the course that Dye designed, with Jack Nicklaus riding shotgun, for the first time. He was “blown away.” “By the time I got to the 14th hole … and the bunker left of the green had a

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

ladder in it,” Sherman says. “A ladder! I knew right then, ‘I’ve got to go find Pete. This is who I need to try and work for … or try and do something with.’” Hence, the bike and the beach south of Charleston. There, Dye was creating the Ocean Course and what we revere now as one of the world’s greatest. But on the day Sherman turned up uninvited, “the place looked like the moon.” Not long before, Hurricane Hugo swept through like a buzz saw and “there were just piles of sand everywhere.” “On the one hand, it was fabulous,” Sherman says. “But on the other, I had no idea what I was looking at.” Against monumental odds, Dye

“It didn’t matter if you were the owner, or the bulldozer operator, or if you were picking up sticks, as long as you loved the game of golf, you were a friend of Pete’s.” – BOBBY WEED

completed the Ocean Course in time to host the Ryder Cup, the infamous War by the Shore, in 1991. In 2012, the course hosted South Carolina’s first major, the PGA Championship, and will do so again next year, with tweaks – “maintenance” as the resort describes the work – performed under the architectural eye of none other than Scot Sherman. He’s has come a long way from surprise incursions by bicycle. By contrast, Sherman arrived at the 2012 PGA by boat out of Charleston Harbor. And he spent time catching up with Dye, who he recalls being fascinated by the infrastructure that was magnitudes greater than for the Ryder Cup. Few could have foreseen that conversation transpiring, for all Sherman’s sweaty, youthful determination in 1990. As it turned out, Dye wasn’t even on property that day. One who might have imagined such an outcome though is Bobby Weed. Weed, who grew up in Aiken, then in and around Columbia and Lake Murray, knew Dye well for 45 years before the legendary designer died at age 94 in January. Dye was Weed’s mentor as a golf architect and as a human being. Weed worked for him starting out, with him as a colleague later

on, and, in one brief venture, as a business partner. They were always friends. “It didn’t matter if you were the owner, or the bulldozer operator, or if you were picking up sticks, as long as you loved the game of golf, you were a friend of Pete’s,” Weed says. “He had such a passion. And that passion was infectious to a great degree. As kids just out of college and trying to start your career, I mean, you were working 12, 14 hours a day, and every day. “And you could because, number one, he made it fun. And two, you knew you were in the presence of somebody who was ahead of the curve, a trendsetter. You knew you were in the presence of a genius almost, from a golf course standpoint.” In March, the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel gave a Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize Dye’s immense contribution to the game in the state through the golf courses he designed. In addition to the Ocean Course and Harbour Town, perennials at the top of best course lists, he crafted other brilliant works like Long Cove on Hilton Head and the course that bears his name at Colleton River Plantation, just across Mackay Creek in Bluffton. And there are more. As Sherman says, “Some of Pete’s greatest work is in our state. And I was personally the beneficiary of that happy circumstance. It was easy for me to go see those things he did with Pete Dye and Bobby Weed with their hands in the dirt.

a golf course, and it’s what lit my fuse in the business.” Weed, for whom Sherman worked more than a dozen years, says a special ingredient spiced Dye’s work in the Palmetto State. “Pete really enjoyed working in South Carolina,” he says. “He enjoyed the Lowcountry, he enjoyed working in conjunction with the marsh and the ocean. But he also really enjoyed the people. He told me that and Alice (Dye’s late wife, herself a golf course designer) told me that as well. “He was putting artwork on the ground like no one else, and he did it with a kind of ‘aw, shucks’ mid-western wit about him that was very folksy. Money didn’t really matter to Pete. It was more about building good golf courses. He did not own a car. He had a contract with National Rent A Car (sic). He thought driving a National was like driving a Ford or a Chevrolet. “Typically, he’d wear khaki britches and a golf shirt. He had a blue blazer and a couple of pair of brogans and that was about the extent of his wardrobe. He

Pete Dye and Scot Sherman at the grand opening of the Pete Dye Room at Sea Pines Resort.

wasn’t flashy. He wasn’t trying to impress anybody, and he treated everybody the same. And I think that’s another reason why he enjoyed being in South Carolina.” Weed first met Dye at Amelia Island Plantation in north Florida, and like Sherman at Harbour Town, was taken aback by what the slight, bespectacled, former insurance salesman was laying out. The 27 holes built to that point were cut through maritime forest, along marshes and out to the ocean. It was, and remains, a beautiful setting. But Weed was bedazzled even more what by Dye was doing tee to green. “I’d never seen a golf course like that,” he says. “Small greens, lots of bulkheads, lots of big, massive sand bunkers, lots of little small pot bunkers, and just strategy that I had never seen before. It was beautiful, beautiful property, just naturally beautiful. But what he did with these golf holes was really artwork that nobody had ever seen on a golf course.” Visionaries aren’t always welcomed by the status quo. Sometimes true groundbreakers are ridiculed if not rejected outright. And Dye’s affinity for railroad ties and bulkheads raised eyebrows initially. “He’d take those fairways right over to the edges and sometimes he had a real hard line on them, a hard edge,” Weed ›› S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

says. “You were either in play or out of play. It was just that black and white and cut and dried. There wasn’t any of this looking for your ball with the old transition areas. If anything, it only helped speed up play.” But one of Dye’s great assets, Weed says, was that he could sell his concepts, a skill his insurance days doubtlessly helped hone, and one all the more important for someone who built from the ground and his imagination, more than topographical maps and meticulous drafting. “He didn’t carry around a set of plans, didn’t need a set of plans,” Sherman says. “He knew what he wanted, generally speaking, and with variations on that theme every day. More often he’d drop to his knees and hollow out this little bunker with his hands, literally, and say, ‘This is it.’ The dirt was more important to him, the shapes.” Weed agrees. “Pete had a great way of conveying his position, his point, and getting people to follow what he was trying to do,” he says. “I often said he could sell prescription sunglasses to Ray Charles. He was a great storyteller. He could do it with humor, he could do it with wit.” Consider the name of that Bobby Weed and Pete Dye at play on the golf course.

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

“I often said he could sell prescription sunglasses to Ray Charles. He was a great storyteller.” – BOBBY WEED

business Weed had in partnership with Dye and his brother, P.D. Dye, himself a golf course architect. For three men who knew plenty about what golfers liked, Dye, Weed, Dye was a delightful inside joke. Sometimes the humor was a little more backhanded. “You knew you had arrived when you were called a dumbass,” Sherman says. “He wanted you to try things. ‘Don’t just wait for me.’ Then he’d be like, ‘Okay, dumbass. It’s close, but it doesn’t really work.’ He’d get his point across and could be endearing at the same time. He was a great communicator.” As determined as he was with his trespass in 1990, it would be some time later before Sherman actually shook hands with Dye himself. Initially, it was Alice who shepherd the youngster

toward his dream. Maybe impressed by the kid’s chutzpah, one of the workers he encountered out on the Ocean Course gave him a phone number. “Miss Alice sort of ran the ship and she directed me more than Pete did at that time,” Sherman says. “In those days, you called on a landline and their answering machine had a message like, ‘Speak slowly and loudly, our answering machine is old.’ I corresponded with her over the phone some and then got a letter from her suggesting some things I should do.” One recommendation was for Sherman to reach out to Perry Dye, another brother of Pete’s, and, “Doggone it, if Perry didn’t hire me immediately,” Sherman says. He moved to Denver for a project Perry and Pete were collaborating on and six months later was posted to Hawaii as a construction manager. “All the Dyes told me, you need to get in a ditch and learn this business from the ground up.” Among the team that built two courses in Hawaii over the next three years were many of those who brought the Ocean Course out of the ground. In the years to come, Sherman would come into contact with various branches of the extensive Dye family

Alice Dye, Scot Sherman, Allen MacCurrach (who did construction work at the Ocean Course) and Pete Dye at a meeting of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.

tree. His last new project with the Dye stamp on it was at White Oak Plantation, a highly private course with a wildlife conservation backdrop, in north Florida. Sherman and Weed both plan to attend a memorial service for Dye at Crooked Stick in Indiana in May. It was the course Pete and Alice designed in 1964 and where John Daly burst from obscurity, winning the 1991 PGA Championship. It will be a celebration of a life well-lived and, as Weed says, a life that will breathe on through Pete Dye’s golf OL D C OU R S E

courses and even some yet to be built. “As great a legacy as Pete left us with all of his golf courses, and the major championships his golf courses have held, I think an equal component of his legacy will come through all the people that he touched and introduced into the business,” Weed says. “People in the golf course construction area, the golf course superintendent world, and of course architects and designers like myself. “He was so giving of what he was

thinking, and why he was doing what he was doing. Why he would put angles, diagonals and features in greens. I mean he would share all of that. Almost like an instructor or an educator, like a professor. I guess what I miss most about him today is that I don’t have access to him like I did. I can’t call him. “But I find myself building golf holes and reminiscing about how much I learned from him and how much I picked up from him. So, I think I have access to him in different ways today.” 

SYDNEY

Play the Game. See the World.

Worldwide Golf Tours & Cruises at PerryGolf.com

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

Rock Star’s Ground Game Great for Golfers in SC

A TALL MAN, BERT MCCARTY has a big footprint on the game in South Carolina, but you would never hear that from him, or from most golfers, frankly. Modest and unassuming, McCarty is a professor of horticulture specializing in turfgrass science and management at Clemson University. That may read a little dry to some, but in the world of turfgrass scientists, the guy is a rock star. McCarty racks up awards and honors and book titles in the way Tiger Woods claimed silverware for 20 years. Anyone who plays golf in South Carolina benefits from his work, the science he commands and the research he undertakes. His word is gospel to golf course superintendents. So, when he says golfers can expect to see more annual bluegrass this spring, it’s a lock. Same with the proliferation of goosegrass he says to expect come summer. Our excessively rainy winter has likely diluted superintendents’ best efforts to combat these pests ahead of time.

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

There is rarely simple math in golf course maintenance. Because of the myriad organisms involved at ground level and the variety of natural elements from above, superintendents are constantly subject to the law of unintended consequences. Addressing one issue can create another, a side effect if you like, much like the medicines we use. As a result, superintendents are frequently forced to make judgment calls, gambles almost. Whether they are right or wrong, and to what degree, is often influenced by the weather that follows, which of course is never guaranteed. Don Garrett, the certified golf course superintendent at The Walker Course at Clemson, once told colleagues he’d just had his best year in the business after nearly every 50-50 call he had to make went his way. Someone suggested he must be looking forward to the year ahead now that he had this whole business worked out. “Not on your life,” he said. “I’m dreading it. No one could get that lucky again.” The point is, that for all the science, there is an art to maintaining golf courses, a “feel” that a superintendent develops based on a blend of knowledge, experience and any inherent sense of how things are likely to play out. But imagine where we would be without the science. Without it, superintendents would be simply guessing, which brings us back to McCarty. A son of parents shaped by the Depression era, Bert McCarty grew up in tiny Batesburg in the Midlands. He grew up outdoors more often than in. The woods

Dr. Bert McCarty is a rock star in the world of turfgrass science.

out back were his playground. He hunted and fished and saw how the seasons shifted things. And all the while he paid attention, tried to join dots, make sense of it all. Much of that trait came from his mother, Emily, who taught middle school biology for 32 years and constantly encouraged curiosity in her sons. McCarty was one of three boys. His late father, Tyrone, worked in textiles after returning from

Navy service during World War II. The McCarty’s was not a life of plenty. Only two rooms, the kitchen and a bathroom, were heated. None were air-conditioned. Saving money and solving problems became part of the youngest McCarty’s make-up, much as it is for superintendents. “For most golf course superintendents … they have limited budgets that they have to stretch as far as they can,” he says. “By and large, they are very frugal and very innovative.” Putting McCarty’s service to superintendents and golf in context, Carolinas GCSA executive director Tim Kreger references the game’s $7-billion economic footprint in the region. “It’s very easy to make a case that Bert McCarty’s career is one of the reasons we can bank on that economic benefit year after year,” he says. “He makes the game better from below ground level through his research, and from above, through his teaching

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13)

And critically, Mason adds, “I can teach as much as I want.” For all the volunteer hours he has devoted as a board member for the South Carolina PGA Chapter and the Carolinas PGA Section and working with allied group such as golf course owners and golf course superintendents, Mason has given every bit as much to junior golfers. He is a passionate advocate of the game and what it can do for young people. He collaborates closely with the South Carolina Junior Golf Association and provides Columbia area kids with access to the PGA Junior League program. He makes his range available to high school teams, as well as Drive, Chip and Putt events and coaches Columbia College’s women’s golf team. He also works hard to introduce the game to older beginners. One, Miriam Hair, wrote to congratulate him on his award. “That’s a well-deserved award for someone that works tremendously hard to get folks like myself interested in golf,” she said. “You inspired me to join a club and now I am playing at least once a week

and support of future and current superintendents.” The Carolinas GCSA backs up that praise channeling money to support the work of McCarty and his colleagues at Clemson, as well as at North Carolina State University. While superintendents have long raised money for turfgrass research, they stepped up their efforts more than a decade ago launching an online auction of donated tee times known as Rounds4Research. Over that time, the auction has generated close to $500,000 for research specific to golf course turfgrass in the Carolinas. One of Clemson’s current investigations is into biological alternatives to traditional mechanical means, such as aerifying, of removing thatch from beneath the surface in putting greens. Thatch is the buildup of organic matter that is a biproduct of normal growing and mowing. Too much thatch can block water, air and

nutrient infiltration and lead to all kinds of problems. That is why superintendents periodically punch holes and pull cores out of greens that they then replace with sand. “We are concentrating on a class of compounds that may be able to break down that thatch naturally,” McCarty says. “We may not ever eliminate the need for aerification, but the thought is that if we can find enzymes that help decompose this matter, then we may be able to reduce the frequency. Rounds4Research has been a Godsend for us in the academic world, allowing us to do work like this because a lot of the traditional funding sources dried up during the recession and never came back.” Golfers can do their bit to support projects like that and secure a bargain, or access to an otherwise private course, by bidding at this year’s Rounds4Research auction from April 27 to May 3. For more information, visit www.eifg.org. 

Other South Carolina club professionals recognized at the Carolinas PGA Section’s awards banquet in February included:

with new friends at the club who enjoy the game… I still have a long way to go, but I shot a 98 and 99 recently which is a big improvement for me, and I can hit my drive an average of 175 now. But most important, thanks to you, I am enjoying the game.” There isn’t anyone who would dispute his worthiness for the Carolinas PGA Section’s highest honor, except maybe Mason himself. He was certainly “shocked” by the news. There was nothing surprising for him in getting a call from Section president Paige Cribb but after a few minutes chatting, she let him know why. “I literally broke down after I got off the phone with her,” Mason says. “It was very humbling.” Mason was on his way to work that morning and his wife was traveling right behind him. She pulled up as he opened the gate at Par Tee and, taking one look at her husband, was instantly alarmed: “What the hell is wrong with you?” “Jill had never seen me cry before,” Mason says. “I told her, ‘Don’t worry. It’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing.’” And throngs of people in Carolinas golf agree. 

HORTON SMITH AWARD: Matt Bova, Country Club of Charleston YOUTH PLAYER DEVELOPMENT AWARD: Bucky Dudley, The First Tee of Greater Charleston MERCHANDISER OF THE YEAR (RESORT): Benji Boyter, The Sea Pines Resort MERCHANDISER OF THE YEAR (PUBLIC): Kevin Williamson, TPC Myrtle Beach ASSISTANT PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR: Andrew Itterly, Country Club of Charleston PATRIOT AWARD: Perry Green, The Golf Club at Wescott Plantation

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

STATEWIDE

Seawell, Ron Stevenson, Charlie Drawdy, Bill Hart, Dick Horne, Mike Harman, Trent Bouts, John Orr, Joe Rice, Mike Mahoney, Steve Wilmot, Daniel Seawell, Jackie Seawell, Allen McCall, Rusty Shealey, Joe Taylor, Eddie Hargett, Vic Lipscomb, Walter Todd, Bobby Foster, Brad Krapfel, Norman Flynn, LLoyd Wilbur, Jim Kirkham, David Herndon, Mike Casto, Tom Mason, and a donation on behalf of the late David DuPre.

Sea Pines Resort veteran leader John Farrell will enter the Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame this spring.

LOWCOUNTRY HALL TO WELCOME FARRELL John Farrell, director of golf at The Sea Pines Resort, will be inducted into the Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame at Berkeley Hall in May. Also inducted will be Heidi Wright-Tennyson, the former director of golf at Moss Creek and now head golf professional at Mesa Verde Country Club in southern California. Over a 30-year career, Farrell has been honored many times, including as fivetime PGA Golf Professional of the Year of the Hilton Head Chapter of the Carolinas PGA Section; two-time Carolinas PGA Section Merchandiser of the Year; and President’s Plaque Award winner. He also serves as host golf professional of the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, and oversees Atlantic Dunes, Heron Point, and Harbour Town Golf Links, plus on-course food and beverage, as well as tennis, at The Sea Pines Resort. Upon arriving on Hilton Head Island in 1984, Farrell worked at Shipyard Golf Club and Oyster Reef Golf Club before joining Sea Pines in 1989. Actively involved in the Hilton Head community, he has long focused on junior golf and cultivating interest in the game among new golfers. For 30 years, he has been the PGA advisor to the Hilton Head Junior Golf Association, while serving on the board of The First Tee of the Lowcountry and as an advisor to the Hilton Head High School golf team.

TIME ON HIS HANDS LIKE NEVER BEFORE When Happ Lathrop retired after running the South Carolina Golf 24

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Association for more than 40 years, he knew he’d have time on his hands, but he had no idea how classy it would be. In a heartfelt show of appreciation, a group with a love of golf at its heart banded together and bought Lathrop a gold Rolex watch. Chip Prezioso, who instigated the group, describes the gift as “the players’ tribute to Happ.” Prezioso suggested a gift of $100 to close friends in golf and in no time the watch was paid for. And still, the money kept coming, so Prezioso is passing the extra funds on to the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation in Lathrop’s honor. “Not many people are still around that know how fragile the SCGA was when Happ and Joyce took it over,” Prezioso says. “So much of that story has never been told. I played in many pre-Happ SCGA events and I know what it was like. When he took over, he had to beg courses to host events. Joyce was part of the backbone of the association too and will be missed as much as Happ.” The list of donors to date reads like a who’s who of South Carolina golf, with great players, administrative leaders and more. “I’m sure there will be more folks who will become aware of this gesture and will want to participate,” Prezioso says. Checks can be made to C.J. Prezioso. 1199 Parker Dr., Pawleys Island, SC 29585 with proceeds delivered in Happ Lathrop’s honor to the SCJGF. Donors to date include: Rick Veith , Jeff Connell, Chip Prezioso, David Tuttle, Joe Fairey, Marion Moore, Bob Varn, Stan Harpe, Charlie Rountree, Steve Behr, Robert Dargan, Clem King, David

ROUNTREE RECEIVES IKE GRAINGER AWARD Congratulations to SCGA pastpresident Charles Rountree III, on receiving the Ike Grainger Award in recognition of 25 years of volunteer service to the United States Golf Association. Rountree, who led the SCGA in 2006-07, was honored at the USGA’s annual meeting at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina at the end of February. His father, Charles Rountree, Jr., was also a lifetime supporter of golf in South Carolina and one of only two men to have served twice as SCGA president. The other was Frank C. Ford.

Ike Grainger award-winner Charles Rountree III with the Cox-Rountree Trophy named in part after his father that goes to the winning team in the annual junior matches between players from South Carolina and Georgia.

GOLF PRO PATRIOTS PLAY FOR KIDS The Myrtle Beach PGA Patriots, a group of 21 golf industry professionals, donated $131,066 to Folds of Honor on Veterans Day in the fall. The Myrtle Beach PGA Patriots launched Patriot Golf Day in 2014 and the event has grown into a three-day weekend, culminating with a 100-hole golf marathon, that is one of the top five Folds

STATEWIDE

Hole overtakes all 120,000-square feet of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, providing participants with free food and drinks, live entertainment, celebrity guest appearances, a golf expo and more. Among the big names that have appeared at the 19th Hole in recent years are David Feherty, Brandel Chamblee, Charlie Rymer and John Daly.

PRIVATE CLUB PURSUES SEMI-PRIVATE OPTION

Members of the Myrtle Beach PGA Patriots with a check for $131,066 raised for the Folds of Honor Foundation. of Honor fundraisers of its kind in America. The event over Labor Day weekend included a banquet at Barefoot Resort, the “Battle for Glory,” a public match-play event at Thistle Golf Club, and the 100hole marathon at Long Bay Golf Club. The Folds of Honor Foundation dedicates 86 cents of every dollar raised to providing scholarships to children of America’s fallen or disabled service members. The non-profit organization awards scholarships in $5,000 increments, so the money raised means 22 families will receive scholarship money as a result of the effort. “I’m a golf pro. I have the best job in the world, and I can do that based on the sacrifice members of the military have made. Patriot Golf Day is our way of saying thanks to the men and women willing to sacrifice everything to protect our freedom,” says Jimmy Biggs, general manager at Pine Lakes Country Club and a founding member of the Myrtle Beach PGA Patriots. Members of the 2019 Myrtle Beach PGA Patriots were: Matt Biddington (Legends Resort), Jimmy Biggs (Pine Lakes), Michael Benson (Crow Creek), Matt Daly (Founders Group International), Brad Crumling (World Tour), Jeff Davis (Crow Creek), Casey Cook (Founders Group International), Corey Bowers (Aberdeen/Long Bay), Jason Corneau (Prestwick), Dustin Powers (Myrtlewood), Jeff Diehl (Myrtle Beach Golf Trek), Joe Dipre (Grande Dunes), Doug Donner (International Club/Thistle), Jarrin

Josue (Compass Cove Resort), Jennifer Lundberg (Blackmoor), Eric Morgan (Lockwood Folly), Ted Panaretos II (Pine Lakes), Brian Stefan (iNet Golf), Scott Thrailkill (Brunswick Plantation), Mike Binder (Ahead/2UNDR), and Mike Buccerone (East Coast Golf).

WORLD AM CRANKING UP FOR 37TH YEAR AT BEACH More than 3,000 players from across America and more than 20 countries are again expected to participate in golf’s largest single-site tournament in Myrtle Beach from August 31 to September 4. The 37th annual PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com World Amateur Handicap Championship, a 72-hole, net stroke play tournament, began accepting entries in March. The tournament, which flights players based on age, gender and handicap, is open to all golfers 17 years of age and older. The World Am flights players into nine divisions — men 49 and under, senior men (50-59), mid-senior men (60-69), super senior men (70-79), seasoned seniors (80 and over), women, the gross division, senior (50 and over) gross division. There is also a “Just For Fun” flight, created for players who want to enjoy the World Am experience without the pressure of competition. After four days of competition, all flight winners and ties advance to the World Championship Playoff, an 18hole shootout that crowns the event’s winner. Each night of the event, the 19th

One of Myrtle Beach’s few strictly private clubs, the Members Club at Grande Dunes, which opened in 2005, is pushing the door ajar for public play. The club becomes semi-private this spring, accepting outside play through golf package providers. The public will get an improved version of the course, after renovations through winter. The Members Club, a 7,029-yard par-71 layout co-designed by Nick Price and Craig Schreiner, will be priced in the mid-high to high range in the market. The public will not be able to call the pro shop for a tee time or book a time on the club’s website. The club is essentially following the model used for decades by The Dunes Golf and Beach Club. The club has begun working with select package providers, including two of the largest in the market — Brittain Resorts & Hotels and Founders Group International providers. The layout will close for three months or more this summer, after Labor Day, to replace its original bentgrass greens with TifEagle bermudagrass. The change means the Members Club will likely be more willing to host summer state and regional amateur events and Carolinas PGA Section events.

CHEROKEE VALLEY EARNS AWARD FOR INNOVATION Cherokee Valley, north of Greenville in the Upstate, has been recognized as one of North America’s “Most Innovative” Golf Courses by Golf Inc. magazine. Golf Inc. focuses on the work of golf course developers, owners and management companies. Based in San Diego, it was founded in 1991 and is one of the most widely read and respected industry publications. S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

STATEWIDE

“This recognition from Golf Inc. is a tremendous validation of the golf 3.0 approach we take at Cherokee Valley,” says owner and director of operations Matt Jennings, who acquired Cherokee Valley in 2017. “Our goal of providing a truly unique experience and culture is coming to fruition and we relish serving our guests, members and community.” Cherokee Valley, along with private course winner Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Arizona, will be honored at the Golf Inc. Innovation Strategy Conference in Nashville, TN, in midApril. The magazine cited Cherokee Valley’s leading-edge golf and non-golf programming, membership plans and grow-the-game initiatives in its selection. This year, Cherokee Valley, the region’s only P.B. Dye-designed golf course, will open its full-service restaurant, Core 450, featuring a contemporary, engaging and casual theme with a diverse menu ranging from small plates and pizza to five course meals. CORE 450 is led by executive chef Todd Warden, who studied under James Beard Awardwinning chef Bob Kinkead.

SC VETERAN TO SERVE AS GOLF AMBASSADOR Summerville’s Josh Swindle is one of 20 military veterans named as a PGA HOPE Ambassador in celebration of Veterans Day and the third Annual PGA National Day of HOPE. A Private First Class in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1999 to 2010, Swindle will help fellow veterans assimilate back into their communities through golf and the social interaction the game provides. PGA HOPE is a national program that introduces golf to military veterans to enhance their physical, mental, social and emotional well-being. Led by PGA Professionals, there are currently more than 90 PGA HOPE programs, helping approximately 2,500 veterans annually. Swindle started with PGA HOPE in the summer of 2016 and since then has found a new and positive outlook on life. After a life-changing injury and years of coping, one day he was out on the golf course with his brother when he realized he wanted to start playing again but didn’t quite know how to. That is how he found PGA HOPE and 26

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

between his renewed sense of purpose and passion for the game. Ambassadors completed a fourday specialized training program at Congressional Country Club in Maryland.

General Manager Robbie Ames should be praised for providing a first-rate member experience year after year.” Sea Pines Country Club features golf, tennis, pools and dining, as well as a new 7,300-sq.-ft. fitness facility

FOUNDATION GIVES $25,000 TO GROW THE GAME GROUP

COBBLESTONE NAMES WEWERS NEW GM

Project Golf, a Myrtle Beach-based initiative dedicated to growing the game of golf by increasing access to facilities and quality instruction, has received a $25,000 donation from the Heritage Classic Foundation. The foundation is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit that is the host organization for the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing. The money donated to Project Golf was raised at the Congressional Cup, a two-day event recognizing members of Congress who have been instrumental in the tournament’s success. Project Golf works to remove barriers to entry into golf, introducing players to local facilities and providing quality instruction. In addition to bringing new players to the game, Project Golf’s mission includes the support of Veteran golf programs, an effort that will be aided by the organization’s new facility at Barefoot Resort and Golf. Project Golf launched its “Introduction to Golf” series in the summer of 2019, bringing 200 new people to the course and keeping them engaged in the game after the six-week program ended.

Emzi Wewers is the new general manager at Cobblestone Park Golf Club in Blythewood. Wewers began her career at Patriots Point Links in Mount Pleasant, assisting in accounting and catering sales, and then transferred to nearby RiverTowne Country Club where she spent 10 years in club operations, golf, membership and catering. From RiverTowne, Wewers joined the I’On Club as membership director in 2015 before becoming general manager in 2017. Cobblestone Park Golf Club has a 27-hole golf course and is managed by Atlanta-based Bobby Jones Golf.

BOARDROOM RECOGNIZES SEA PINES COUNTRY CLUB Sea Pines Country Club on Hilton Head Island has again received the Distinguished Club recognition by BoardRoom magazine. The Distinguished Clubs program recognizes facilities, management and staff based on a top-tier member experience. Only 189 out of 3,400 private clubs in America have been awarded this status. “We’d like to give a big round of applause to Sea Pines County Club for earning Distinguished Club standing,” said John Fornaro, publisher of BoardRoom magazine. “The club’s board of directors, department heads, staff and

PALMETTO RENOVATION LATEST IN A SERIES The Palmetto Course at Myrtlewood Golf Club in Myrtle Beach reopened last fall following an extensive greens and bunker renovation project spearheaded by Schlegel Golf Design. Dan Schlegel and his team installed new Sunday ultradwarf bermudagrass greens and restored putting surfaces to their original dimensions, an effort that expanded the course’s greens by 28 percent. Every bunker on the course was renovated, restoring shape and character that had been lost over the years. The bunkers, while not necessarily larger in size, are much more visible along the fairway, challenging players taking aggressive lines, particularly on par 5s. The renovation was the latest in a series at six of 22 facilities operated by Founders Group International. In 2018, Tradition Club and Myrtlewood’s PineHills Course underwent renovation projects that included new greens, and FGI installed the Better Billy Bunker system at TPC Myrtle Beach. In addition to the work at the Palmetto Course, the company also remodeled the clubhouses at Aberdeen Country Club and River Hills Golf Club in 2019.

Recognizing Efforts to Grow Opportunities for Junior Girls

THE WOMEN’S SOUTH CAROLINA Golf Association recently added another honor to go with major recognition from the South Carolina Golf Association. In January, we received a 2020 Best of Bluffton award for “exceptional marketing and community impact.” This was a pleasant follow up to being honored with the Tom Fazio Service to Golf award from the SCGA. The Fazio award recognizes service to the game, with an emphasis on junior golf. The WSCGA Junior Golf Foundation achieved new heights in giving to junior girls in golf in 2019. The Junior Girls Assistance Program (JGAP) disbursed more than $15,000 towards entry fees at junior events. The foundation’s Bob Handler Foundation Scholarship also grew significantly. After awarding two $1,000 scholarships in its first year in 2018, there were three $3,000 scholarships awarded in 2019. Congratulations to Lauren Oh from Lexington, Channing Smith from Ware Shoals, and Gisele Hadwin from Chapin. The continued growth of the Junior Golf Foundation remains a priority. Further examples of that growth include the fact that the LPGA Junior Girls Clinics will serve

BY CLARISSA CHILDS two locations this year, one in the Midlands and a new one in the Upstate. These clinics serve 800 girls from high schools throughout the state and are led by LPGA professionals from across the country. Along with the basics of golf, juniors get the opportunity to hear first-hand how golf has changed the lives of some of the best players in the world. The Junior Golf Foundation has also added an exciting new fundraising initiative this year known as Cash for Clubs. We will collect old clubs and in return, a company will send a check to the foundation equal to the value of those clubs. To make donating unwanted clubs as easy as possible, the WSCGA has offered their support by offering their one-day tournaments and championships as collection locations. So, don’t let that old driver or wedge continue to take up space and collect dust; donate it to the WSCGA Junior Golf Foundation and help get more girls into the game. In 2020, the WSCGA will continue to host those one-day events and championships throughout the year. The 3rd annual South Carolina Women’s Open is at Cobblestone Park Golf Club in Blythewood from August

14 to 16. All amateurs, both women and men, have the opportunity to play with women professionals in the Women’s Open Pro-Am on August 13. We were so proud that the winner in the Open Division of the Women’s Open last year, Sydney Legacy, was a product of WSCGA Junior Golf Foundation programs. Our next big event is the Jane Covington Classic, open to women and men golfers, at Columbia Country Club on April 20. The WSCGA and the WSCGA Junior Golf Foundation continue to thrive thanks to the support of our outstanding members and sponsors. Come join us to play, watch, volunteer, donate, or sponsor an event. There are a wealth of opportunities to be involved and make a difference in women’s golf in South Carolina.  Editor’s postscript: Clarissa Childs played in the Senior LPGA Championship on a sponsor exemption last October. She made the final day cut finishing in the middle of the field. Her caddie was friend and WSCGA Junior Golf Foundation board member, Kristi Coggins. Clarissa Childs is executive director of the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association.

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Mid-Amateur Four Ball Championship

T8 Thomas Kennaday, Aiken 70, 73, 75 – 218 T10 Brian Quackenbush, Aiken 73, 73, 73 – 219

The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Myrtle Beach

T10 Chris Eassy, Greer 69, 75, 75 – 219

1 Jordan Sease, Lexington Brandon Truesdale, Rock Hill 64

T10 James Lightsey, Indian Land 78, 70, 71 – 219

T2 Blake Austin, Barnwell Kyle Bearden, Barnwel 65

Harry Wilson Super Senior Championship

T2 Barry Roof, Myrtle Beach Justin Roof, Conway 65

Florence Country Club, Florence

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT

Players Four Ball Championship

Mid-Amateur Four Ball Champions BRANDON TRUESDALE & JORDAN SEASE

Columbia Country Club, Blythewood

James Lightsey, Indian Land Brandon Truesdale, Rock Hill 64, 65 – 129*

T5 Andy Congdon, Murrells Inlet 73, 74 – 147 T5 Jim Burgess, Murrells Inlet 75, 72 – 147

3 Matthew Wiggins, Laurens Thomas Todd, III, Laurens 65, 64 – 129

*Won after a three-hole playoff

Mixed Team Championship

4 Robert Lutomski, Simpsonville Weston Bell, Piedmont 65, 66 – 131

Dataw Island Club, Dataw Island Morgan River & Cotton Dike Courses

*Won after a six-hole playoff

Players Four Ball Champions

Senior Better Ball

JAMES LIGHTSEY & BRANDON TRUESDALE

Santee Cooper Country Club, Santee

2 Jim Wise, Columbia Rich Rebholz, Rock Hill 65, 70 – 135

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Sandi Shineman Skip Shineman

76 78

SENIOR DIVISION– FLIGHT ONE

Senior Better Ball Champions

T2 Kyle Bearden, Barnwell 68, 71, 75 – 214

2 Emily Rapp Jeremy Moore

2 Victoria Tsurutis Russell Hightower

T4 Eddie Hargett, Blythewood Brad Krapfel, Columbia 70, 67 – 137

Jordan Sease, Lexington 68, 69, 75 – 212

T4 T.D. Todd, Jr., Laurens Walter Todd, Laurens 69, 68 – 137

Abby Driscoll Ridge Conner

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION– FLIGHT TWO

3 Byron Beck, Marion Tom Randall, Bishopville 69, 67 – 136

Palmetto Hall Plantation, Hilton Head – Arthur Hills Course

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION– FLIGHT ONE 1

Mike Daniels, Murrells Inlet Rich Weston, Pawleys Island 69, 65 – 134

Mid-Amateur Championship

2 Tim Pope, Spartanburg 70, 74 – 144

4 Joe Hackler, Myrtle Beach 71, 75 – 146

2 John O’Brien, Columbia Robert Dargan, Columbia 65, 64 – 129

John Long, Murrells Inlet 70, 74 – 144*

3 Gus Sylvan, Columbia 73, 71 – 144

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT 1

MIKE DANIELS & RICH WESTON

T2 Raymond Wooten, Clemson 68, 71, 75 – 214

Robert Lutomski, Simpsonville 69, 71, 76 – 216

T2 Scott Roberts, Lancaster 69, 72, 73 – 214

Jeremy Revis, Greenville 67, 77, 70 – 217

T8 Kevin Roberts, Chesnee 71, 77, 70 – 218

Brandon Truesdale, Rock Hill 71, 75, 69 – 215

Lea Anne Brown Mark Hoover

Donna Cortina David Politi

SENIOR DIVISION– FLIGHT TWO 1

Leah Bohnen Roy Bohnen

2 Sue Kline Bruce Kline *won in a Playoff

75* 75

Doris Fisher Mike Fisher

T2 Jackie Beck Bruce Beck

T2 Chea Luff Lawrence Luff

Carolinas Net Amateur Championship Country Club of Whispering Pines, Whispering Pines, NC – Nov. 9-10

Carolinas Net Amateur Champions

ELLEN OLLETT, STEPHEN MCDEVITT, RIVIA BROWN, RICK KUEHL, ANN WATKINS, ALAN RYDER

MEN’S DIVISION 1

Alan Ryder, Aiken, SC 74, 71 – 145

2 Patrick Piner, Beaufort, NC 68, 79 – 147

WOMEN’S DIVISION 1 Ann Watkins, Pinehurst, NC 75, 72 – 147 T2 Heather Hastings, Rutherford, NC 73, 75 – 148 T2 Em Clifford, Sanford, NC 71, 77 - 148 Lathrop Cup Champions

JOHN DENNIS, ERIC PEDERSON, FRANK WRENN, MATT GRANDY

Musgrove Mill Golf Club – Greg Krasinski, 132

2 Greenville Country Club – Eric Pederson, 135 3 Thornblade Club – Jon Hines, 135

Tournament of Champions TPC of Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet

MEN’S CLUB CHAMPION 1

Kevin Roberts, Chesnee 72, 71 – 143

2 James Lightsey, Indian Land 75, 69 – 144

MEN’S SENIOR CLUB CHAMPION

Sean McAvoy, Johns Island 73, 75 – 148

Rivia Brown, Winston-Salem, NC 77, 63 – 140

1 2

Stephen McDevitt, Durham, NC 70, 73 – 143 Jose Kofman, Cary, NC 72, 72 – 144

SUPER SENIOR WOMEN’S DIVISION 1

Ellen Ollett, Sanford, NC 75, 72 – 147

2 Marsha Kjoller, Columbia, SC 75, 80 – 155

Lathrop Cup Columbia Country Club, Blythewood

LATHROP CUP DIVISION

JOHN LONG

Dick Kuehl, Sanford, NC 70, 66 – 136

SUPER SENIOR MEN’S DIVISION

Super Senior Champion

PRO-AM DIVISION

2 Martha Weaver, Columbia, SC 67, 79 – 146

Mixed Team Champs

Thornblade Club – Mike Caprio, 73; Bobby Hines, 72; Ken Palmer, 76 – 221

Bill Hall, Rock Hill 67, 74 – 141

FRED ASTAIRE & JULIA DONACHE

SENIOR WOMEN’S DIVISION

Tournament of Champions

Musgrove Mill Golf Club – Mike Gravley, 78; Phil Milner, 73; Walter Todd, 69 – 220

SENIOR MEN’S DIVISION

2 Clive Clifford, Sanford, NC 72, 66 – 138

EDDIE HARGETT, CHRIS EASSY, BILL HALL, KERRY RUTAN, GREGORY CONDE, KEVIN ROBERTS

CHAMPIONSHIPS

SENIOR DIVISION– FLIGHT THREE

WOMEN’S DIVISION 1

Kerry Rutan, Daniel Island 77, 75 – 152

Catherine Loper, Blythewood 79, 78 – 157

ONE DAY SENIOR 1

Eddie Hargett, Blythewood 67, 69 – 136

Gary Odom, Greenwood 71, 74 – 145

ONE DAY NET 1

Gregory Conde, West Columbia 79, 68 – 147

Dennis Guerriero, Lexington 72, 78 – 150

ONE DAY GROSS 1

Chris Eassy, Greer 72, 74 – 146

Jeremy Revis, Greenville 76, 72 – 148

Greenville Country Club – John Dennis, 75; Frank Wrenn, 72; Matt Grandy, 72 – 219 S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

SPECIAL SECTION: SOUTH CAROLINA JUNIOR GOLF ANNUAL REVIEW

Uncertain Times But Certainly Thankful

BY JOE QUICK

OBVIOUSLY, LIFE IS different for all of us right now and the junior golf world in South Carolina is no exception. We’re hoping and praying that all of our juniors and their families come through this pandemic more eager than ever to get out on the golf course. We’re doing all we can to preserve as much of our calendar of events as possible. But in the meantime, some important events have already been canceled and some are or will be postponed. That is tough on young golfers

but the fact we have had to cancel some fundraising efforts presents new challenges for us. The cancellation of the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters means our biggest fundraiser simply didn’t happen. Another of our biggest generators, the Columbia Golf Ball, has been postponed. Numerous smaller but no less valued efforts are also up in the air. These are events that, through the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation, help fund many of the activities of the South

Carolina Junior Golf Association. Generously, some folks and businesses that committed financial support to certain events have followed through with that support even though those events were canceled. We are incredibly grateful to those folks, as we are to everyone who has supported us. So, while there is so much uncertainty out there, we want to counter that with something we are sure of. We are certainly grateful to everyone involved with the following events and efforts that have raised money for junior golf in the past. Some have been canceled, some postponed and some will go ahead; regardless we are thankful: • Brian Bosco Memorial Tournament • Can Am Matches Wachesaw Plantation Club • SC Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Hospitality Day at the Statehouse

WINTER MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE December, January & February

• The Heritage Classic Foundation and the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing

Lowcountry Golf at its Finest

MENTION THIS AD FOR OUR DOUBLE PLAY SPECIAL

$119/person + tax 10/1 - 11/30/19

One Round for 2 golfers or 2 Rounds for 1

$109/person + tax 12/1 - 2/29/20

HHHHH

Home of Bluffton’s Best Breakfast & Burgers Tee Times: (843) 785-5353 • www.OldSouthGolf.com On Hwy. 278 - 1 Mile Before the Bridge to Hilton Head (Proper Golf Attire Required) 30

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

• Grant Bennett Florence Junior Invitational and the McLeod Health Sponsor-Am • The Blade at Thornblade Club • Beth Daniel Junior Azalea at Country Club of Charleston • Jonathan Langford Invitational at the Country Club of Lexington

• Kenny Cloniger Memorial Tournament at Spring Lake Country Club • Big Will’s Day Off at Rock Hill Country Club • Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational at the Country Club of Spartanburg • Tiger Golf Gathering, Greenville Other folks that support us throughout the year include many of the senior golf groups across the state including Senior Golfers of South Carolina and South Carolina Coastal Seniors. The Rice Planters Amateur is also a generous supporter of junior golf in our state. Because of support like that, the SCJGF will eclipse $925,000 in giving in the history of our scholarship program. Congratulations to Ciara Mace of Gaffney, Carolina Boozer of Easley, Charlton Hill of Aiken, Smith Knaffle of Murrells Inlet, Bryson Shealey of Wagener and Mary Seawell of Aiken, on earning the latest scholarships. Scholarships are also supported through individual contributions and corporate donations. Special thanks to the family of Terry Florence, families and friends of David DuPre and Bryan Prezioso, Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am, Tom Fazio and Elizabeth Baker.  Joe Quick is senior director of the SC Junior Golf Foundation.

Florence Leads Charge Promoting Junior Golf BY JOE QUICK

SOUTH CAROLINA HAS A long and illustrious history of promoting junior golf and the future looks brighter still. Some of the state’s well-established clubs are going above and beyond in the focus on developing their juniors. Leading the way is Florence Country Club, home of the Grant Bennett Florence Junior Invitational. A few years ago, the club hired South Carolina Junior Golf Association graduate, former University of South Carolina golfer and SEC All-Conference selection, Paul Woodbury, as designated director of junior golf and instruction. His hiring was part of wider transformation to grow the club’s service to families that included changes to dining and other facilities. Now, the club is developing a specialized junior golf instructional facility. Foundation work has begun on a new building that will serve as a hub for junior golf activity at the club. This follows work by World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson and his golf course architecture design team contributing to the design of a new practice green. The driving range

Director of junior golf and instruction Paul Woodbury is excited to see ground broken on the new headquarters for junior golf operations at Florence Country Club.

was extended as part of renovation that included rerouting irrigation. The facility will be a showpiece and an exciting new chapter in Florence Country Club’s story. It was there that the late Grant Bennett taught so many young players, including many who made it to national prominence and even the PGA Tour. His teams from McClenaghan High School won 11 consecutive state championships. One of the secrets to the success of junior golf in Florence has been incredible support from club and community members, both individuals and corporate interests. Some of that Florence-based support has helped kids across the state. Anonymous donors have made significant contributions − think six figures − to perpetuate Grant Bennett’s name with donations to the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation’s Grant Bennett Players Assistance Reserve (PAR) fund. The PAR fund provides grants so that young people who need help can pursue their golfing dreams. Florence Country Club’s commitment is being echoed across the state. Greenville Country Club, the Country Club of Spartanburg,

the Country Club of Charleston and now Forest Lake Club are also diving into the promise that a solid junior golf program holds for their club’s livelihood and health. Greenville has hired Levi Joiner as director of junior golf and offers a year-long season of options, including a junior member-guest, a junior specific putting green, and a two-hole junior loop between the first hole and the driving range. More than 200 juniors are engaged at the club. Spartanburg has hired Kevin Britt as full-time junior golf coordinator and director of instruction. He runs busy camps through the summer and has instituted the Operation 36 program which helps instructors measure a golfer’s progress and helps other coaches monitor and improve the coach’s effectiveness. The Country Club of Spartanburg has long been one of the pillars of junior golf in the state. Over the 25-year history of the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational, the club has helped raise more than $250,000 for junior golf. World No. 1 ranked junior Karl Vilips won the 2019 title in the presence of the Harmon

brothers, Billy, Craig and Butch, who are among some of the best instructors in the game. Last year’s tournament also made a separate gift for scholarships in Spartanburg County. Some proceeds from the Country Club of Charleston’s long history of support through the Beth Daniel Junior Azalea helps the club’s juniors play in other tournaments. Money also helps the First Tee of Greater Charleston, LPGA*USGA Girls Golf programs at The Golf Club at Briars Creek and Wescott Plantation, and the Mt. Pleasant Chapter of the SCJGA. Forest Lake Club’s total buy-in to their junior program is reflected in the fact that the club has nine juniors ranked in the top 250 in the nation. This is a credit to head golf professional John Winterhalter and junior golf chairman Zack Atkinson as well as parent involvement. Forest Lake has really stepped up its involvement on other junior golf initiatives like the Columbia Golf Ball and the Watson Cup. The momentum is growing behind our juniors and we look forward to other clubs taking up the cause.  S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

Trip of a Lifetime Coming For Watson Cup Team

BY JOE QUICK

SOME OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S most promising juniors head to Scotland this summer for the trip of a lifetime, competing for the Watson Cup. A team of eight players will play some of the finest courses in the game in preparation for and during the twoday competition for the cup named for World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson. Former U.S. Junior Champion, three-time SCGA Junior Champion and former Golf Channel star Charlie Rymer will travel with the team as captain. Three traveling vicecaptains are legendary former University of South Carolina golf coach Puggy Blackmon, Florence Country Club’s junior golf director Paul Woodbury, and former SCJGA standout and SCGA Junior Champion Stephen Behr. With such a wealth of teaching talent riding along, there is every chance they will come home with valuable instruction under their belts, in addition to invaluable experience. The team leaves June 25 with golf at North Berwick Golf Club, Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society and St. Andrews New Course with competition at the Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh and Muirfield, part of the British Open roster, before returning on July 5.

THE SOUTH CAROLINA TEAM IS: • Daniel Brasington, Woodruff • Nathan Franks, Roebuck • Logan Hawkins, Williamston • Adam Hunt, Columbia • Matthew Hutto, Blythewood • Rafe Reynolds, Greenville • Austin Scott, Daniel Island • Gene Zeigler, Florence

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

The Watson Cup is modeled after the Walker Cup matches that have been contested between amateur golfers from the U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland since 1922.

The Watson Cup is modeled after the Walker Cup matches that have been contested between amateur golfers from the U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland since 1922. It celebrates the historic connection between South Carolina, where golf was first played in America in the 1740s, and the Edinburgh/ East Lothian region of Scotland, that shipped playing equipment to the first American golfers in Charleston in 1739. South Carolina won the first challenge for the Watson Cup in 2018, defeating the East Lothian Junior Golf League 19.5 to 16.5. Matches were played at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course and Kiawah Island Club’s Cassique Course, which was Tom Watson’s first course design. Watson won five Open Championships in the 1970s and 80s, including one at Muirfield. He is widely regarded as the greatest American player to play links style golf as it originated in Scotland. In addition to his five Opens (one shy of the career record of six won by Englishman Harry Vardon), Watson also won two Masters, a U.S. Open, and 70 other professional tournaments. Two of those victories came at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in Charlie Rymer 1988. 

Tom Watson

Puggy Blackmon

Quick Trip Around 100 Holes in a Day

BY JOE QUICK

YOUTH ON COURSE IS a nationwide grow-the-game program that allows juniors to play participating courses for a flat $5 fee. Foundations and associations across the country have jumped on board to help offset costs at those facilities taking part. Essentially, a junior rate is negotiated with the host, say for $12. The junior pays the $5 fee and the local association, or in our case, foundation, subsidizes the shortfall. But that money has to come from somewhere and so, as part of a nationwide push from the Northern California Golf Association which created the program, we decided to put our miles where the money is. Staff members from the SC Golf Association, SC Junior Golf Association and SC Junior Golf Foundation took part in the 100Hole Hike in the fall. We played, on foot, 100 holes of golf in a single day. It was fun and for a great cause and it was … brutal.

My Fitbit clocked me taking 60,550 steps to cover 27.32 miles. Obviously, those Fitbit readings were similar for my three fellow hikers and fellow staffers Kyle Maloney, Kirk Page and Justin Fleming. To speed our play, we went off as twosomes on different nines. Another staffer, Anne Maness Maloney, and SCGA executive director, Biff Lathrop, came along as caddies but they weren’t carrying bags. Instead, they rode carts with coolers dishing out supplies such as bananas, peanut butter sandwiches and drinks. We teed off at 6.45am and fell over 11 hours and 40 minutes later. Actually, I literally hit the deck even before that after my leg cramped up on my tee shot on our 74th hole. It was, after all, a much warmer day than expected in late September, with temperatures in the low 90s and a heat index near 100 degrees. So, I’m not ashamed to admit that

Kyle Maloney, Kirk Page, Joe Quick and Justin Fleming after putting – and almost sputtering – out following their 100th hole in a day at the Plantation Course at Edisto.

around hole 90, I don’t think I knew where I was or even my name. I was ready to throw in the towel. A much-needed cart ride, 20 ounces of pickle juice and two Gatorade gels, and my umpteenth pep talk from Justin, got me refocused for the final push. Thanks to support from sponsors, we raised just shy of $10,000 on that day for the Youth on Course program in the Carolinas. Many thanks also to the folks at the Plantation Course at Edisto for going out of their way to accommodate us. It wasn’t just our hosts but their patrons who so

graciously cheered us on and let us play through countless times. We averaged a little over an hour per nine, so we saw some groups more than once. Thanks also to Youth On Course board member Jeff Rhodenbaugh of Greenville who made the trip to the Lowcountry and walked the final few nines. “I was so proud of our team for taking on and completing the 100 Hole Hike,” Biff said later. “It took a toll on their bodies and, in some cases, their minds, but everyone was determined to complete the task and in turn raise some much-needed funds for Youth on Course.” 

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

Let your love of the game live on. 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 S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

SOUTH CAROLINA JUNIORS RECORD THREE-PEAT South Carolina’s win in the 44th annual Georgia-South Carolina Junior Team Matches was the third in a row for youngsters from the Palmetto State. The home team outplayed their rivals on both days at the Country Club of Spartanburg to win 10-6 overall. South Carolina leads in the history of the matches 24 to 16 with four ties. Every junior that has participated in the history of the competition will find his name inscribed on the beautiful Rountree - Cox trophy, donated by the Rountree family from South Carolina.

Back row, the victorious home team players: Trey Crenshaw, Manning Sloop, Daniel Brasington, Austin Scott, Brandon Masters, Gene Zeigler, Zach Reuland, and Matthew Hutto. Front row, team leaders: Doug Smith, Biff Lathrop, Joe Quick, Charlie Rountree, III.

ONTARIO TEAM’S FIRST VICTORY SINCE 2010 The 2019 Can-Am Junior Team Matches at Wachesaw Plantation concluded with the Ontario team defeating the squad from South Carolina 37.5-34.5. This was the first victory for the Ontario Juniors since they last earned the Joseph T. Simons Trophy in 2010. Scoring returned to the original format with a point for the front nine, a point for the back nine and a point for the overall 18-hole match, allowing for three total points per match. Despite the Canadian win, the Americans from South Carolina are still big leaders in the history of the event, 17-4.

The victorious Ontario team shows off their trophy with the South Carolina team in the foreground at Wachesaw Plantation.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

Congratulations to the following South Carolina juniors who made it onto the national stage in 2019.

U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR

U.S. JUNIOR GIRLS AMATEUR

Inverness Club – Toledo, Ohio July 15-20, 2019

SentryWorld – Stevens Point, Wisconsin July 22-27, 2019

J.T. Herman, Hilton Head Island (Round of 64) Austin Mosher, Mt. Pleasant (Strokeplay) Bronson Myers, Columbia (Round of 16)

Jensen Castle, West Columbia (Strokeplay) Savannah Hylton, Hilton Head Island (Round of 64) Emma Schimpf, Daniel Island (Strokeplay)

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Rising Stars Honored as State’s Junior Players of the Year

TWO RISING STARS on the South Carolina golf scene, Gene Zeigler and Mary Kathryn “MK” Talledo, have been honored by two of the state’s greats in the game. Zeigler, from Florence, and Talledo, from Spartanburg, were the South Carolina Junior Golf Association Players of the Year. Zeigler received the Jay Haas Award, named for one of the state’s most successful and celebrated players, who lives in Greer. Talledo received the Beth Daniel Award, named for the World Golf Hall of Famer who remains closely tied to Charleston. A University of South Carolina commit, Zeigler compiled 11 top 10 finishes in junior ranks and two top 20s in open-age events, including the SC State Amateur where his fourround total of five under par was good enough to tie for 15th. He was the low junior in the event. Zeigler stepped into the winner’s circle twice last season. First, at the Anderson Brothers Bank High School Invitational and then at the SCJGA Fall Challenge at Cheraw State Park. A junior at Trinity Baptist Collegiate School, Zeigler led his team to a SCISA 3A title, making it the school’s second championship in three years. Zeigler not only performed well on home soil, he also took his talents across the pond, competing in the R&A Boys British Amateur Championship at Saunton Golf Club in Devon, England in August - one of the most prestigious junior events in the world. “It means a lot to me to be named Player of the Year,” Zeigler says. “It’s an honor to win this award in the best state for junior golf and join a long list of elite names that have received this recognition. There is no better feeling

BY JOE QUICK

World Golf Hall of Famer Beth Daniel and M.K. Talledo.

Former PGA Tour star now Champions Tour veteran Jay Haas with Gene Zeigler.

than seeing hard work pay off.” Talledo, who is committed to the College of Charleston, put together a stellar 2019 season hoisting the winner’s trophy six times. She also turned in 20 top 10s, including four runner-up finishes. Among her victories was the 5A State Championship where she shot rounds of 74 and 77. On the national stage she was sixth at the Nike Junior and 15th at the North & South Junior at Pinehurst. “Winning the Beth Daniel Player of the Year Award is the highest achievement as a South Carolina junior golfer I could ever receive,” Talledo says. “My swing coach Kevin Britt and my trainer Robbie Stephens have helped me so much in becoming a better golfer and person every day. I couldn’t have accomplished this without them.” The junior Player of the Year awards are based on Heritage Classic Golf Foundation rankings, taken from more than 200 tournaments across South Carolina and nationwide in the preceding 12 months. The mission of the Heritage Classic Foundation is to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality of South Carolina through outstanding golf events. Since 1987, the Foundation has distributed over to $43 million in donations through scholarships and charitable programs. 

Joe Quick is senior director of the SC Junior Golf Foundation. S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

JUNIOR CHAMPIONS

Beth Daniel Junior Azalea

Bobby Chapman Invitational

Caddie Classic

COUNTRY CLUB OF CHARLESTON ZACH REULAND, BETH DANIEL & KATHERINE SCHUSTER

COUNTRY CLUB OF SPARTANBURG KARL VILIPS

LANCASTER GOLF CLUB SIMON WRIGHT

LANCASTER GOLF CLUB KENNEDY GOODING

Fall Challenge

CHERAW STATE PARK JERRY BRUNS, 2ND; GENE ZEIGLER, CHAMPION; SIMON WRIGHT, 3RD

THE LINKS AT STONEY POINT MOLLY HARDWICK, 3RD; CHLOE HOLDER, CHAMPION; KENNEDY MCGAHA, 2ND

Grant Bennett Florence Junior Invitational FLORENCE COUNTRY CLUB PAKE JUNE

Jimmy Self Invitational

PALMETTO DUNES – HILLS COURSE PALMETTO DUNES – HILLS COURSE LUKE SULLIVAN BUGGY REINKE

Junior Championship COUNTRY CLUB OF LEXINGTON AUSTIN SCOTT

Sea Pines Junior Heritage Championship SEA PINES RESORT NATASHA KIEL & JACKSON VAN PARIS

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Ford Picard

WILD DUNES RESORT NICK CEVA

WILD DUNES RESORT RAEGAN PROPES

JUNIOR CHAMPIONS Morgan Lucas Championship

Morgan Lucas Championship

Pee Wee Championship

GREENVILLE CC – CHANTICLEER COURSE M.K. TALLEDO

GREENVILLE CC – CHANTICLEER COURSE ZACH ADAMS

COLUMBIA COUNTRY CLUB MADISON MESSIMER

COLUMBIA COUNTRY CLUB TIP PRICE

The Players Championship

Blade Junior Classic

HARTSVILLE COUNTRY CLUB ZACH REULAND

HARTSVILLE COUNTRY CLUB MOLLY HARDWICK

GREEN VALLEY COUNTRY CLUB MASON TUCKER

GREEN VALLEY COUNTRY CLUB ABIGAIL SCHIMPF

Thomas D. Todd All-Stars Championship

Tradition Four Ball Championship

PATRIOT GOLF CLUB AT GRAND HARBOR JACKSON BERRY, 2ND; LOGAN HAWKINS, CHAMPION; COLT INGRAM, 3RD

PATRIOT GOLF CLUB AT GRAND HARBOR SOFIA CARLES, CHAMPION; PHOEBE CARLES, 2ND; ANIKA RANA, 3RD

PEBBLE CREEK COUNTRY CLUB OLIVER ROTERMUND & ANDREW PROPES

Tommy Cuthbert All-Stars Championship SEABROOK ISLAND CLUB - OCEAN WINDS BOYS: MATTHEW HUTTO GIRLS: CAMILA BURNETT

Congrats to all of our Juniors! S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

THANK YOU SUPPORTERS

Many thanks to the following individuals, companies and organizations who are just some of the many interests who supported junior golf in South Carolina in 2019:

2019 Can-Am Junior Team Matches WACHESAW WARRIORS Tonya & Steve Allison Jerry & Tom Cameron Oma Hodges Penny & John Lopez Ellen & Rick Miller Bernice & Nelson Raimondo Michael Specht Josephine & Denny Thomas

BOOSTER Donna & Leonard Sugg

PATRONS Linda & Dick Averette Delores & Girard Blount Lynne & Michael Bower Carole & Dick Cole Sharon & Larry DeCosmo Steve Dill Ann & Bill Gevers Bill Golden Mike Hogan Liz & Dick Landwehr Charlene & Tom Leonard Linda & Kevin O’Connor Sal Peretore Penelope & Dick Rogers Judie & Gary Schaal Page & Sammy Spann Tracy & Mike Summer

PARTNERS Charlene & Gregory B. Atkinson Mary & Fred Benedetto Carmen & Roberto Boscio Marcy & Al Briggs Jane & Bob Buie Amanda & Wayne Christian Cheryl & Andy Congdon Tracy & Kevin Coyle Margot & Paul Crawshaw Mr. & Mrs. Greg DeCastro Russell L. Derrick Family Mary & Harry Downs David DuRant Empie Gasque Helene & John Gerrald Karen Gluntz Terry & Bob Haight Sophia & Al Hansen Shannon & Dr. John Hazelton Nancy & George Ihnat Chuck Jasicob Marion & Bob Kinsey Dan Lee Nancy & Arthur Letzler Barb & Bob Lowe Genie & George Matthews 38

Palmetto Golfer

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Susan & John Mayberry Megan & Barry McDonald Victoria & John Meyer Dr. Danny Miller Rebecca & Benton Montgomery W. Gairy Nichols Mary Lu & Ed Norris Don Olson Ann & Dr. Bob Pennington Rosemary & Vincent Petreccia Allison & Bobby Ranum Bob Roskow Mary & Tony Salvatore Susan & Al Schmalfuhs Vickie & William Strell Lisa & Derrick Temple Dr. Raymond V. Tomb Carla & Sammy Truett Christopher Turner Dee & Greg Waybright Patti & Jimmy Yahnis

TOURNAMENT CONTRIBUTORS Bill Appel Meg & George Fahs Frank Filiatreau Kathryn Kenning James Kurtz Richard McGuinnes Joan & Robert Mullally Carole & Donald Williamson

2019 Columbia Golf Ball AMEN CORNER SPONSORS Colonial Life Insurance Company Modern Turf TD Bank

TABLE SPONSORS Ann & Joey Dedman Bonitz Flooring Group Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association Chuck & Karen Howell Cottingham Family Dentistry Country Club of Lexington First Tee of Columbia Heritage Classic Foundation Herndon Chevrolet HR Developers/Peach Properties In Memory of Bill & Kitty Bland & Donnie Sumerel Karen & Bill Harwood

KW Beverage Linda Hartough Golf Landscapes LPGA-AGA Mid Carolina Men’s Golf Association Murphy & Grantland P.A. Palmetto Industrial Services Southern Way Catering Strickland Auction Company Sun Solutions TCG & Associates The Rountree Group The Scott Hannon Memorial Foundation Women’s South Carolina Golf Association Young’s True Value Hardware

EAGLE SPONSORS AC Flora Boys & Girls Golf Barry & Jeanne Reynolds Billy Routh Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC Carolina Gold Construction Converse & Co. David’s Fine Jewelry Dr. Bob Edens Elite Framing Hook + Gaff Watch Co. Jet It – Kemp Hooper Jim & Lori Kirkham Jumper, Carter, Sease Architects Lizards Thicket Restaurants Mary Lane Sloan, The ART of Real Estate Mortgage Network – Clint Hammond Mungo Homes Palmetto Pediatrics – Cathy Miller Palmetto Promotions Pepsi Beverage Company SC Farm Bureau Federation Taylor & Bennett Jordan The Quick Family Wallace Construction

EVENT SPONSORS Anita & David Maness Bagger Du & Beav Scholarship Fund Mary & Bob Thomas Charwood Golf Club Chick-fil-A of West Columbia and Saluda Pointe Hutchens Family Jack & Stormy Balling Jerman Personnel Services Judy & Bill Rogers Meredith Taylor – Morgan Stanley

Larry Hutton Paula & Charles McFadden Pella Window & Door Webb & Webb Zack & Katie Atkinson

2019 Golf Day Supporters Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association Carolinas Chapter CMAA Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday National Golf Course Owners Association SC Golf Course Owners Association The Rountree Group

2019 Grant Bennett Florence Junior Invitational MCLEOD HEALTH SPONSOR AM PRESENTING SPONSOR Advantage Health & Wellness Center

RECEPTION SPONSOR McLeod Health

TOURNAMENT SPONSOR Haynesworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.

SPONSOR – AM PARTNER Carroll Player, DDS Dr. Jamie & Laura Smith Drs. Michele & Noel Phipps First Citizens Bank First Bank Hope Health Janney Investments – Wayne Howle Jennifer & Steven McKay Dr. Jim & Wendy Richardson Marion ‘Luke’ Lucas McDonald OMS Mr. & Mrs. John Orr Paul T. Davis, DMD PGT Rocky Pearce Scat Scaturro Stifel Toledo Carolina Wells Fargo

Aiken & Co. Ins. & Real Estate Drs. Allen & Cates Family Dentistry Angelyn & Sandy Bridges Joe Carson Deb & Rob Colones RD Craddock Vincent J. Degenhart, M.D. Fisher Jewelers Erin & Tommy Gainey Mark Gaynor Stephen Intemann, MD Chuck Jones Dr. Webb Jones Gregg Jones F. Gregg Jones, MD Schipp Johnston Ben & Kari King KJ’s Market – IGA McCall Farms – Annie Ham Donald & Peggy McLean A.E. Morehead, III Sue & Lawrence Orr Jim Stewart Soap N Suds John Taylor Steve C. West Wilcox Office Mart

2019 Beth Daniel Junior Azalea Gifting Partners PRESENTING SPONSOR Allstate – Zack Kelly

LUNCHEON SPONSOR

Urquit Morris State Farm Insurance David Westerlund

SPONSORS & DONORS Mark & Alex Andrews Barbara Christie Mark Cummings – T-Bonz Foundation Paul Fleury Frank Ford, III Phillip Greene, MD Bill Haskin David Kilborn – Performa Limited Brennen King Jonathan Krell Molony & Associates Mungo Homes Oral & Maxilloficial Surgery Association John Orr Ray Segars John Sloop – Palmetto Investment Consultants Everett Smith Truss Link WGA CCC

2019 Big Will’s Day Off Sponsors LUNCH SPONSOR Chick-fil-A Rock Hill Coca Cola York County Natural Gas Authority

Marin-Murray Installation

HOLE SPONSORS

SPONSOR-AM PARTNERS

AME Fabrication & Design Bill Landers Bratton Funeral Home Brodie’s Pro Scape Burns Ford Candice & Jimmy Bailey Carey & Libby Bates Carolina Fresh Farms Cathy & Scott Nader The Chantilly Cindy & Brad Caldwell Clarus Specialty Products Comporium Coombs & Ross Family Dentistry Dermatologic Surgery of the Carolinas Dr. Joe Robinson Drum’s Tire & Battery Service Elliott Close Ferguson Financial Fischer Insurance Agency Fred Faircloth Go Smooth Move

AKD of Charleston Ameris Bank David Ayres’ Lowcountry Custom Golf BRG – Phil Rowley Carolina Eyecare Physicians Barbara Christie Craco Metals Rock Dangerfield & HS Russell Lucia & Bob Daniel Gwen & Tony Daniel First Citizens Bank Imperial Pam & Pat McKinney Nucor Steel – Ben Wallis Performa & David Kilborn Pinnacle Financial Partners Raines Hospitality Sea Fox Boats Andy Shiels South State Bank

Heath & Morgan Jane Myers Jesse & Kristen Medlock King Wealth Partners Larry & Mary Bowman Laurie Norman Mayfield Investments Michael & Susan Smith Noel P. Fuller DMD PA Optimist Club of Rock Hill Outlook Flooring People’s First Insurance Precision Wire R&D Services Rob & Erin Stephenson Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company Rocky Dubard South End Pharmacy Thomas Gymnastics York Industries York Electric Cooperative

SCJGA SPONSORS Beth Daniel Junior Azalea Carolinas Golf Association Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association Certified South Carolina Cheraw State Park Georgia GCSA Grant Bennett Florence Junior Invitational Greenwood Communities and Resorts Hartsville Country Club Junior Golf Foundation Heritage Classic Foundation

Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Pro-Am Kiawah Island Resort McGriff Insurance Services McLeod Health The Blade Junior Golf Classic The Bobby Chapman Invitational The Sea Pines Resort The Todd Family

A Special Thanks To: HERITAGE CLASSIC FOUNDATION Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Pro-Am Mr. James C. Crawford Mr. Tom Fazio Mr. Jay Haas Mr. Todd Sill Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Connell Mr. & Mrs. Justin Converse Mr. & Mrs. Bill Cranford Mr. & Mrs. Charlie Drawdy Mr. & Mrs. John Gay Mr. & Mrs. Marco Lardi Mr. & Mrs. Ben Martin Mr. & Mrs. John Orr Mr. & Mrs. Charlie Rountree, III Ms. Marilyn Thompson Terry Florence Family The Daniel Family The Palmetto Amateur The Rice Planters Invitational

S PR I N G 2 0 2 0

Palmetto Golfer

THANK YOU SUPPORTERS

SUPPORTERS

WEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE GOT YOUR BACK. The Heritage Classic Foundation has been a champion for junior golf and youth in our state since 1987. With the cancellation of the RBC Heritage Classic presented by Boeing, this year, the foundation lost its major fundraiser. So, we here at the South Carolina Golf Association, want to use this back page to say just how much we appreciate everything The Heritage Classic Foundation has done, not just for golf, but for young people and charities across the entire state.

$3.2M Distributed in 2019 $44.6M to Non-profits Since 1987 Supporting 96 Registered Charities $5.25M Earned for Charities through concessions

YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME AND WE WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW