When Beaufort native Mark Anderson kicks off his professional career on the Nationwide Tour this month, he will do so on the heels of winning the Carolinas' top non-professional award.
Anderson was named Carolinas Men's Player of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Association. North Augusta's McKenzie Talbert was named the CGA's top junior girls player.
Anderson, 23, won the 2009 South Carolina Amateur Championship, and led the three-man S.C. team to a tie for fourth in the U.S. Golf Association State Team Championship in St. Louis while capturing the individual title. He also reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur.
Anderson was an All-American at USC in 2008 and remained an amateur last year.
Talbert, 14, won the Carolinas PGA's Charles Tilghman Junior and was second in three events, including the Women's SCGA Junior. She led the winning team in the South Carolina-Georgia Junior Challenge Matches and was Beth Daniel S.C. junior player of the year.
On board
The PGA Tour's 16-man Player Advisory Council for 2010 includes two players with S.C. ties: Jonathan Byrd and Brett Quigley. Byrd, a former Columbia resident, Clemson All-American and three-time tour winner, joins the PAC for the first time. Quigley, a former USC All-American, had three second-place finishes in 2009.
Carolinas-Georgia Juniors
North Augusta's Mount Vintage Plantation hosts the second Carolinas-Georgia Junior Championship today-Monday.
Heading South Carolina's squad are Columbia-area products Thomas Bradshaw, Damon Postal, Will Murphy, Collin Witiak and Parker Allen, plus Leesville's Cody Proveaux. Columbia's Collins Bradshaw and USC signee Katie Rose Higgins of Charleston head the girls' squad.
North Carolina is defending champion. Call (803) 637-3775 or (803) 480-2181.
Chip shots
The Women's S.C. Vicki Hillen Junior Golf Foundation hosts the Carolyn Cudone Tournament, honoring the two late legendary players, March 2 at Myrtle Beach's Dunes Golf and Beach Club. Men's and mixed divisions have been added. Call (843) 757-3496 or go to wscga.org. ... Pelion's Sam Jackson tied for third in the boys' 16-19 division of the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour event in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., shooting 79-75. Chandler Vilcheck of Bluffton won the event by three shots. ... The Greenville-based BMW Charity Pro-Am was named 2009 Nationwide Tour Charity of the Year, raising $651,829 for last year's 78 charity organizations and $7.3 million since 2001.
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