‘Special and humbling’: Columbia-area golf pro Tom Mason earns high honor from PGA
High school golfers and their coaches competing at a 2017 junior tournament at WildeWood Country Club received a rare treat at the tournament’s banquet: an opportunity to inspect, take pictures with and perhaps dream of one day winning one of the sport’s most treasured prizes.
They arrived at the clubhouse with the Wanamaker Trophy, presented annually to the PGA Championship winner, standing tall in the doorway.
Folks familiar with junior golf in the Carolinas came to an immediate — and correct — conclusion: Tom Mason had been at work.
Scenes like that one three years ago are among the many reasons Mason, owner of West Columbia’s Par Tee Golf Center, will be in the spotlight Sunday night in Greensboro, North Carolina. He’ll be presented the highest honor offered by the PGA of America’s Carolinas Section: the 2019 Golf Professional of the Year award.
“It’s pretty special and very humbling ... there are so many deserving professionals,” said Mason as he joins a who’s who in Carolinas professional golf in earning the award.
The honor is also well-deserved and perhaps overdue for Mason, a member of the Carolinas Section for almost 25 years. Surprising, too: He migrated from his native Pennsylvania and focused on an advanced degree from USC’s renowned international business program rather than majoring in golf.
Mason, a quality golfer who did not play in college, dipped his toe into the golf industry by working in the WildeWood golf shop. Eventually, WildeWood pro Clem King offered Mason an opportunity to tackle bigger challenges and, Mason said, “immediately tried to talk me out of it.”
He rejected King’s advice and, Mason said, “Clem became my mentor and made me into the golf professional I am today. He encouraged me to get involved with the Carolinas PGA and the South Carolina PGA Chapter.”
Mason worked at WildeWood, Woodcreek, Oak Hills and The Woodlands before purchasing Par Tee about eight years ago. He has continued to upgrade the facility.
“When I got into golf, I thought I wanted to own a course and quickly figured out I didn’t,” Mason said. “On the other hand, a driving range was very appealing.”
He does more, far more, that sit behind the counter and sell range balls.
▪ He is coach of Columbia College’s women’s golf team;
▪ He makes his facility available for national long drive competitions; the Drive, Chip and Putt program; and high school teams;
▪ He operates summer and winter programs in the PGA Junior Golf League;
▪ He serves on Carolinas PGA committees along with the South Carolina PGA Chapter Service and the Midlands Golf Course Owners’ Association;
▪ He has been a member of the national PGA Junior League Advisory Council;
▪ And he coaches, holds clinics and helps with fund-raisers for various high school teams.
“We have done (upgrades) slowly at Par Tee,” Mason said. “We had a long way to go in terms of improving maintenance, then we added a putting green and the three-hole par-3 loop, and increased the inventory in the pro shop. We have re-opened the miniature course, and we want to add a separate building for teaching.”
Developing junior golf opportunities and teaching the game in general are his passions. They’re the things, he said, “I find most rewarding.”
Along the way, he earned he 2018 Carolinas PGA Player Development award and the 2017 Carolinas PGA Youth Player Development award. He has served on numerous Carolinas PGA committees, and colleagues will be surprised if he does not find a spot in the section’s leadership before too long.
“We’ll see,” he said, but slowing down is not part of his DNA.
Chip shots. Clem King (2010, Woodcreek) and Mike Casto (2005, Fort Jackson GC) are active area professionals who have won the Carolinas Section Professional of the Year Award. Other area pros who received recognition include Norman Flynn (1981), Charlie Prentice (’79), Tony Evans (’77), Bobby Howard (’71), Melvin Hemphill (’61) and Grant Bennett (’56). . . . Former champions Matt Kuchar (2014). Jim Furyk (’15), Brandt Snedeker (’11) and Graeme McDowell (’13) have committed to compete in the 2020 RBC Heritage, set for April 15-18 at Harbour Town GL on Hilton Head Island. Ticket information is available online at www.rbcheritage.com.