How SC Golf Association has navigated COVID-19 pandemic. What’s ahead for 2021?
Like every enterprise, the South Carolina Golf Association hierarchy faced a myriad of coronavirus-related challenges this year, and tournament golf took on a different look.
Regulations to protect the players’ health had to be implemented, and some of the game’s grand traditions took a holiday in the interest of safety. The potential for unexpected problems lurked everywhere.
Nevertheless, “everything considered, the season has been all we could have hoped for,” said Biff Lathrop, the SCGA’s executive director. “We have had outstanding competition, and the cooperation from the players and the clubs hosting tournaments has been excellent.”
The pandemic put the brakes on the state’s amateur tournaments from mid-March until early June. Schedules became a moving target. The USGA canceled qualifiers for its national championships, leaving a big hole in area schedules.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” Lathrop said. “We had to cancel some events, but we know the situation would have been worse. The players followed the codes, and our staff did an outstanding job in setting up protocols. We haven’t had any major issues.”
The SCGA staged most of its major championships, but the association called off its 40-plus Series events and its one-day tournaments in the interest of safety.
Four tournaments in October complete the bulk of the schedule and typify the year. The Mid-Amateur and Super Senior championships, both at Florence Country Club, are in their original places. The Senior Championship at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg moved to October from its spring date, and the Mixed Team competition relocated from Dataw Island Club to Rock Hill Country Club.
“We had to do some shuffling, but everything generally worked out,” Lathrop said.
Amid all the changes this year, the SCGA staff also had to look ahead and is making preparations without knowing what, if any, impact the pandemic will have on the 2021 schedule.
The annual Golf Day celebration, which honors award winners and includes induction into the S.C. Golf Hall of Fame, has been moved from its January date to March 13. Otherwise, the staff is planning for tournaments in their traditional dates and will be working on details for USGA qualifiers and Drive. Chip and Putt competition.
“We haven’t done anything inside yet, and we didn’t know how many people we would be allowed to have at a Golf Day banquet in January,” Lathrop said. “We moved the date to with hopes we could have full attendance by March.”
The State Amateur will be played at DeBordieu Cub near Georgetown in 2021, and future sites include the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach (2022), Colleton River Plantation’s Dye Course in Bluffton (tentatively 2023) and the Country Club of Charleston (2024).
“There are still a lot of moving part to the future schedules,” he said. “As we found out this year, we have to be prepared to adjust accordingly. Considering that for a couple of months we didn’t know when — or if — we would be playing tournaments, we have to be pretty satisfied with the year.”
Chip shots. Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas edged College of Charleston senior Logan Sowell (Kershaw) in a playoff to win the Carolinas PGA Section’s South Carolina Open at the Reserve Club at Pawleys Island. Tyler Gray (Lugoff/Coastal Carolina) finished fifth and the Spur at Northwoods assistant pro Burke Cromer took sixth. ... Weston Bell (Piedmont) and Robert Lutomski (Simpsonville) joined forces to win the SCGA’s Players Four-Ball title at Columbia CC. ... Due to coronavirus-related rules, USC’s men’s team is currently scheduled to play two fall tournaments — the Blessing Collegiate Invitational Oct. 5-7 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and the Legends Collegiate Invitational Oct. 25-27 in Franklin, Tennessee. USC’s women will compete in the Arkansas tournament on the same dates, the Ally at Old Waverly Oct. 19-21 in West, Point, Mississippi and the East Lake Cup Oct. 26-28 in Atlanta.