How Greenville resident and Indiana University golfer wrapped up SC Amateur victory

Harry Reynolds charged into command with a mid-round birdie spree and coasted home to win the 90th South Carolina Amateur Championship on Sunday at DeBordieu Club near Georgetown.

A Greenville resident who plays on the Indiana University golf team, Reynolds enjoyed smooth sailing after his six-birdies-in-10-holes streak and earned the title by three strokes with a four-round total of 8-under-par 280.

Leading by one shot headed into the final round, Reynolds bogeyed the second and third holes to surrender the lead. But he countered with his sizzling streak, built a six-stroke advantage and earned a permanent place in the state’s golf history.

“My biggest win, hands down,” Reynolds said. “I have never slept on the lead before and maybe those two early bogeys were a blessing. They killed the nerves, then I made a nice birdie from the back fringe on No. 4.”

He followed by knocking a stroke off par on holes 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 and left his challengers playing for second place. With a six-shot advantage after No. 15, he played the finals holes conservatively, bogeyed all three and still finished 1-under-71 for the day and three strokes clear.

“My brother Stephen was on the bag and every time I asked him for a scoring update, he told me I was one more shot ahead,” said Reynolds, an accounting and finance major at Indiana. “There’s trouble on those last three holes and I just wanted to protect the lead.”

Reynolds, a graduate of Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville, earned Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors this spring after posting a 4-0 record in the conference’s match-play championship. Although a senior, he has two years of eligibility remaining due to COVID relief and plans to earn his master’s degree.

Columbian Henry Augenstein, a recent Wofford graduate, and Barnwell’s Kyle Bearden, a mid-amateur who earned the S.C. Golf Association’s 2020 player of the year award, shared second place at 283. Bearden also tied for second in the State Amateur last year.

College players Nick Willis (Cowpens/Wofford) and Michael Rials (Florence/Francis Marion) and rising high school senior Zach Adams (Charleston) shared fourth at 284. Adams came into the tourney with two junior victories this summer.

Reynolds sparkled in high school golf, earned three top-10 finishes in the State Junior Championship and played on a couple of Palmetto State teams in the Georgia-South Carolina Challenge matches.

“Going to Indiana was a perfect opportunity for me,” he said.

He prepared for the State Amateur with a lighter-than-usual summer schedule, playing on three events instead of six.

“We had a full spring (college) schedule,” Reynolds said. “I played in the Palmetto Amateur (in July) and did OK, and I had a good practice round here.”

That carried over into the tournament. With scores of 71-69-69-71—280, he is the only player to post four sub-par rounds.

The South Carolina Amateur moves up the Atlantic Coast to the famed Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach next year.

Chip shots. Jackson Byrd, son of PGA Tour pro Jordan Byrd and nephew of Clemson golf coach Jordan Byrd, won the AJGA’s Matt NeSmith Junior Championship at Forest Lake Club. ... The Palmetto State dominated in winning the Georgia-South Carolina Junior Girls Challenge Matches at the Cliffs at Mountain Park at Travelers Rest. .... The third South Carolina Women’s Open is set Friday-Sunday at Cobblestone Park GC. ... Major Lenning (Simpsonville) won the boys title for the second straight year, and Bridget Wilkie (Bluffton) led the girls in the SCJGA’s Jimmy Self Invitational at Palmetto Dunes on Hilton Head Island. .... The South Carlina contingent in the U.S. Amateur that opens Monday at Oakmont includes Todd White (Spartanburg), Ryan Marter (Columbia), Brady Hinkle (Lancaster), Jonathan Griz (Hilton Head Island), Jacob Bridgeman (Inman), Trent Phillips (Boiling Springs) and Ryan Hall (USC). The field of 312 will play 36 holes of stroke play with the low 64 advancing into match play.

SC Amateur 2021 top scores

Harry Reynolds 71-69-69-71—280

Kyle Bearden 70-70-70-73—283

Harry Augenstein 70-68-73-72—283

Michael Rials 68-72-70-74—284

Zach Adams 68-71-72-73—284

Nick Willis 73-69-70-72—284

Raymond Wooten 69-73-70-73—285

Tyler Gray 71-70-75-70—286

Sam Jackson 75-71-72-68—286

Nick Mayfield 72-70-71-74—287

Jack Parrott 74-71-73-69—287

Brian Quackenbush 71-73-72-72—288

Oliver Rotermund 66-70-74-78—288

Max Green 71-70-76-71—288

Connor Fahey 70-74-71-74—289

Daniel Brasington 74-71-73-71—289

Evans Lewis 71-74-72-73—290

McClure Thompson 72-72-73-73—290

Grant Sellers 73-75-70-72—290

Mitchell Vance 69-71-74-77—291

Walt Todd, Jr. 71-74-77-70—292

Austin Morgan 71-72-73-76—292

JT Herman 77-71-75-69—292