City Championship has seen a dash of everything

If this is the third week in July, you can be sure Gus Sylvan will be fired up and ready to compete in the Columbia City Golf Championship.

“Thirty ... maybe 35 ... maybe more,” he said in pondering the number of times he has teed up in the tournament he has won four times and now, conceding to age, plays in the senior division.

Over the years, he has seen everything in the 54-hole championship that will be played Thursday-Saturday at the Country Club of Lexington.

He can talk about the power of a young Dustin Johnson, the duel between future PGA Tour winner Joe Inman and Holt Dye, Steve Liebler’s 11 titles, and his own success. He also can talk about the not-so-good things – including the years the golf powers-that-be wondered if conducting a city tournament was worth their time.

“Bobby Foster stepped in and the tournament really changed for the better under his direction,” Sylvan, an insurance agent, said. “Bobby ran the tournament for more than 20 years and now Allen Knight is continuing the tradition.”

Sylvan, who won both the state high school championship at A.C. Flora and the South Carolina Amateur in 1971, started his association with the city tournament “back then.” He missed time during a brief fling with professional golf, then regained his amateur status, and the Columbia event became a fixture on his calendar.

“So many things,” he said in looking back. “I was 15 or 16 and remember the tournament at Fort Jackson. I didn’t play very well, but Joe Inman and Holt Dye had a great battle. And Dustin. I played with him one year at the old University Club (now Cobblestone Park). On 18, he hit driver, 4-iron into the middle of the (par-5) green. I laid up with a driver, 4-iron.”

He laughed at the incongruity and said, “He obviously had talent. I didn’t expect him to be as good as he has become, but maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at his success.”

Players such as Johnson move on to the pros; the Sylvans, Lieblers and Brent Roofs either remain amateurs or regain amateur status.

“It’s really an ‘adult amateur’ event, and that’s good,” Sylvan said. “It’s one that all of us look forward to each year.”

Brannan Hudson, the 2014 champion, has turned professional, but Knight, in his second year in running the tournament, likes the strength of the field that includes recent winners Brian Lee (2013), Eddie Hargett (2012) and Roof (2009), the state left-hander champion. In addition, 2012 runner-up Jordan Sease has regained his amateur status and will compete, and the Dargan brothers – state Mid-Amateur champion Robert and David – recently won the SCGA Lefty-Righty title.

The tournament’s three amateur divisions – regular, senior and super-senior – will compete for three rounds with a 36-hole cut. The professional division will be two rounds, finishing on Friday. The tourney is open to the public with free admission. Most of the expected favorites are scheduled to play Thursday morning and Friday afternoon. The leaders tee off for Saturday’s final round in the 9 a.m. range.

Hall tabs Rymer Charlie Rymer, one of the most decorated stalwarts in the state’s storied junior golf program, has been selected for induction into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame. He will be enshrined on Jan. 9, 2016, in ceremonies at Columbia Country Club.

Now an announcer on the Golf Channel, Rymer, who grew up in Fort Mill, won the state junior title three consecutive years (1984-86) and earned his most prestigious championship, the U.S. Junior Amateur, in 1985. He made All-America twice at Georgia Tech, won three straight state high school individual titles and earned Carolinas player of the year honors in 1985.

Rymer played three years on the PGA Tour before moving into broadcasting in 1998. He joined the Golf Channel in 2008.

Chip shots Carson Young (Pendleton/Clemson) shot 8-under-par 134 at Columbia Country Club to lead qualifying for the U.S. Amateur. Also earning berths in the national tournament are Josh Lorenzetti (Blythewood/College of Charleston) and Caleb Proveaux (Lexingon/Gilbert High), who has committed to the University of South Carolina. ... In Monroe Township, N.J., Sean Kelly, a rising senior at USC, led the U.S. Amateur qualifying with 9-under-par 133. ... Woodlands pro Rohan Allwood teamed with Mike Cato (Greenville, N.C.) to share fourth place and the Northwoods duo of Greg McBride and Burke Cromer tied for seventh in the CPGA Pro-Assistant tourney in Wallace, N.C.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 10:42 PM with the headline "City Championship has seen a dash of everything."