USC golfer feeling better about his game as he prepares to defend state amateur title

Zach Adams headed to the South Carolina Amateur Championship this time a year ago to gauge the quality of his golf in preparation for the U.S. Amateur and his freshman season at the University of South Carolina.

The answer to “how’s my game?” then means he goes into the 92nd edition of the state’s top challenge for amateur golfers this week as defending champion.

“I haven’t been playing my best this summer, but the game’s trending in the right direction,” Adams said in looking to this year’s State Amateur, set for Aug. 3-6 at Musgrove Mill Golf Club in Clinton.

Placing 16th in the Carolinas Amateur in mid-July might not sound overly impressive, but he finished only six shots behind the winner. His performance included a pair of 68s over the final two rounds that provide a jolt of confidence headed into the Southeastern Amateur in Columbus, Georgia, then the South Carolina Amateur a week later.

“I made the quarterfinals in the State Match-Play, but I didn’t play well at all in the Rice Planters and I didn’t make the U.S. Amateur in qualifying,” Adams said in recounting his summer performances. “Playing well in the Carolinas Amateur (at Pine Needles in Southern Pines, North Carolina) is what I needed.

“I’ve been hitting it well off the tee; I just need to make some more putts.”

After his 2022 State Amateur triumph at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, he played in the U.S. Amateur and fell short of advancing to the match-play. He jumped immediately into college golf and played in eight of Carolina’s tournaments, forging a 74.3 scoring average and earning one top-10 individual finish.

“The golf part (of college) was easy,” he said of the transition. “Adjusting to class schedules, time management, studying, practice time and everything ... I had to get used to that.”

Adams grew up in Charleston, learned the game at the Country Club of Charleston and sparkled in high school golf at First Baptist School. His junior golf triumphs included the prestigious Blade title at Thornblade and the South Carolina Junior Match Play.

His State Amateur victory a year ago came at the brawny Dunes Club layout. He joins a field of 120 at Musgrove that is shorter — but demands more accuracy.

“I’ll be hitting a lot of irons off the tee,” Adams said in looking to Musgrove’s 6,950-yard layout.

That’s a good plan, said Biff Lathrop, executive director of the South Carolina Golf Association.

“Keeping the ball in the fairway is the most important thing at Musgrove,” he said. “It’s a demanding golf course. The course gets nasty off the fairways, and areas around the greens fall away. There’s trouble everywhere.”

Case in point: In winning the 2008 State Amateur at Musgrove, Lee Palms made par on only half of the 72 holes. His other scores: 22 birdies, one eagle, nine bogeys, three double-bogeys and one quadruple-bogey.

That added up to 5-under-par 283 — and the championship.

In Musgrove’s other State Amateur, Mark Swygert prevailed in 1994 with a score of 8-under-par 280.

“We have a really strong field,” Lathrop said. “It’s been 15 years since we played the Amateur there, and I’m anxious to see how the players handle it now. Musgrove shows that courses don’t have to be really long to be challenging.”

One who welcomes the challenge is the defending champion.

“I’m excited,” Adams said. “Being defending champion makes it even better.”