Inman’s Phillips leads way at South Carolina Amateur

Trent Phillips of Inman, a rising high school sophomore and the youngest player in the field at age 15, stole the spotlight in Thursday’s first round of the weather-plagued South Carolina Amateur, seizing the lead with a 6-under-par 66 at Greenville Country Club’s Chanticleer Course.

Phillips, who won the individual title and led Boiling Springs High to the Class 4A championship this spring, posted eight birdies and two bogeys over Chanticleer’s 6,774-yard, par-72 layout. Starting on No. 10, he shot 4-under-par 32 on his opening nine holes, then added four more birdies along with two bogeys on his final nine in the SCGA’s premier championship.

Only eight players who completed their rounds Thursday broke par over the challenging Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that is ranked No. 4 in the state by the South Carolina Golf Course Rating Panel. The players experienced a pair of afternoon weather delays and 46 in the field of 129 did not finish. Play resumes at 7:30 a.m. Friday.

Phillips, ranked third among state juniors, came into the 84th State Amateur after competing in the U.S. Junior Amateur. Earlier this summer, he won the Grant Bennett Junior in Florence.

Michael McKee of Ware Shoals, who will play at Winthrop this fall, follows Phillips with a 5-under-par 67. Ryan Carpenter (Aiken/Coastal Carolina) is another stroke back at 68, and three players — incoming USC freshman Will Miles (Hilton Head Island), Thomas Todd III (Greenville) and Nick Eberhardt (Lake Wylie/Winthrop) — posted 69s. Former Clemson golfer Michael Sims (West Columbia) and Jackson Moore (Isle of Palms/College of Charleston) finished at 2-under 70, and Keenan Huskey (Greenville/USC) is on the course at 2-under-par.

McKee started on the 10th hole and made the turn at 1-under-par 35. He sparkled on his final nine holes with four birdies to pull within one stroke of the lead. Carpenter also began on No. 10 and posted nines of 34-34.

The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties after the second round.