The best in SC amateur golf? Familiar names dominate the roll call

Look for the best of the best — the 2025 players of the year in South Carolina amateur golf — and an obvious pattern evolves. Familiar names top the lists, creating a definite “I’ve seen this movie before” vibe.

There’s Sam Jackson, earning the S.C. Golf Association’s top player award for an unprecedented fourth-straight time.

There’s Eddie Hargett, back on top among SCGA seniors (players 55 and older) for the fifth time after a two-year hiatus.

There’s Sophia Burnett, taking home the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association’s top award on the strength of two major tourney wins in a one-week span that included her third State Women’s Amateur title.

There’s Lea Venables, capturing the WSCGA’s top senior award again with a résumé that includes two wins and seven top-five finishes.

There’s Dawn Woodard, collecting the WSCGA’s inaugural Spirit of Golf award for a multi-win season that included a triumph in the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur.

There’s Bennett Scaletta, claiming his second S.C. Junior Golf Association’s top player prize for boys on the strength of an impressive season that included one win, near-misses in the State Junior and Southern Cross tourneys, and multiple top-five finishes.

And there’s a new face — but a familiar name — among the honorees: Marissa Scaletta, Bennett’s sister who forged an exceptional season to earn the SCJGA’s top award among girls.

Points are award based on finishes in state, regional and national tournaments. Earning the awards requires playing consistently at a high level throughout the year.

“Playing well consistently is hard and winning is harder,” SCGA executive director Biff Lathrop said.

Jackson highlighted his fourth player of the year award by winning the State Amateur with a final-hole birdie, and he finished in the top five of every state or regional tournament he entered. Hargett took the State Senior Amateur in a playoff.

Among the women, Burnett won both the State Women’s Open and State Women’s Amateur over the stretch of a week. A scheduling quirk put the tournaments back-to-back, the Open on Friday-Sunday and the Amateur on Monday-Wednesday.

She played all sports growing up on Hilton Head Island, and, she said in an August interview after her twin wins: “It came time to decide. Soccer or golf. I said, ‘let’s go with golf.’”

Her decision — focusing on one sport — has become a trend among young athletes, Lathrop noted, “and the result is the quality of play gets stronger at every level every year.”

Added Hargett, “The competitive bar is raised higher each year.”

The highly skilled players make the headlines and recreational players create the backbone of the sport. The combination, Lathrop said, “puts golf in South Carolina in a great place.”

Chip shots. In its “Best of” awards, the PGA Tour named the RBC Heritage it Most Fan First Event for 2025. In announcing the honor, the Tour noted the annual event on Hilton Head Island “sets the standard for a fan-forward event by providing a world-class experience for every attendee, regardless of ticket type.” ... Chris Eassy (Simpsonville) and Jeremy Revis (Greenville) teamed to win the SCGA’s Forty Plus Series at the Long Bay Club in Longs with a two-day total of 9-under-par 135. ... Yoshio Yamamoto, assistant coach for the USC women’s team, has been selected as assistant on Team International for the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup. He will represent his home country of Mexico in the competition set for July in Ireland. Kalen Anderson, USC’s head women’s coach, served as co-head coach for Team USA in the 2025 event.