South Carolina kids savored playing for title
The opportunity to compete for national supremacy is rare, and 10 youngsters from the Midlands “had a blast,” last weekend in their quest for the 2015 PGA Junior League Golf Championship.
Matthew Hutto, Jalen Castle, Palmer Mason, Ford Reynolds, Elliott Pope, Spencer Benton, Jordan Rivers, Derek Loy, Johnny Hyman and Guy Buffum formed Team South Carolina, and they returned from Orlando with memories for a lifetime.
The Palmetto State contingent fell short of their quest, finishing fifth, “but what a great time everyone had and what a great effort they gave,” said team coach Tom Mason, the PGA professional who owns Par Tee Golf Center in West Columbia.
“The PGA of America did the tournament in the right way,” Mason said. “They brought in their championship team to run the event, had electronic scoreboards around the course and standard-bearers walking with each group. Disney characters came and posed for pictures. Everything was first class, and it was a tremendous experience for everyone – the kids and the adults, too.”
The PGA Junior League features 12- and 13-years-olds, and top players from the Midlands’ league squads composed the all-star team. The Midlands team won the state championship, then defeated state winners from Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina to advance to the nationals.
More than 30,000 youngsters nationwide competed in the PGA Junior League season, and 80 made it to the national finals.
“Dwight Segall, a Taylor Made representative, looked at the numbers and said percentage-wise, a player had a better chance to qualify for the U.S. Open than make the Junior League finals,” Mason said. “That’s pretty cool.”
The South Carolina team lost to Georgia and New Jersey and defeated Connecticut in pool play, then beat Illinois in the fifth-place match. Mason felt his team was better than the New Jersey squad, “but we just didn’t play our best.” They did play well in the medal round, beating Illinois 9-3. Illinois had lost to eventual champion California by only one point in pool play.
In addition to competition, they participated in skills challenges – long drivers and flop shots – and Benton’s interaction with Golf Channel personality Lauren Thompson, mistress of ceremonies at the pre-tournament banquet, ranked among the highlights of the week.
Benton received a “game ball” from Thompson on the Morning Drive program, and the Golf Channel program also featured Jalen Castle, who underwent surgery for idiopathic scoliosis this spring and has come back to play golf at a high level.
“All the teams were pretty evenly matched,” Mason said. “You had to be good to advance to the national finals, and our kids were right there. Scores in all the matches (9 holes, two-player captain choice format) were from 4- to 8-under-par, and that’s obviously very good golf. California won the championship in a playoff with a 30-foot birdie putt.
“We had a wonderful experience.”
Chip shots
Caleb Proveaux (Lexington), Jamie Wilson (Mt. Pleasant) and Connor Chesky (Saint Helena, Calif.) signed grants-in-aid to join the USC men’s golf team and William Nottingham (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Doc Redman (Raleigh, N.C.) signed to play for the Clemson men. ... Dwight Cauthen, a member of A.C. Flora, will play at North Carolina State. ... Ana Paula Valdes, a native of Mexico who lives in Florida, will join the Clemson women’s team. ... Chris Fearn, assistant golf professional at Dataw Island Club, played a golf marathon Monday and raised more than $16,000 to benefit the Green Beret Foundation. He began at 4:30 a.m. using glow-in-the-dark golf balls, braved pouring rain and cold temperatures and finished 156 holes at 5:30 p.m. He recorded 19 birdies, and one eagle on the club’s Morgan River course. ... Patrick Golden (Murrells Inlet, boys’ 15-18), Seth Taylor (Gaffney, boys’ 13-14) and Kathleen Sumner (Daniel Island, girls’ 13-18) captured titles in the SCJGA’s Cheraw Fall Challenge.