Local and pre-tournament favorite Sam Jackson got off to a great start in the SCGA Amateur Championship played at Muscrove Mill in Clinton earlier this month.

“I was four-under with five to play in the opening round but ended up only one under par. Then in the second round, I hit the ball really good, but could only manage even par. And the third round I hit it poorly, but still managed even par. In the fourth round a very poor start a laminated championship possibilities but I still managed to finish 10th. This keeps my streak of top ten’s in this event intact but I’m a little disappointed with my mental game. I did not temper expectations and this hurt my game,” Jackson said.

The Pelion High and Presbyterian College grad, placed 10th at +1.
The 2023 State Am Champion is 56-year-old Todd White from Spartanburg. This result should give everyone inspiration to play this great game! South Carolina has some of the strongest amateurs in the entire country and a 56-year-old beat all the kids!

Rising Gamecock senior Rafe Reynolds of Greenville was runner-up.

In local junior golf, Ponderosa Golf Club hosted SCJGA Tri County Chapter and
Madden Grace Butler was a medalist in the girls 7-9 division. In the boys 13-14, Grant Kaufman & Harrison Chavis tied for medalist.

In the Girls 13-18, Brooke Burgess and Karys Clampitt shared the medalist honors while William Hobby earned the medal in Boys 15-18.

Lexington County Recreation and Aging Commission (LCRAC) has a fall golf menu that includes programs for youth, ladies, adults, and family. There are two levels of family learning available, one for advanced golfers and one for the young and new in the game. What’s unique about all fall golf programming is that it’s a “Learn Through Play” format. This means learning takes place on the actual golf course. For more, head to sports.bluesombrero.com/lcrac.

From amateur golf to pro golf, my two sons were in a playoff to get spots in the final PGA Tour event of the season, the Wyndham Championship. The youngest of the two, Wesley, who is a PGA Tour player, got one of the spots, while George IV lost out. They tied at -5 with six other players and it was a six-for-three sudden-death playoff.

My initial reaction as I was following was and is still the same: I thought it was awesome that both played well at the same time. Both had opportunity because of their sustained hard work, commitment, dedication and determination. I’ve always appreciated and tried to adopt Jack Nicklaus’ philosophy: “I pull for everyone to play their best and my hope is my score total is one stoke lower.”

George IV was so happy for Wesley, he was beside himself. There was not one ounce of disappointment in him about the playoff loss. He was completely elated with his own performance and should be. He shot -5 on a great course. He gave it everything he had and was thrilled that his game could stand such a test.

Tommy Gainey, who lives in Bishopville but plays a lot of golf locally, was in the playoff and got a spot in the Wyndham. In the actual 72-hole tournament, Wesley played well, made the cut, but struggled on the weekend. A couple of errant shots and balls that simply would not stay in the cup kept him from the top of the leaderboard.