GOLF

Charles Stephenson now has both of his daughters playing college golf.

His oldest, Lauren, is a senior at Alabama while his youngest Hannah is a freshman at Lander. Hannah got off to a rough start in her first qualifying but turned it around.

“She hurt her hand and could not play or practice for weeks and her first score of 86 in qualifying for the first event of the fall put her behind,” he said. “She steadily got better and by the final round played well enough to earn the third spot on the team.”

Lauren is one of the top amateurs and has an exemption into the third and final stage of this fall’s LPGA Tour Qualifying School.

What’s unique about golf rules of participation is as an amateur one can enter the Professional Tour Qualifying and try out. If successful in earning the “tour card”, the player can then, by accepting the “tour card”, becomes a professional in status which nullifies college or amateur eligibility.”

“Lauren is planning on playing in the LPGA Third Stage Qualifier,” Charles said. “After the fall, she would only have two classes left for her degree, so she would play professional golf in the Spring of 2019 on the LPGA Tour if she earns her card.”

Lauren Stephenson is yet another local golfer whose roots are in the Midlands. Our community has been a fertile training ground for producing world-class golfers.

Dustin Johnson is currently the world’s best on balance for the last four years. Jonathon Byrd, my son Wesley Bryan, are all “locally grown.”

Stephenson improved early and reached National Level top 10 status before she was a sophomore at Lexington High School.

In my opinion, her game stayed close to the same level. Which means she was probably skilled enough to have some success on the LPGA Tour when she was a sophomore in high school through her freshmen year in college. She remained an amateur.

After a pretty good freshman year at Clemson, a transfer to Alabama seemed to me to inspire a major gain in both skill competence and confidence. She contended in the U.S. Women’s Open, made the Curtis Cup team and was a first team All-SEC and All American. She simply began to play great on demand.

That’s the difference too, in my opinion, in the great players and the greatest. The greatest players play great when they decide to. The greatest players don’t hope to, want to, they just do. Period. And that’s the kind of player Lauren Stephenson is.

The registration for the Irmo-Chapin Recreation Commission’s Winter Youth Golf tour starts next month.

This year’s program will be a special one in its 27th season. The recreational golf program is for youth golfers of all skill levels in the age range from four to

18. Parents and players will get together on Sunday afternoons from December through February to engage in Family Fun on the golf course. Parents have the option to spectate, guide, 4-caddie or caddie, alongside their golfer. Please call Seven Oaks Park or Crooked Creek Park at (803) 732-9311 or (803) 345-6181.