Spring represents tournament season and there is much golf to report.

Let’s start 1st with Par Tee Golf Center which held the “Drive, Pitch & Putt”. Locals qualifying and Cameron Mazzei placed 3rd, Charles Fowler 2nd and DhRuv Mereddy 1st in the boys 10- 11.

In the girls 10-11, it was Nina Santiago, Zoey Meldrum, and Kinley Brazel placing 3rd, 2nd and 1st.

In the girls 7-9, it was Cecilia Ondrus William, Makenzie Vorlker and Carleigh Crawley placing in the top 3. In the boys 7-9, it was Blake Thatcher, Brice La-Bruyere, Ethan Lyons placing in the top 3.

Each age group advanced 3 competitors to regionals which will be at The Spur at Northwoods in August. These young players are in a year long series of competitions to make the finals at Augusta National which is held the Sunday before the 2022 Masters Week.

I saw one of the Excited Drive Chip and Putt Qualifying Competitors at LinRick following the event. This is how runner-up in the Boys 7-9 division Bryce LaBruyere responded when asked what he enjoyed most.

“What I really enjoyed is that I overcame my nerves and came back and made a 5 foot putt at the end of the competition,” he said.

Bryce was smiling ear to ear as he answered the question.

The Drive, Chip and Putt format is an excellent entry level competition reference. I would loosely compare it to Tee Ball in baseball. It places emphasis on process based skill development rather than product-based “On Course” score results.

When I spoke with Bryce’s father Mark, this is what he had to say about the event.

“I enjoyed that it gave Bryce something big to work towards and then to react in the moment when things weren’t quite going his way,” he said. “Seeing him battle and become comfortable out there in his own space was a powerful thing to see as a parent. He was playing his own game without anyone else around. It wasn’t about winning or losing, just having so much fun – fist pumps and all.”

Bryces dad’s comment in my opinion is incredibly telling and I appreciate his words. His 1st sentence reflects 1 of the most important principles to understand early in golf. In order to develop skill, effort is required.

Athletic gifts of speed balance or grace in this game seem completely neutralized. There are no exceptions and no exemptions. The only answer is to incremental skill competence improvement is to invest effort. More later as we progress though competition season so stay tuned.

In local high school golf, Lexington will advance to the Class 5A state championship at Country Club of Lexington after winning the Lower State championship.

Other local schools advancing included Chapin, which won the region championship last week and River Bluff.

Individuals whose game seem to be coming into form at the correct time of the year include Charlie Bierers, Roman Mullinax, Maverick Mullinax from the Lexington Wildcats. Chase Cline, and Jack Brady of the Chapin Eagles and Ashley Eubanks of the River Bluff Gators are in solid form.

Each of the players mentioned have had solid post season performances and are trending nicely. Treat yourself to a day of golf fun and visit the Country Club of Lexington for the state championship this upcoming

Monday and Tuesday. Please call the golf shop for details, including tee times at (803) 359-2011.