Winston Churchill wasn’t much of a golfer by most accounts, but one of his famous quotes could easily apply to anyone who has played and won the game.
“There is nothing quite as exhilarating as being shot at and missed,” is a version of an often misquoted quote attributed to the British Prime Minister.
It probably is a stretch to apply it to the South Carolina Golf Association Amateur championship, but Harry Reynolds might understand what Churchill meant.
Reynolds started the final round of the championship at The DeBordieu Club in Georgetown with a 1-shot lead and during the final round more than a few of the competitors took turns “taking a shot” at the leader.
Reynolds survived challenges from Kyle Bearden, Henry Augenstein, Zach Adams, Oliver Rotermund and Raymond Wooten to name a few. Each golfer made a run at the leader, but all came up short.
The Indiana University golfer from Greenville finished with a 280, 8-under par total for a three shot victory.
“It gives me goose bumps, this is a blessing,” said the Hoosier golfer. “I won an event in North Carolina a few year’s back and its always haunted me that it maybe might have been my biggest win ever and today I reaffirmed that it’s not the case,” he said.
Reynolds opened the 72 hole championship with a 1-under par 71. In the second round he shot a 5-under par 31 on the front and finished with a 3-under par 69.
The second round was delayed and eventually suspended because of bad weather and darkness. Many golfers had to finish their second round starting early Saturday morning before they could begin the third round.
The tournament cut was made at +8 with 73 golfers advancing to the weekend.
Going into the weekend Reynolds trailed Oliver Rotermund, the Bishop England High School golfer who lead the first two rounds.
Reynolds took the tournament lead away from Rotermund in the third round.
The Saturday round included a 90 minute rain delay but golfers were able to get back on the course and finish 54 holes.
While some golfers struggled after the delay Reynolds got back to playing his game quickly.
He finished his third round with another 3-under par 69. When Rotermund bogeyed his final hole on Saturday, Reynolds had a 1-shot lead to start the final round.
“I had never slept on a lead like that. I had a good night, but I woke up nervous and it showed up in the first couple of holes,” he said.
Reynolds bogeyed two of his first three holes, but shook off the nerves to birdie four of his next six getting to 9-under par at the turn.
“I assumed I had dropped out of the lead and lowered my expectations and then I started making some putts,” he said.
The field still was taking their shots trying to catch Reynolds.
Rotermund had shared the lead thru the first five holes, Zach Adams from Charleston got within a shot by the 6th hole. Henry Augenstein from Columbia and Zach Adams from Charleston got within 2-shots at the turn.
By the time Raymond Wooten from Clemson had climbed up into second place, Reynolds had built his lead to 4-shots and looked like he would have an easy win with a few strokes to spare.
After Reynolds made his sixth birdie of the day on the 13th hole he asked his caddy, his brother Stephen, for a score update.
“It seemed like every time I asked him (about the scores) I picked up another shot. Fortunately, I took advantage of the middle of the round so when I stood on 16 tee box I knew I didn’t have to worry about some of those difficult hole locations,” said the Christ Church High School grad.
With a 4 shot lead and the rest of the field already taken their best shots, Reynolds was able to finish out the tournament with 3-bogeys and still post a 3-shot victory and claim the 90th SCGA Amateur Championship.
“For a right-handed golfer you are staring at water all the way up the final two holes. I managed to stay out of the water all week. Thankfully I didn’t have to hit those tee shots, with a 1-shot lead, I don’t know if I could have handled it,” he recalled.
Augenstein and Bearden finished in a tie for second place at 5-under par. Nick Willis from Spartanburg, Zach Adams from Rock Hill and Francis Marion golfer Michael Rials all finished in a tie for fourth place at 4-under par.
Rayond Wooten from Clemson finished 7th with recent Festival of Flowers champion Sam Jackson and 2019 SC Amateur champion Tyler Gray tied for 8th place.
Earlier in the year Reynolds contributed four match play wins as the Hoosiers won the Big-10 Match Play championship. He was honored by the Big 10 for his play.
“I was a part of a very talented team and that was exciting, but this win feels different. I am so happy to be a part of the history of South Carolina Golf and have my name on that trophy forever. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but it just really feels so awesome,” concluded the 2021 SC Amateur Champion.
The top-20 finishers will be exempt into next year’s SCGA Amateur which will be played at the Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach.
Scores from the final round of the SCGA Amateur https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/2793324
Categories: SCGA
