The next time Bennett Scaletta tees it up in a tournament he will do so as the 2023 Jay Haas South Carolina Junior Player of the Year.

The 14 year old from Belton has jammed a lot of success into just a couple of years of junior golf. Scaletta has no illusions, he knows his Player of the Year award is a plaque and a website story and has no effect on the next time he strikes a golf ball.

“Right now I’m the number one player in the state,” said Scaletta. “I’ve got to keep on trying to get better and kind of keep this good play going,” he said.

The TL Hanna High School golfer finished on top of the year long Heritage Classic Foundation rankings out pointing Jack Crousore from Bluffton and Dallas Johnson from Mount Pleasant for the honor.

While the ranking points made the difference between first and second and third place, it is another set of numbers making Scaletta’s Player of the Year award even more impressive.

The Class of 2027 future graduate is the youngest golfer to win the Player of the Year award . Scaletta is a couple of months younger than the previous youngest winner Jonathan Griz from Hilton Head.

The difference between the two is measured in weeks and days instead of years leaving a great deal of junior golf still to be played for this year’s Haas Award winner.

“I’m trying to get 1 percent better every day. When I go to a tournament being the number one player in the state doesn’t give me any advantage over anyone else,” he said,

During the year, Scaletta finished 13 times within the top five and 6 times within the top ten. Since moving up into the main junior competition in the SCJGA, Scaletta hasn’t finished below 15th in any tournament.

Last spring he led his high school team to the AAAAA State Championship and finished as the medalist.

In junior golf he posted a series of exceptional finishes including a tie for second at the Grant Bennett, a pair of third place finishes in The Blade and the Jackie Seawell Junior, a top 15 at the Beth Daniel Junior Azalea, and two fourth place finishes at the CGA’s Creed and the Henry Transou at Cherokee National,

It wasn’t a win, but Scaletta tied for ninth after hanging around the top three at the prestigious Bobby Chapman Junior to give the very young golfer a resume building finish.

“I didn’t expect to get in the tournament. I played both days with older guys who hit the ball 20 or 30 yards further than I do, but I hung in there and got a good finish and a lot of experience in a national event,” he said.

The Player of the Year comes from a competitive family of golfers. His sister Marissa is ranked in the top-20 and his brother Jackson has signed to play college golf at the Air Force Academy.

With the major South Carolina Golf Association Junior Player of the Year award in his pocket and the medal for winning the individual title in the state high school championship, Scaletta is looking forward to defending his honors the same way he accomplished them.

“I’m always trying to get better, to try to keep the mind set of just hitting one shot at a time and that is the way I’m going into the new year,” concluded the 2023 SCGA Junior Player of the Year.

2023 Boys Heritage Classic Foundation Rankings https://scjga.shotstat.com/Public/Rankings?DivisionID=1

Messimer repeats as Beth Daniel Junior Girls’ Player of the Year

Madison Messimer, from Myrtle Beach, is the Beth Daniel SCJGA Junior Player of the Year.

Messimer, who is in the Class of 2025, has finished on top of the Heritage Classic Foundation girls ranking in South DCarolina for the second straight year.

While her season was not filled with as many wins as the first time she was honored as the Player of the Year there was no doubt the future University of Tennessee golfer belonged on top of the rankings.

Messimer finished in front of a pair of state high school champions to win the award for the second time. AAAAA Champion Caroline Hawkins from Blythewood and Olivia Roberts the AA Champion from Chesnee finished second and third

“It is such an honor to win this award again,” said Messimer. “I look up to Beth Daniel and all the other girls who have won this award multiple times in the past. I played in a lot of highly ranked tournaments this year. This gave me the chance to verbally commit to the University of Tennessee. I have worked hard to achieve my goals and I will continue to do so for 2024. It means a lot to me to win this award for the second year in a row,” she said.

The 2025 graduate competed in 13 events this year of which she enjoyed 5 impressive finishes in the top-five. The future Vols college golfer and high school junior, finished second in this year’s Beth Daniel Junior Azalea, along with a second place finish at the Sea Pines Junior Heritage.

Messimer finished the year with a scoring average of 74.06 and is ranked #46 overall in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings.

The Beth Daniel girls Player of the Year received her award from Daniel at The Country Club of Charleston in Charleston, SC.

2023 Girls Heritage Classic Foundation Rankings https://scjga.shotstat.com/Public/Rankings?DivisionID=2