Traditions do not begin when someone, somewhere, somehow calls something a tradition.

It takes years to build tradition and on New Year’s Eve in the Upstate golfers know there is one tradition unlike any other, the Champagne Shoot-Out at Thornblade Club. The event has earned its “Tradition” moniker.

Now over 30 years old there are only a handful of golfers who remember playing in the first shoot-out or how one of the most popular events at the club became a “Tradition.”

On New Year’s Eve a group of friends had gathered to celebrate club member Tommy Lever’s birthday and play golf. The weather didn’t cooperate until late in the day and the group had just enough time to play a quick shoot-out.

The quick nine hole shoot-out has now gone on for 31 years. 

The format changed to a tournament to be played with the same motto the US Post Office uses, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night etc, etc.

The tournament has been played every year, regardless of the weather. Some years in frozen conditions, some years in short-sleeves and other times with snow on the ground.

You can’t have a tradition if it can’t survive a little sleet and fog.

Thornblade Club has long helped aspiring Tour professionals with a place to play. More than a handful of those hopefuls have gone on to become PGA Tour members and they regularly return to captain a team in the Shoot-Out.

This year Jacob Bridgeman, Ben Martin and Carson Young tuned up for the start of the PGA Tour season in Hawaii by playing in the Shoot-Out. They were joined by a dozen or so professionals who helped their team on the course and gave something back to the club for its support

The team of Wayne and Nathan Merritt, Mike Hadley and professional Tyler Smith each won a bottle of champagne with a score of 23-under par.

The team turned in an amazing scorecard which included an eagle by Smith and a net 1 by Nathan Merritt on the par-4 seventh hole.

The winners cut five-shots off their score on one hole and went on to win the split of champagne by two shots.

The team of J.D. Nelson, Billy Rogers, Chuck Rodman and Seth Gandy finished second with the team of Tom Bright, Steven Bright, Jason Woodard and Carson Young taking third place a shot behind at 19-under par.

And the “Tradition” continues.

Thornblade