Davis Petty already has an impressive lists of “Firsts” on his golfing resume.

As a sub junior player, Petty brought home a trunk full of trophies from some of the top kids Tour events for very young golfers.

Now in his second year as a high school golfer, Petty has added another couple of “Firsts” early this spring.

In Pinehurst, the 8th grader on the Spartanburg High School team won the AJGA Taylor Made TP5 Junior All-Star championship.

Last year Petty was finding his way in high school golf and came close to notching a win, but this year right from the start of the new season Petty has been at the top of the leaderboards.

At the Rebel Invitational, Petty scored his first high school win. He defeated the 2023 SCGA Junior Player of the year, Bennett Scaletta from Hanna High school in a playoff.

A few weeks later Petty won the Parks Hutto Bengal championship for his first multi round high school tournament victory.

The win in Pinehurst at Longleaf was his first AJGA win and was accomplished in the way the young golfer has competed since he first started carrying a scorecard in his pocket.

In the 54 hole event Petty was near the lead after the first two rounds.

“I wasn’t playing great,” he said. “I was able to hang around the lead, but honestly I was getting mad at myself for the way I was playing,” said Petty,

Sometime not playing as well as you would like can be frustrating and Petty expelled all his frustration on the 10th hole.

“I hit the worst shot of the week. A worm burner off the tee and had a 5 wood into the green,” he recalled.

As he seemingly often done in his young career, Petty turned the frustration into an opportunity.

He landed the 5 wood 20 feet from the pin, from his worst shot to one of his best.

He made a two putt par, but the solid shot retrieved some confidence and put the frustration in his rear view mirror.

“I got the putter working and made some birdies coming in,” he said.

Kipp Madison from Evans, Georgia strung three birdies together late on the back nine to pull within one shot.

On the final hole, Petty and Madison both parred the hole earning the Spartanburg junior his first AJGA win and the last in age group competition.

“From now on all the tournaments I play are going to be with the players up to 18. I will still be a young player, but I’m going to see how I can compete,” he said.

Petty is already playing against older players in high school events.

The pressure that comes from high expectations have long been a companion of Petty in every tournament he plays.

“The pressure is there when you know you have to hit a good shot and you do, it can feel pretty good. When you don’t you just want to puke your guts out,” he joked.

As the 14 year old eighth grader at McCracken Middle school continues to grow into his body his game continues to improve.

In the last year, while his putter can sometimes not be a friend, his ball seeking has improved significantly.

“I know I am longer off the tee than before. I can hit a long way. It is a good feeling to know you can reach the par 5s in two and I’ve been doing that.” he said.

Like every promising young player Petty has some lofty goals. He hopes to take another big step forward late in  the high school season,

:I want to play a lot better at the Southern Cross. I didn’t have my best game there last year and  it is an important tournament Id like to win,” he said.

With the tournament at the Palmetto Golf Club and the state high school championships on the schedule Petty is looking forward to playing in some bigger invitational events during the summer.

“Long range my goal is to earn a college scholarship and play on the PGA Tour.  This year I’ve accomplished some good things and I can see myself getting better. I think a realistic goal for me is to be the best player in the state. I think if I keep working hard I can do it this summer,” concluded Petty.

Greenville’s Cullen Beck played in the same event and finished in fourth place.

Scores from the Taylor Made TP5 Junior All Star Tournament https://www.ajga.org/tournaments/2025/taylormade-tp5-junior-all-star/leaderboard