By Stan Olenik, Editor-Publisher, The Golf Club

The tournament is held in honor of Bobby Chapman, who during his life was president of the Carolinas Golf Association and served in several influential positions in the amateur-golf world.

Chapman was a strong supporter of junior golf, and the event is played in his memory and honor.

Ormond owned the back nine

Jackson Ormond’s two-day total on the front nine was a pedestrian 1-under par, but he played the back nine at eight under for the 36-hole championship. It could have been at least one shot lower, but with a four-shot lead, playing the last hole safely produced Ormond’s only back-nine bogey on either day.

“The whole thing was to just stay patient — the birdies are going to come,” he said. “You have to stay away from the bogeys. I just tried to hit as many greens as I could and be patient.”

His patience paid off

In the first round, Ormond carded five back-nine birdies and would have done the same in the final round if not for a bogey on the final hole — when, by then, he already had the championship wrapped up.

There wasn’t much drama on the leaderboard, although Ormond did seem to open the door for the field when he bogeyed his first two holes to start the second round.

“It got away from me on the front nine. I bogeyed two holes and was two back after the first nine,” he said.

But then the rest of the field was playing on his golf course. He birdied numbers 12, 13, 15 and the par-5 17th to play the final hole with a four-shot lead.

The win at the Chapman was the first in a couple of years for Ormond, who in one of the latest junior rankings was 29th.

Winning at any level of golf is hard — and doing it in an event with a field as strong as the Chapman’s is even harder.

“This is big — it’s really big. It has been a year or two since I last had a win. This is good for me going forward, knowing I can play under pressure,” said the new Chapman champ.

None of the other golfers in the field were able to mount much of a rally to catch Ormond. The winner’s 1-under-par 70 was the best score of the day and was matched by two other golfers.

Slater Meade from North Wilkesboro used his 1-under-par 70 final-round score to move up into a tie with Penson Badgett from Pilot Mountain, N.C., for second place.

Palmetto State’s top finishers

The best showing for a Palmetto State golfer belonged to Connor Wolfe from Columbia. The class-of-2029 golfer was tied for third after the first round but dropped back into a tie for seventh after posting a 4-over 75 in the second round.

Two other South Carolinians earned top-20 finishes: Bennett Scaletta from Belton tied for 16th, while Will Ruth from Moore finished in a tie for 17th.

Living up to their reputations

There may be some sort of ranking to list the top two-day junior-invitational events in the country. The Chapman and the Spartanburg club don’t need any ranking to know they have an event that compares to any in the country.

It’s easy to be gracious after winning an event and complimenting the host club, but Ormond’s praise for the event and the course was effusive.

“The event is so well put on. The course was in terrific shape. The greens were fast, the fairways were pure. Yet the best part was the staff and the people who put this on were just phenomenal,” concluded Ormond.

Scores from the 31st Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational played at The Country Club of Spartanburg:
https://scjga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/scjga25/event/scjga2523/contest/1/leaderboard.htm