By Stan Olenik Editor-Publisher The Golf Club

When a junior golfer accepts a trophy for winning a tournament in South Carolina, there is a familiar routine.

The winner thanks the golf course, the professional, the superintendent, their parents, and the South Carolina Golf Association.

There is one more thank you that belongs on that list.

Thanks to Rick Vieth.

Rick Vieth, a longtime advocate for junior golf in South Carolina, passed away in December after a long battle with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

While golf — and junior golf in particular — was his passion, Vieth’s everyday life in Spartanburg was spent as a highly respected criminal defense attorney.

An important part of his legal work was finding a glimmer of hope in cases that often seemed unwinnable, a perspective that shaped the way he looked at life — including his own illness.

*“A lot of people who get this go pretty quick, and I’ve been able to hang around a couple of years and hope for more.

We are all going to go sometime. I know this much — people have been very nice to me, telling me they appreciate me and the things I’ve done.

It’s kind of like being able to hear what’s being said about you at your funeral,” he joked.*

A past president of the South Carolina Golf Association and longtime director of the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation, Vieth played a central role in raising the awareness and support that allowed junior golf in South Carolina to grow from a limited schedule into one of the most robust junior programs anywhere in the country.

For many years, junior golf in the state consisted primarily of a state championship and a handful of club events. Vieth helped change that, supporting the expansion of competitive opportunities while never losing sight of what first draws young players to the game.

That philosophy led directly to the creation of The Tradition Junior Four-Ball Championship, a format unfamiliar to many juniors when it was first introduced.

Vieth personally lobbied then–SCGA Executive Director Hap Lathrop to add the event to the schedule, believing it offered young golfers a chance to experience the type of golf most will play for the rest of their lives.

Golf is often praised for the life lessons it teaches — integrity, sportsmanship, honesty, perseverance — and Vieth valued all of those. But he was equally determined that junior golfers not miss something just as important: the simple joy of playing.

There’s a lot of golf played that way, and it’s what helps make golf so much fun.”*

*“When you play with your buddies on the weekend, it’s a Four-Ball match.

The event gained credibility immediately with its first champions. Vieth presented the inaugural title to Lucas Glover, who would go on to win the U.S. Open in 2009, and to Jeremy Revis, who later built a successful amateur career that included winning the Greenville County Amateur, other area championships, and qualifying for multiple USGA events.

While Vieth was proud of every junior event held across the state, The Tradition always held a special place for him. Played at his home club, it was the one tournament he never missed. As a founder of the tournament Vieth made it a point to personally welcome the players before the first shot was struck and to present the awards at the end of the competition.

In between, Vieth could often be found on the course acting as a marshal, quietly helping young golfers navigate situations and keeping the event moving.

One year, that commitment was on full display during a boys’ four-team playoff that stretched on for hours. With SCGA staff tied up finishing other divisions, Vieth stepped in to oversee the playoff himself, hoping to determine a champion before daylight ran out.

After four unsuccessful attempts to separate the teams, he finally called an end to hole-by-hole play as the light faded. The championship was decided instead by a chip-off — a solution fitting for Vieth — and even then, it took several rounds before a winner was crowned.

As the disease gradually took away his ability to play the game and guide the Junior Foundation, Vieth found other ways to stay connected to golf.

*“I can’t play anymore, so the most enjoyment I get from the game is going up to The Reserve and sitting in the Range Bar and having a drink and a cigar.

We have a great men’s association there, and I enjoy being with them even if I can’t play now.”*

While his playing days became memories — golf trips with the Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier, or a simple weekend game at Pebble Creek — Vieth’s lengthy battle did not change the outcome. But it did give the many people whose lives he touched, and the South Carolina Golf Association, something rare: the opportunity to show their appreciation while he was still here to receive it.

Vieth understood his importance to junior golf and humbly accepted the accolades that followed, often saying he was grateful to still be around to hear them — a gentle echo of his earlier joke about listening in on his own funeral.

When Vieth founded The Tradition Four-Ball, he never would have considered suggesting it be named for himself. But after his diagnosis, as his final battle began, he acknowledged that he wouldn’t mind if the event carried his name and continued beyond him.

After a brief hiatus while a new venue was secured and the tournament was repositioned within the junior schedule, it returned as The Rick Vieth Tradition Four-Ball — a modest remembrance when measured against the scope of what he gave to the game.

It is easy to measure Rick Vieth’s legacy by the number of tournaments, scholarships, and championships connected to his name.

But his truest impact is found in something harder to quantify — the thousands of young golfers who learned that the game could be competitive, meaningful, and fun all at the same time.

And for that, one more thank you is in order.

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