Two Fort Mill golfers earned spots in the 95th South Carolina Golf Association Amateur Championship on Monday, finishing among the 16 players who shot one under par or better in the final qualifier at The Fort Club in Ninety Six.
Carter Smith posted a 69, three under par, to tie for fourth. Harrison Lapointe shot 70, two under par, and tied for sixth in a group of five players. Both advanced to the championship, which will be played July 23 to 26 at The Quixote Club in Sumter.
Six players from York and Lancaster counties teed off in the qualifier. Smith and Lapointe were the two who made it through.
How the qualifier played out
Jake Miller of Anderson and Luke Nelson of Greer shared medalist honors, each carding a 67, five under par, on the 6,784 yard, par 72 course. Rodric Overholt of Abbeville finished alone in third at 68, and Connor Fahey of Wellford joined Smith at 69.
Tip Price of Greenville, Sam McMillan of Mount Pleasant, Anthony Clark of Abbeville and Dawson Wallace of Chesterfield matched Lapointe at 70. Six players finished at 71 to fill out the group that advanced: Rafe Reynolds of Greenville, Jeff Spencer of Blythewood, Lee Palms of Greenville, Cameron Addis of Greenwood, Jaelan Fisher of Greenwood and Ethan Short of Cheraw.
The cut fell at one under par, meaning even par 72 was not good enough to play on. Four players who shot 72 went home.
Locals who came up short
Baker Tolentino of Tega Cay came closest among the local players who missed. He shot 73, one over par, two strokes outside the cut line and tied for 21st in the field.
Connor Mills of Fort Mill shot 77. Ryan Waataja of Rock Hill shot 78. Declan Nusz of Indian Land, in Lancaster County, shot 80.
Monday’s round at The Fort Club was the last of five qualifiers for the statewide championship, which is presented by Thompson Construction Group. Full qualifying results and championship information are available through the South Carolina Golf Association.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
