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For thousands of golfers across the country, the pinnacle of their competitive tournament experience is to be the best player at their home course. They don’t envision unrealistic pursuits, like donning a green jacket or jumping into Poppie’s Pond. For this kind of person – their day job ranges from firefighter to teacher to real estate agent to pharmacist – they want to make that final 10-footer on the last green to win their club championship, besting the same friends and neighbors who make up their Sunday morning game.
The night before it begins, they play the round in their minds while falling asleep to a birdie-birdie start. If everything comes together at the right time and those lessons they’ve been taking from the head pro pay off, their name will adorn a plaque in the clubhouse and they can park in a reserved spot close to the bag drop. At the 19th hole they will describe their round shot-by-shot like a camper telling a tale around the fire, the pride of their greatest golf achievement being more than worth the anticipation that led to it.
Now there is another reason to dream: 312 of these club champions will convene at Pinehurst Resort this week for a one-of-a-kind event called the PGA National Club Championship. The concept isn’t new – the Club Managers Association of America held a similar event during the 2000s – but the PGA of America has given the event a second life, welcoming some of the country’s best recreational players to one of golf’s most revered meccas.
... the vast majority of participants this week at Pinehurst have never played for anything more than a $10 nassau and measure themselves only against their own play.
The idea came together after the PGA acquired Nextgengolf, an organization dedicated to providing competitive playing opportunities for adults, companies, college students and others far removed from the highest levels of the game, in April 2019.
“We wanted to better connect PGA professionals with amateurs,” said Kris Hart, senior director of Nextgengolf. “And how do you do that? At every club, people respect the golf professional and they respect the club champion. If you want to aspire to be great, that’s who you look up to because it’s someone just like them.
“When we were thinking about it we just said to ourselves, ‘Why doesn’t something like this exist?’ There’s no reason why it shouldn’t.”
Elite amateur golf is often a way station on the path to the pro game or a final destination for those who can’t make it playing for a paycheck. However, the vast majority of participants this week at Pinehurst have never played for anything more than a $10 nassau and measure themselves only against their own play. In a way, the National Club Championship can become the truest tournament test for the golf layperson.
There will be 208 men and 104 women competing, with roughly two-thirds hailing from private clubs and one-third from public facilities. Players from 48 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, will be there. The youngest is a 13-year-old who has won three consecutive men’s club championships at his local club and the oldest is a 77-year-old. Contestants signed up through their local PGA pro with spots being filled on a first-come first-served basis – the waiting list is miles deep, a promising sign that Hart’s vision can only grow from here.
There are more than 4,300 names of club champions on the tournament website, so even those not included in the field can be better recognized.
"The PGA of America is thrilled to host this event showcasing some of the best amateur golfers in the country and celebrating the PGA professionals who helped coach these golfers into club champions,” PGA of America president Jim Richerson told Global Golf Post.
It does not take much searching to find great stories among those 312 champions.
Silas Anthony III will be representing Shinnecock Hills Golf Club where he has won two of the past three men’s club championships. His father, Silas Anthony Jr., won the club championship in 1986 right after Raymond Floyd won the U.S. Open at Shinnecock. More than three decades later, Anthony III won the first of his club championships in 2018 shortly after Brooks Koepka had won the U.S. Open. In fact, most of the hospitality tents and grandstands were still up while they were playing.
“I grew up in New York City and would spend my summers in Long Island, so I picked up the game playing with my dad and riding my bike over to the putting green at WestHampton Country Club, a great Seth Raynor course” Anthony III said. “It’s a cool story to say we both won at Shinnecock in U.S. Open years.
“I think this event is going to be kind of one of those cool things where you grind out a tough club championship win and you are sitting having a beer after the round and thinking, ‘Man, I’m going to Pinehurst.’ It’s almost like a pro player saying they are going to Augusta.”
While Anthony III played college golf at Division III Denison University in Ohio and has played golf his whole life, others are newer to the game.
Megan Heberle had never broken 80 until the first day of the club championship at Savannah Country Club last fall. Heberle is a science teacher at Islands High School a few miles from the course – she was recently named one of two teachers from Georgia to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in mathematics and science teaching. Heberle currently teaches scientific research and zoology, incorporating hands-on projects into her classroom.
She grew up in Oregon and rarely played golf, not even stepping onto a course until she was in college, and randomly signed up for a golf PE credit as a way to meet people. Now the game is her preferred form of exercise as she heads out after school and walks as many holes as she can.
“I never saw myself playing golf competitively and I couldn’t have imagined being a member at a club,” Heberle said. “But when I moved to Georgia and started playing more, I loved the adrenaline and mental focus aspect that comes with competing.
“There’s really not a big ladies population at our club and I was struggling with finding people to play with, but the guys started to invite me to their Saturday blitzes. I was so nervous because I was the only girl, but they were really encouraging and started playing every Saturday. I’m one of the guys now.”
Given her education background, it’s fitting that Heberle studies the teachings of Bob Rotella and other golf psychologists. Playing in a national championship will test what she has learned.
“I’ve never been to Pinehurst and I never thought I would have the chance to go play in a tournament like this,” she said. “It’s overwhelming. It hasn’t really sunk in, but I will feel it the first time I get there. It’s nerve-racking, but it’s exciting at the same time.”
Colleen Meyers will be playing in the senior women’s division representing venerable Oakmont Country Club after she made a 15-foot, downhill left-to-right putt on the final hole and her playing partner missed a 6-foot putt a few inches short, giving her a narrow one-stroke win. Meyers won both the women’s and senior women’s club championships at Oakmont.
She is the head golf coach at Oakland Catholic High School, an all-girls institution, and has twins Jessica (Notre Dame) and Jimmy (Penn State) playing college golf.
“I know 2020 was a year to forget for a lot of people, but it’s one I will never forget because it was my best year as a golfer,” Meyers said. “I look at my kids getting to play Division I golf and I envy them so much getting to play on a big stage and have that pressure. I took up the game later in life and didn’t get that opportunity. Now this is my big stage.
“About five years ago, I went to Pinehurst with a group of girls to a golf school and it was honestly one of the best experiences in golf I’ve ever had. I’m really looking forward to getting back to a mecca of American golf.”
Whoever emerges from the pack of their respective divisions will have the honor of calling themselves the best club golfer in the country this year. The hope is that moniker begins to mean something even more than being the top player at a club.
Regardless, there will be plenty of stories to tell in the clubhouse when those winners return to the clubhouses they call home.
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