MANAKIN-SABOT, VIRGINIA | Having now hosted the U.S. Senior Amateur in 2011 and the U.S. Mid-Amateur last week, Kinloch Golf Club is launching what it hopes will become a mainstay event on the elite amateur circuit beginning in 2025: the Giles Invitational.
The inaugural Giles Invitational will be played May 2-4, filling in a gap created by the George L. Coleman Invitational going on hiatus while Seminole Golf Club undergoes extensive construction to raise the level of its fairways due to the encroaching water table. The Giles will be a 54-hole stroke-play event featuring 60 top-level mid-amateurs and 30 elite senior amateurs competing for World Amateur Golf Ranking points.
“We really want to try to attract the best players,” said Andrew Black, the director of golf at Kinloch. “We want to make sure that we get the right guys here who are going to enjoy being here and playing in a fun, competitive environment.
“If we’re going to do this and Vinny’s name is attached to this event, it can’t fail. It can’t just be one of those things where it lasts for three to five years and then it’s gone.”
Marvin “Vinny” Giles III is the greatest amateur golfer the Commonwealth ever produced, becoming the only player to win the U.S. Amateur (1972), British Amateur (1975) and U.S. Senior Amateur (2009) in a long and storied carried that included five Walker Cups (once as captain), three Eisenhower Trophies and dozens of other elite amateur victories.
Giles co-designed Kinloch with architect Lester George and the quality of the course and his affiliation with the club near his home in Richmond, Virginia, has made it a fixture in top-100 lists and a favorite among members and guests.
“We want to come up with an event, an invitational, to preserve and honor Vinny’s legacy in the game,” Black said.
"If we’re going to do this and Vinny’s name is attached to this event, it can’t fail."
Andrew Black, Kinloch Director of Golf
Kinloch considered launching various types of amateur events, including a team championship, but settled on the three days of stroke play as the best way to honor Giles’ successes in the game. It also bandied about the idea of calling it “The Vinny,” but Giles shot that down.
“It’s a little over the top,” said Giles, who lobbied for Kinloch Invitational as the name. “I couldn’t figure out how to get them away from something else. We’ll sort of take the first spot for a mid-am/senior-type event at Kinloch first week in May.”
Said Black: “We’re doing this to honor him. He is obviously a very humble Southern gentleman … but Kinloch wouldn't be here or the golf course would not be what it is without his influence. Obviously, he and Lester George worked their magic, putting the golf course, the club together. But we wouldn’t be here without him. Anything we can do to treasure that and cement that in stone – his name, his legacy – it’s the right thing to do.”
Black, Giles and club leaders heard a steady stream of positive feedback from the best mid- and senior amateurs in the world who not only competed in last week’s U.S. Mid-Amateur but attended a preview event back in May. “Can’t wait to come back in May” … “look forward to getting that official invitation” ... “what a special place,” have been common refrains from players as they departed. It doesn’t hurt that the newly crowned U.S. Mid-Amateur champion – Evan Beck of Virginia Beach, Virginia – is one of the leaders in planning and recruiting players to compete next spring between his scheduled appearances in the 2025 Masters and U.S. Open.
“Really excited about the Giles Invitational. It’s long overdue,” said Beck. “This is an incredibly special place, and I think we’re going to do right by honoring Vinny and his legacy.
“I’ve been getting texts and calls from guys wanting to play. I don’t know if we’re going to have to turn guys away, but it’s in pretty high demand. I think everybody loved their experience this week, rightfully so.”
The future of the Giles beyond the one or perhaps two years that the Coleman will be on hiatus remains a question. It could try to be a fixture during a week after the Seminole championship or shift to a different date if necessary.
“Generally that timeframe, early May, is really great for us,” Black said. “We’re coming into the latter stages of spring, early summer, and the azaleas are popping. It’s beautiful. It’s fast. It’s firm conditions. It’s a good time of year for us.
“There is some flexibility to potentially move this if we need to, without kind of disrupting the normal calendar. We certainly wouldn’t want to upset anyone at that club in Florida, especially since Vinny is quite close with those that are down there.”
Kinloch hopes the Giles will join names such as Coleman, Thomas, Travis and Crump in the realm of elite amateur events. “We want this to have the same feel that all those players get at the other great mid-am/senior am events,” Black said.
Scott Michaux