MANAKIN-SABOT, VIRGINIA | On a hot and humid Thursday, I completed a foursome with mid-amateurs Will Davenport, Andrew Price and Stephen Behr without ever swinging a club. It was the practice round at Kinloch Golf Club for the inaugural Giles Invitational, a tournament for mid- and senior amateurs named after legendary Virginia amateur Marvin “Vinny” Giles III, Kinloch’s co-founder and co-designer.
Even though I spent more than three hours walking the fairways with these guys, I’m not going to claim I know them well. But I’d like to. And by interacting with them, I observed the spirit of amateur golf: a great sense of camaraderie with competitiveness on the side. For these guys, golf is a passion, not their job.
“Coming to these tournaments is almost like a vacation in the way that you get to see a lot of your good buddies from around the country and you play on awesome golf courses,” Behr said. “In a way it’s like the ultimate golf trip.”
All three golfers are well established in the mid-amateur world. Before the tournament, Davenport had nine top-10s in his last 11 solo starts. Price is not only the reigning Illinois State Mid-Amateur champion, but also the winner of the prestigious Crump Cup in 2024. Behr made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Kinloch last year, beating Davenport in the quarterfinals. These golfers want to win, but Behr says amateur golf is very different from professional, or even college golf.
“You are obviously taking it more seriously than a regular golf outing,” Behr said. “But it’s very freeing to know that I can play awful tomorrow and my life doesn’t change.”
From the opening tee shot on Thursday, the round was filled with laughter. The three talked about playing in the 2024 Concession Cup together. They made fun of each other for hitting poor shots or choosing to play an iron off the tee. They even made fun of me for choosing to wear pants and a dark blue shirt on a steamy day. Not my brightest moment.
Davenport often joked about his conditioning before launching drives that carried 290 yards.
“People underestimate how out of shape I am,” Davenport said while eating a cheeseburger wrap.
“I’m going to play, practice a little bit and have a few beers with the guys, that’s about it.”
Andrew Price
Outside of the jokes, the group played some great golf, competing against each other in a skins game. Price, who works in insurance, was 5-under par through six holes with a bogey on the first. He said he was surprised how well he was playing, calling it lucky.
“I really haven’t played at all since fall,” Price said. “I think I’ve only hit balls four times.”
Limited playing time is a common theme in amateur golf as most players have full-time jobs and many have families. Behr works for software company SAP and says his ideal week is playing Saturday mornings and sneaking in nine holes once during the week. However, he usually only plays on Saturdays.
Despite his lack of practice, Price’s scoring was the envy of the group for much of the round. On the 328-yard sixth hole, he laid up with an iron while the others chose driver. While Davenport ended up next to the green and Behr hit a beautiful draw that ended up less than 10 feet from the pin, Price was left with a tricky wedge approach from close to 100 yards on a steep downslope. Of course, Price got up and down to tie the hole with a birdie.
“This is getting ridiculous,” said a laughing Davenport. “It looks like I’m shooting 80 but I’m under par. These guys are playing ridiculous.”
Because of the warm weather and good golf, Price said this trip to the Giles Invitational felt a bit like a vacation. Davenport and Behr are good friends of his and it felt nice to catch up, he said. His plans for the week were simple.
“I’m going to play, practice a little bit and have a few beers with the guys, that’s about it,” he said.
The skins game reached a pivotal point on the 16th hole, a long par-3 with large trees and gorgeous pink azaleas in the backdrop. Price and Behr had six skins each while Davenport still had zero. But No. 16 was a big one, worth four skins. After proclaiming he’d like a Guinness to agreements all around, Davenport stepped up to the tee.
“I’m one great shot from being right back in this thing,” he said.
Davenport’s shot was pure, the ball stopping about 15 feet from the hole. But Behr and his hybrid were equal to the task, leaving him with a putt from similar distance.
The game would be decided on the green, where Behr hit a brilliant, sweeping putt that ended up in the bottom of the cup for birdie. Davenport missed.
A triumphant smile crept across Behr’s face, knowing he just needed to par the next hole to validate his four skins and win the whole thing, which he did. As we walked down the 18th hole with no stakes, I asked Behr how it felt to win.
“It feels great,” Behr said. “Any time you can beat these two guys it gives you something to talk about. That means just as much as about anything.”
He also directed a good-natured joke at Davenport, who won his first skin of the day on the 17th hole.
“He’s hot so I’m glad we ran out of holes,” he said.
After the round, in traditional fashion, we took off our hats, shook hands and wished each other luck for the weekend. Davenport, Price and Behr got together later that evening for the barbecue dinner hosted by the club … and maybe for the Guinness that Davenport mentioned on 16.
E-MAIL EVERETT
Top: (From left) Will Davenport , Andrew Price and Stephen Behr during a practice round for the Giles Invitational.
EVERETT MUNEZ, GLOBAL GOLF POST