Who the heck are these guys? By HOWARD WARD


M


aybe this has something to do with my age, Bets, but I find myself a little confused


these days when I watch golf tourna- ments on TV. I mean who the heck are these


guys? Every time I turn on the TV there is some 20-something that I never heard of who’s winning another tournament. OK, I know these guys can really


play because they are shooting scores that were formerly only dreamed of. I mean it has only been a few years since the only two 59s in golf were posted by Al Geiberger and Chip Beck. Now it seems as if someone is


shooting 59 every week. I’m looking for a 57 or 58 pretty soon. The top 10 players in the world


used to be pretty much a given. Now you don’t know who is going to be No. 1 next week. I’m not complaining because in a


way it’s exciting. Check the top 10 and find a list of guys who weren’t even mentioned a year ago. I know it’s not quite that bad, but seriously, I’m still


enough of an old fogey to like a little consistency in the rankings. Surely, things will settle down


a little when we get into golf’s four Majors. I mean you just don’t expect a 20-year-old who’s leaving college after his sophomore year to shoot in the low 60s at Augusta National. I’ve given up trying to recognize all


the new faces and names that are dom- inating the early play this year. I long for the good old days when I could recognize a player by the way he walked. It’s not that I


begrudge the young players having success; it’s just that I don’t know these guys. That’s on me, of course, but what can I say? I enjoy a little familiarity with the names on the leader board. I don’t even know who to pull for anymore. By the way, Bets, I would like to


commend you on your nickname for Harold Varner, III. Coming up with HV3 was genius. You didn’t steal it from anyone, did you?


DUELING


Want familiar? Try Senior Tour By BETSEY MITCHELL


W


ell, old buddy, old pal, you are just going to have to wait for the senior tour to


get fired up. There will be more than a few familiar swings to sooth your soul. As for me, I love the new and most-


ly improved bunch of players. I look at it this way -- there was a time when I had no idea who Phil Mickelson was. Granted, that was more than a week ago, but everybody has to start somewhere. I am more concerned


DIVOTS


about how hard these young folks are going at the ball. There are junior


golfers suffering repetitive injuries from hitting too many golf balls too hard. Of all the things that confuse me about contemporary golf is the love affair with the long ball. The same thing has happened to


baseball and even basketball. All that praise used to go to the players with finesse. It was Seve and Chi Chi who thrilled the spectators with the magical recovery shots.


Rory is barely out of diapers and is


already injured. Then there is the sad old cat that everybody is talking about. It wasn’t that long ago that the


world was worried about where the next players would come from. It might just be a coincidence but The First Tee was founded in 1997. That has given us 20 years of new opportu- nities. We can also credit the many great competitions provided for young play- ers by the Carolinas Golf Association. Their junior program continues to grow every year. As for recognizing players, I can


spot (Koooo)cher and Speith from the tips of a par 5. Jason Day is easy to find even when he’s not falling down with vertigo. And how can you miss the gunslinger? Nobody else walks like Dustin Johnson. OK, it’s tough trying to wrap your


tongue around Hideki Matsuyama, but before too long somebody will come up with a manageable nickname. HV3? Howard, I totally stole it. I


don’t know who gets credit for it, but it’s a good one.


Hawkins takes CGA Girls’ Player of the Year E


By JOHN BRASIER


mily Hawkins of Lexington was at her best with the pressure on in 2016.


Hawkins won the Carolinas Golf Association’s


two biggest girls’ titles, claiming the North Carolina Junior Girls’ Championship and the Carolinas Junior Girls. In September, she beat a national field in the


AJGA Girls’ Championship at Furman University Golf Club. “I had a great year,” said Hawkins, a home-


schooler who has committed to attend Campbell beginning in the fall of 2018. “It was exciting. I’m so happy. I improved a lot.” Hawkins’ outstanding summer began with a


victory in the CGA Junior Girls’ at Country Club of Salisbury. After tying for 9th in qualifying for match play, she won five matches, beating medalist Riley Smyth of Cary 2 and 1 and defending champion Grace Massengill of Hickory 4 and 3 on the final day.


At the CGA Junior Girls’, Hawkins beat Kathleen Photo by Carolinas Golf Association 22 TRIANGLE GOLF TODAY • SPRING 2017


Sumner of Charleston in a playoff in sweltering heat the final day at Colonial Country Club in Thomasville after the players tied at 1-over 214. Hawkins overcame a stunning birdie at No. 17 by


Sumner, a Florida State recruit, who holed out a bun- ker shot. Hawkins won with a par on the first playoff hole. Hawkins rallied from a two-stroke deficit entering


the final round at Furman with her third consecutive 2-under 70. She beat Rachel Heck of Memphis, Tenn., and Brooke Sansom of Pike Road, Ala., by one shot.


Name: Emily Hawkins Honor: CGA Girls’ Player of the Year


2016 Tournaments Won: CGA N.C. Junior Girls’ Championship, CGA Carolinas Junior Girls’ Championship, AJGA Girls Championship at Furman University.


Best Round: 70 in final round of AJGA Championship at Furman. After playing the first four holes in 3-over, Hawkins made four consecutive birdies beginning at No. 6, where she knocked a wedge approach close enough for a tap-in birdie. “That really gave me a kick start to the round.” At the par-3 16th, Hawkins made an 8-foot uphill putt for birdie, giving her a one-shot victory over two competitors.


Magic Moment: The 8-foot birdie putt on her 52nd hole at Furman was the winning margin. “It was a pretty straight uphill putt. I hit some big shots under pressure.”


2017 Goal: “I want to try to improve my scoring average from 74-something to 72 and continue to challenge myself.”


www.trianglegolf.com


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