45th Annual Junior Championship

June 19, 2003

Teeing off in the final round of the South Carolina Junior Golf Championship with a four-shot lead, Mark Anderson was understandably a little nervous. But coming down the stretch with a two-shot lead his nerve endings bristled – and it had nothing to do with the golf shots that faced him.

It had to do with the 1,100-pound bull that was resting in the shade of a live oak in between the 15th and 18th holes at Bulls Bay Golf Club, the site of the tournament for players ages 12-17. More specifically, it had to do with the fact that Anderson, a 17-year-old from Beaufort, had just been told that if he won the tournament, he had to ride the bull.

"They told me that on the 15th hole," said the rising senior at Beaufort Academy. "And I said, ‘don’t tell me that now.’ I’d never ridden a bull before."

But within minutes, there was Anderson, comfortably – or maybe not so comfortably – sitting astride the saddled and bridled Longhorn-Scottish Highland mix bovine. He was now "officially" the South Carolina Junior Champion after posting a final-round, two-under-par 70 and a six-under 210 total in the 54-hole tournament that drew 165 players from across the state.

Sure, Anderson had already hoisted the silver trophy presented annually by the sanctioning S.C. Golf Association, emblematic of the state’s best junior player. But at Bulls Bay, a new Mike Strantz design that overlooks its namesake body of water along the Charleston coast, you aren’t an official champion of any tournament until you’ve ridden "Titleist," club owner Joe Rice’s prized bull. It doesn’t matter if the tournament is the S.C. Juniors or the Ladies Member-Guest.

"Actually, I was more nervous getting off the bull than any other time during the day," Anderson said, after posted a three-shot victory over Vince Hatfield of Greenwood, who finished at 213 after a four-under 68. Phillip Mollica of Anderson finished a solo third at 214 with a closing 70, two shots ahead of Soonam Kim of Goose Creek at 70—216.

Allen Koon of Bamberg, who shot an even-par 72 Thursday, finished in a three-way tie for fifth overall, but won the 14-15 age division, with his 217 total. Also at one-over 217 were Tim Tang of North Charleston, who shot 69, and Columbia’s Fielder Huntley, who closed with a 73.

Players 14 and older played the Bulls Bay course from 6,825 yards and were eligible for the overall title. Players in the 12-13 grouping played from 6,154 yards.

For Anderson, the S.C. Junior title represented his second statewide crown in about a month. In May, he won the individual title in the S.C. Independent High School Association Championship while leading his Beaufort Academy team to the AA division victory. But he would not pretend to equate the two titles.

"There really isn’t any comparison," he said. "This tournament is by far the best junior tournament in the state because you have the best players in the state here. In the private school tournament, you don’t have a lot of the best players because many of them go to public schools. This is everybody"

After grabbing the lead with a four-under 68 on Wednesday, Anderson said he was confident in his game, heading into the final round. After three birdies and just one bogey propelled him to his closing 70 and a three-shot win, he showed that his confidence was well-founded.

"This is huge," he said of his victory. "I’ve been working really hard on my game lately and winning this tournament gives me a lot of confidence. I’m really pleased with the way I handled myself out there today. This is going to help me a lot going into the other tournaments I have coming up."

Anderson won’t have to wait long to test his confidence again. He will try to qualify for the U.S. Junior Championship at Santee on Monday where, as he puts it, "a lot of players will be playing for not very many spots, so I’ll have to play hard." Then he tees it up in an American Junior Golf Association event at Hilton Head Island, beginning Tuesday.

At least, if he wins either of those, he won’t have to ride a bull.

16-17
Mark Anderson (Beaufort)	72	68	70	210
Vince Hatfield (Greenwood)	72	73	68	213
Phillip Mollica (Anderson)	70	74	70	214
Soonam Kim (Goose Creek)	73	73	70	216
Timothy Tang (N. Charleston)	80	68	69	217
Fielder Huntley (Columbia)	75	69	73	217
Warren Thomas (Columbia)	70	76	72	218
Baker Elmore (Cheraw)	73	74	72	219
Patrick Cunning (Aiken)	71	74	74	219
Adam Lambright (Easley)	74	76	70	220
Michael Daly (N. Augusta)	77	68	75	220
Michael Chappell (Columbia)	74	70	76	220
Jonathan Bowden (Easley)	73	75	73	221
Cooper Tinsley (Greenwood)	74	73	74	221
Justin Hare (Charleston)	73	77	72	222
Michael Selvaggio (Simpsonville)	76	74	73	223
Wes Herlong (Johnston)	76	75	74	225
Turner Smith (Laurens)	75	74	76	225
Phelps Brooks (Cheraw)	76	72	77	225
Jamie Lightsey (Fort Mill)	74	74	77	225
Baxter Culler (Murrells Inlet)	72	75	78	225
Cody Hill (Summerville)	77	72	77	226
Martin Gasque (Holly Hill)	74	74	78	226
Brandon Pennington (North Augusta)	77	71	78	226
Chris McAlister (Seneca)	72	74	80	226
Ross Ellis (Greenville)	76	73	78	227
Joe Jones (Pendleton)	71	77	80	228
Chris Vassallo (Spartanburg)	74	77	78	229
Matthew Porter (Easley)	79	72	79	230
Michael Edwards (Taylors)	78	72	84	234

14-15
Allen Koon (Bamberg)	74	71	72	217
Spencer Cole (Greer)	71	73	74	218
Ben Martin (Greenwood)	73	76	70	219
Daniel Bowden (Easley)	74	74	72	220
Hugh Stephens (Greer)	75	72	73	220
Austin Reeves (Greenville)	75	72	74	221
David Lott (Barnwell)	74	72	76	222
Cole Morris (Moore)	78	74	71	223
Justin Thompson (Clarks Hill)	76	72	75	223
Billy Belair (Myrtle Beach)	73	75	75	223
Patrick Rada (Anderson)	76	73	75	224
Barnwell Fishburne (Walterboro)	71	73	81	225
Graham Walker (Mt. Pleasant)	77	74	75	226
John Bradford (Hilton Head)	73	72	81	226
Jason Stern (Columbia)	79	73	75	227
Garland Ferrell (Greenville)	78	74	76	228
Marcus Ling (Greenwood)	74	71	85	230
Ben Dangerfield (Aiken)	77	73	81	231
Ben Lown (North Augusta)	76	74	88	238

12-13
Michael Muscatell (Lake Wylie)	68	69	74	211
William Ovenden (Columbia)	72	68	72	212
McCuen Elmore (Cheraw)	73	76	73	222
Jacob Burger (Orangeburg)	75	75	75	225
Brewer Bradshaw (Columbia)	76	78	72	226
Wesley Bryan (Columbia)	74	81	73	228
Wesley Dasher (Elgin)	76	75	77	228
Ross Tooley (Mt. Pleasant)	75	80	76	231
Tripp McAllister (Lake City)	76	79	77	232
Dewey Oxner, IV (Greenville)	76	79	82	237

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