Playoff at the top of The Blade
The boys and girls leader boards are pretty tight at the top after the first round of The Blade Junior Classic at Thornblade.
Mason Kucia from Indian Land, Zach Adams from Charleston and Sam McMillian from Mount Pleasant are tied for the boys lead after each golfer posted 4-under par rounds of 67.
Conway’s Taylor Reaves and Olivia Pellerin from Greenville each shot rounds of 1-over 72 (girls par) to hold a 1-shot lead over Blythewood’s Paige Paolucci after the girls first round.
Six other boys shot 1-under par rounds to be in a tie for 4th place including Luke Sullivan, the runner-up in the recent SCGA Junior Championship.
While the 13-18 year old boys and girls will play two more rounds to determine a championship, younger golfers won their age group divisions on Tuesday.
Davis Petty continued his outstanding play this summer with a win in the 10-12 year old division at Thornblade while Mia Carles from Clinton won the girls title in the same age group.
Petty, who over the weekend won the summer National championship at the Under Armour Junior Tour championships at Disney World, added The Blade title to his already impressive list of golf accomplishments.
Spartanburg’s Petty and Connor Wolfe of Blythewood played 2-nine holes rounds for the division title.
The two golfers finished regulation play tied at 4-under par forcing a playoff.
Petty took home the title with a four on the tricky 18th hole to win his first Blade Junior Classic title.
Carles overcame a four-stroke deficit through nine holes, with a back nine 39 to climb into the winner’s circle in the girls 10-12 division. Kinley Brazell (Blythewood) was Carles’ closest challenger, finishing two-strokes behind the division winner.
In 1999, The Blade Junior Golf Classic was founded by a group of Thornblade Club members with a passion for creating the best junior golf tournament experience for junior golfers and their families.
Over more than two decades the tournament has been a favorite event for South Carolina Junior golfers, but also a fund raising opportunity for local charities.
The theme of “Kids helping Kids” has often been used to explain the work of the tournament board and sponsors as they have raised over $1.5 million for charity.
The Blade will continue to support charitable causes. The 2021 tournament will mark the start of the events support of the Dick and Lucille Hendley Scholarship Fund.
The Hendley’s were the grand parents of 2009 US Open Champion Lucas Glover. His grand father was especially influential in his development as first an outstanding junior, then an All-American at Clemson and as a professional and a major champion.
Through partnering with the Hendley family, one male and female Blade participant, who exemplifies great character, a passion for community service and a desire to excel in the classroom will be eligible to receive scholarship assistance.
The boys leaders will begin play in the second round at 11:45 am with the girls leaders starting at 12:48 pm, both starting from the first tee.
The Blade Junior Scores from the SCJGA https://scjga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/scjga21/event/scjga2110/contest/13/leaderboard.htm