Sixteen-year-old Ryley Heath of Decatur, Alabama has always enjoyed coming to Greenville to participate in the Future Tour Championship. Admittedly not the longest player in the field, Heath said the course’s tight fairways, which places a premium on accuracy, suit his game well.
But, even Heath was surprised just how well he played Saturday during the first round of the tournament. Heath’s score of 62 broke the old tournament record by one shot at the event which has been played for 24 years at the Greenville Golf and Country Club. Heath’s score was, in fact, just two shots more than the course record of 60 shot by former Greenville club pro Steven Driggers.
“I really love coming here because it is short and tight and it fits my game,” Heath said. “Everything was just working for me on Saturday. I think I knew I might have something special when reached the fourth hole in two shots and made a birdie.”
Heath’s 62 gave him a commanding lead after the first day, and he backed it up with a 71 on Sunday to win the event by 12 strokes.
“Today’s round was comfortable because I had such a big lead,” he said.
While Heath’s great day stole the show for the tournament, tournament founder and director Bill Brozovich said all the champions of this year’s tournament deserved their trophies.
“This was definitely one of the best years ever,” Brozovich said. “The weather was perfect and we had more than 1,000 spectators come out to watch the kids play.”
Brozovich said he was especially thankful to all the volunteers who once again made so many folks from outside the area feel welcome.
Will Ayers and Austin Frye for example volunteered on the first hole and announced the competitors names as they teed off. People like Ayers and Frye helped the event have a true bigtime atmosphere.
“This is great and a lot of fun,” Ayers said. “Plus, we are helping to support to the city of Greenville.”
