Homegrown Heroes

In the past 10 years, Augusta has seen a watershed of young golfers, poised to become contenders, who are living out their dream of a successful career on Tour.

by Stephen Delaney Hale

Augusta. The word is synonymous with "golf" around the globe, but until recently the city could only claim 1988 Master Champion Larry Mize and Senior Tour player Jim Dent. But in recent years there has been an increasing number of serious professional contenders who've honed their skills from an early age at Augusta area courses under the tutelage of local instruction and the support of local fans and family.

Three for the PGA

This new guard of Augusta-area golfers include most notably 2006 Ryder Cup player Vaughn Taylor from Hephzibah, established star Charles Howell III of Augusta and rookie Matt Hendrix of Aiken.

Howell proved himself prophetic as he marched through the early season tournaments, winning at the Los Angeles Nissan Open after already notching two second-place finishes to earn himself a second-chance invitation to the 2007 Masters.

Howell did not earn a Masters invitation with his play in 2006, but he certainly turned that around in the first few weeks of play this year.

He finished second in his first tournament of the year, to Paul Goydas at the Hawaiian Open, and his third, to Tiger Woods at the Buick Invitational in San Diego. Three weeks later he caught Phil Mickelson at the Nissan Open in Los Angeles with a brilliant Sunday 65. Starting with an eight-footer on the 72nd hole, Howell coolly sank four make-or-break par putts in a row and won the playoff on the third extra hole.

Those three finishes put him at number one on the U.S. Money list with more than $2 million by mid-February and a lock to finish within the top 10 on March 26 after the World Golf Championship at Doral, earning Howell his sixth consecutive Masters invitation.

Howell told the media after his victory, "When I got in the playoff I told my caddie, Jimmy, maybe this will get us into the Masters. He said, 'Don't worry about that. Worry about this.'"

Howell was a can't-miss phenom a few years ago. He was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2001 and won the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, in his first full year on Tour in 2002.

He had won more than $2 million three times and finished second twice in 2006, collecting just over $1.5 million. But that was good for only 52nd place on the money list. It was excruciatingly close, a mere $136,000 short of the magical top-40 ranking that gets a player into the Masters. That's the equivalent of about one more top-10 tournament finish, a fact that Howell found very frustrating at the end of the season.

At his parent's house in Augusta over Christmas, Howell said he intended to tee it up in the Masters in 2007 and he kept his word.

"Leading into next year," he said in December, "one of my top goals is to get back into the Masters. There are a couple of ways still open to me and both of them require me to play well at the beginning of the year." He said he was encouraged by two top-10 finishes near the end of 2006 and that he and mentor David Leadbetter were back together again, working on his short game to help him come out firing in 2007.

I've worked very hard in the off-season because it is important to me to get back into the Masters," Howell said with conviction. "I've said it many times, that the Masters is by far the most important tournament to me."

At that point, Vaughn Taylor was the only local prodigy on the 2007 Masters Tournament invitation list, his second. In his third year on Tour, Taylor earned his Masters invitation with his 35th-place finish on the U.S. Money List. Most of that was won with seven top-10 finishes last year, including a tie for eighth at the Players Championship.

His clutch performance was in the final full-field tournament of the year, the Chrysler in Tampa, where he was in contention but struggled to a tough 39 on the front nine on Sunday. Taylor showed his resolve with a brilliant 30 on the back, needing just 10 putts, tied for 13th, earned $93,633.33 and had his Masters invitation.

Taylor has two victories on the PGA Tour, the 2004 and 2005 Reno Tahoe Open, and scored half-a-point (0-1-1) on the U.S. Ryder Cup Team in Ireland this past September.

A graduate of Hephzibah High School and Augusta State University, where he lead the golf team to national rankings, Taylor has a house near his parent's in South Augusta and spends much of his off-time in Augusta. He still practices near his home at Goshen Plantation where he grew up playing. But Taylor, like Howell and Hendrix, also practices at Sage Valley near Graniteville, S.C., when in the area.

Aiken native Matt Hendrix doesn't yet have goals as ambitious as playing in the 2007 Masters. Over the holidays he was still basking in his nearly miraculous finish at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in November, where he earned his PGA Tour membership card by one stroke. Hendrix plans to first concentrate on getting into tournaments, then on playing well and keeping his place in golf's major league.

"I would have to get off to a very hot start to earn a Masters invitation, but it could happen," says Hendrix.

As a rookie it's tough to get into tournaments, especially the popular ones. Hendrix and his wife, Melanie, spent their first anniversary in mid-January in Palm Dessert, Calif., the day before he tried to qualify for the Bob Hope Classic. He didn't get into the Hope, but was able to make the field as an alternate at the Buick in San Diego. Playing with Phil Mickelson the first two days, Hendrix shot 70-70, easily making the cut. But he finished the weekend 74-75, tied for 60th and won $11,388.

Matt calls Greenville, S.C., home these days, near his beloved Clemson University where he and D.J. Trahan were part of the 2003 national championship team. He's a member at Thornblade Country Club, where, he says, "We have a good little enclave of guys I practice with, both Jay and Bill Haas, Lucas Glover and Charles Warren from the PGA Tour, Kyle Thompson on the Nationwide Tour and quite a few mini-tour guys."

When Hendrix returns home to Aiken to visit family and friends he visits Palmetto Golf Club and Woodside Country Club, where he and his South Aiken High School friends grew up playing, as well as at Sage Valley where he gets lessons from his pro Jackie Sewell.

He says making the Masters field may be a stretch this year, but "trust me. One of my lifelong goals is to play in the Masters. Being from that area that is something I've always wanted since my uncle used to take me to the tournament.
My all time number-one goal in golf would be to win the Masters," he says with some conviction, then adding, "that is a course that sets up for my game, as long as it is now."

For now he's just looking forward to this rookie year. "One of my top dreams in life has been to play on the PGA Tour and I'm really looking forward to living that dream."

Other Local Dreams

Beyond the PGA Tour is a very deep and strong cast of Augusta-area players living out dreams of their own.

Thomson native Franklin Langham, who played in the 2001 Masters, has full status on the Nationwide Tour this year, a condition that he says will allow him to set his schedule to his strengths. In the past 14 years he has played seven of them on the PGA Tour and Langham says being able to control his schedule will help him return to the top level of golf.

Former Augusta State University star Oliver Wilson still lives in Augusta part time, but he is entering his third season on the European Tour where he finished 71st on the Order of Merit (money list) in 2006. Wilson came oh-so-close to breaking through last year, losing a playoff to European Tour star Paul Casey in the Volvo China Open.

Also on the Nationwide Tour this year is Augusta's Scott Parel. At 41 he's no rookie and says he has learned some lessons about the effects of fatigue in professional golf. After a season off for fitness training and practice, the Aquinas High School grad says he is confident he'll graduate from Nationwide to the PGA Tour.

ane Burkhart of Aiken and Scott Brown of North Augusta led University of South Carolina-Aiken to the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Each of them earned a national player of the year award during that stretch, each made it as far as the second round of the PGA Qualifying School qualifying tournament and each is a 2007 Hooters Tour member. Inspired by Vaughn Taylor's leap from Hooters Tour to Nationwide to PGA, both players will try to qualify on Mondays for any Nationwide or PGA Tour events that are close to their Hooters Tour tournament that week.

Augusta's John Engler made only seven of 27 PGA Tour cuts in 2006, so he's playing a conditional Nationwide Tour schedule in 2007. But the Richmond Academy and Clemson University star is encouraged by a strong finish last year and plans to use the Nationwide Tour as his path back to the top.

Former Augusta State star Emmett Turner finished 10th on the 2006 Hooters Tour money list. He finished third in that tour's year-end championship, shooting a 9-under 63 in the third round. He was tied for the lead at the end of the Hooters tournament in Flowery Branch, Ga., when Brent DelaHoussaye sank a 100-foot putt for eagle on the 18th hole to beat Turner by two. Turner was a two-time All-American for Augusta State and helped lead the Jaguars to three NCAA Championship appearances in four seasons.

Area high schools are turning out winning players with regularity. Richmond Academy, Lakeside and Augusta Christian all won their state titles in 2006. Young players not yet known to golf fans in Augusta are on their way to making their names in the world of golf, creating Augusta's own Ones To Watch list.