"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

June 20, 2006

Bryce Ledford needed a little pick me up.

The UTC senior wasn’t in the best of moods last month after just missing out in his bid to advance to the second round of U.S. Open qualifying. As he was replaying in his mind the one-hole playoff that sent him back to Chattanooga empty handed, his cell phone rang.

On the other end of the line was UTC golf coach Mark Guhne, who had some good news. Ledford had been offered a sponsor’s exemption into this week’s Chattanooga Classic at Black Creek. It wasn’t the U.S. Open, but for a young gun with professional aspirations, it was the next best thing.

Suffice it to say Ledford was pumped. He’d played in the Classic before, qualifying in 2004, but now, with just his senior season of college golf remaining, here was another opportunity to test his skills against high quality competition, the same players he hopes to one day encounter, week in and week out, as he tries to make a living.

Excited as he was at the sponsor’s exemption, Ledford quickly reasoned it wouldn’t do him any good to place too much of an emphasis on a single tournament.

“I’m going to try not to make too big a deal out of it,” Ledford said. “I’ll try to treat it like any other tournament, even though it isn’t.

“It would definitely boost my confidence to play well this week. But I’m going to try and not worry about it. I’ve played [Black Creek] a million times. I’m just going to go out there, enjoy myself, and enjoy the week.”

Leford comes into the week with a little momentum. On Sunday, he and former McCallie teammate Adam Mitchell won the Tennnessee Four-Ball at The Ridges near Johnson City. It was the first state championship for either player.

“I’d finished second in the [2005] state amateur, and Adam finished second in the [2006] state open,” Ledford said. “We decided before the Four-Ball that we didn’t want to finish runner-up again.”

Mitchell and Ledford, birdie machines both, made for an imposing four-ball duo as they reprised the final act of their successful high school career. McCallie won the state championship in 2002, when Ledford was a senior and Mitchell a freshman. Mitchell has since gone on to the University of Georgia, where he figures to start next year for a team that was ranked No. 1 for much of the ’06 spring season.

“We both make a lot of birdies because we’re so aggressive,” Ledford said. “We’ve got each other’s back. If I mess up, he usually picks me up. And I do the same for him.”

Albeit against lesser competition than he’ll face this week, the victory gives Ledford some recent success to draw upon. The basic principle is the same, whether the tournament is the Tennessee Four-Ball or the Chattanooga Classic. Make birdies. Avoid bogeys. The latter may be even more important than the former.

Ledford’s entry into the Classic field comes at a good time. Guhne insists that his players fill their summers with as many tournaments as they can play and test their skills against the best competition they can find. Suffice it to say Ledford has found all he can handle this week. But whatever happens—whether he makes the cut or contends on Sunday—Ledford will take away something positive for the next six weeks. His schedule is crammed.

Ledford will make the rounds in national amateur events, with a TGA tournament or two thrown in as well. In the next few weeks, he’ll play in the Dogwood Invitational, the Southern Amateur, the Tennessee Match Play Championship, the Western Amateur and the Tennessee Amateur. He’ll also squeeze in U.S. Amateur qualifying.

“I’ll be on the road quite a bit,” Ledford said. “That’s something I want to get used to.”

*** Feedback ***
click here to give me your comments about this article,
 or suggest a subject for a future article