Crawford Reeves wins South Carolina Match Play

June 21, 2009

Okatie, SC – Final round match play results of the 37th South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship of the Carolinas Golf Association hosted by Oldfield Golf Club in Okatie, SC on Sunday, June 21, 2009. (6906 yards, Par 36-36-72).

Crawford Reeves, 18, of Greenville birdies the 18th hole to win 1 up over Jarrett Grimes, 36, of Columbia in the finals of the 37th South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship.

Grimes, the reigning Carolinas Mid-Amateur champion, had 1 up lead after the second hole with a conceded birdie putt after Reeves’ second shot found the water hazard. Reeves bounced back with a 6 foot birdie on the par 3 third hole to square the match.

Grimes then won the fourth hole with a par after Reeves could not get up and down from next to the green. Reeves then made the second of four front nine birdies canning a 25 foot effort to once again square the match.

Grimes then won the par 4 sixth hole with a par after Reeves’ 330-yard drove found a waste area and he was unable to make four for the tie. This would be the last hole that Grimes would hold a lead as Reeves then wins the next 3 holes after birdies on the 225-yard par 3 seventh hole and the 510-yard par 5 eighth hole and a par on the 468-yard par 4 ninth hole to take a 2 up lead.

The tenth hole was halved with par fours. Grimes won the eleventh hole with a conceded two-foot birdie after Reeves’ tee shot found the lateral water hazard to cut the lead to 1 down.

Both players drove the 330-yard par 4 twelfth hole and halved the hole with birdies. Holes thirteen through sixteen was halved with pars.

The tees were moved-up on the par 4 seventeenth hole to entice players to drive the green on this 295-yard hole. Grimes had the honor and hit his tee shot just off the green on the left side leaving a 40 foot chip shot. Reeves then drove his ball left and over the green that turned out to be out of bounds by a 1/2 inch. His provisional ball found the right side of the green and he conceded Grimes’ 3 foot birdie putt after missing a 90 foot par putt.

The player’s then stepped onto the 563-yard par 5 eighteenth hole with the match all square. Grimes hammers a drive right down the middle. Reeves then blocks hit tee shot well right into the woods. Grimes then laid up to about 100 yards. Reeves’ ball was directly behind a tree and his only play was sideways to the fairway. He punched out and was left with 189 yards to the hole. Reeves’ brother, Austin, was caddying for his younger brother and suggested a six iron for the approach shot. Reeves’ decided to go with a seven iron. His club selection turned out to be perfect and he stuck the shot to 6 inches from the hole thus forcing Grimes to get up and down to send the match into extra holes. Grimes’ third shot fell short of the hole and he was left facing a 25 foot uphill putt. Grimes’ birdie effort just slipped by the hole therefore securing a 1 up victory for Crawford Reeves.

“I had a pretty good idea that it was going to be close,” said Reeves of his third shot on the 18th hole. “But I had no idea that it was 6 inches. I picked the 7-iron because I wanted to hit something hard and my adrenaline was flowing. That was the best shoe I have ever hit in a tournament especially under those conditions.”

Reeves, the 2007 and 2008 South Carolina Junior Match Play champion, just graduated from high school and will play for Coach Larry Penley’s Clemson Tigers this fall. Reeves now currently holds both the men’s and junior South Carolina Match Play titles. However he will not defend his junior title in July as he will compete in the Carolinas Amateur in Charleston instead.

For more information on the South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship including past champions, sites and scores visit the CGA’s yearbook at www.carolinasgolf.org/tourn/2009/yearbook/scam.pdf

This championship is conducted by the Carolinas Golf Association which is celebrating its 100th year of serving amateur golf in the Carolinas.

Finals Crawford Reeves, Greenville, SC def. Jarrett Grimes, Columbia, SC, 1 up