Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - Joe Hamorski of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida was the winner of the 82^nd Annual Southern Amateur Championship conducted over the period July 20-23, 1988 at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This great golf course, which last served as the site for the Southern Amateur Championship in 1960, provided a continuing challenge over the 4 days of play for the outstanding amateur golfers, from 21 states and 5 foreign countries, who comprised the playing field.

Hamorski returned scores of 72-76-71-71 totaling 290, which was 2 over par, to become the winner by 1 stroke over Jimmy Johnston of Knoxville, Tennessee and Frank Ford of Johns Island, South Carolina who finished in a tie for 2^nd place at 291. Johnston's scores were 75-70-76-70 and Ford's rounds were 74-74-73-70.

Jon Worrell of Douglas, Georgia had rounds of 77-72-71-72 totaling 292 and finished in 4^th place. Jeff Barlow of Jackson, Mississippi finished 5th with rounds of 76-77-72-68 for a total score of 293.

Sixth place was a tie between four players, DeWitt Weaver of Helen, Georgia; Tod Satterfield of Bluefield, West Virginia; Oswald Drawdy of Hampton, South Carolina and Thomas Tolles of Cape Coral, Florida with scores of 295. Tenth place was also a tie between Robert McRoy of Huntsville, Alabama; Bubba Klugh of Little Rock, Arkansas and Chris Patton of Fountain Inn, South Carolina with scores of 296.

The opening round lead was shared by Bob Young of Atlanta, Georgia; Jeff Daves of Madison, Tennessee and Gibby Gilbert of Chattanooga, Tennessee with fine 3 under par 69's. One stroke back at 2 under par 70's were Thomas Tolies and Greg Lasher of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Four players were only 2 strokes behind the leaders with opening rounds of 71.

After the second round of play the lead was shared at even par 144 between Chris Patton and Jeff Daves. Close in pursuit, and only 1 stroke behind the leaders at this point with scores of 145, were Johnston, Tolles and Gilbert. Also, at this midway point in the championship, eight additional players were only 2 strokes behind the leaders with scores of 146.

The third round of play did not result in any changes in the closeness of the scores for the playing field, but did result in a realignment of the leaders. After 54 holes Hamorski and Tolles were tied for the lead with scores of 219. Only 1 stroke behind

was Worrell at 220. Six players were only 2 strokes back of the leaders with scores of 221. These were Johnston, Ford, Drawdy, Patton, Daves and Gilbert. Three additional players were grouped at 222 which was only 3 strokes off the leaders pace.

The final round of play provided some exciting moments. At one time or another during the final nine holes of play, we had three different tournament leaders. However, Hamorski continued his excellent play and refused to relinquish, more than temporarily, the lead he had worked so hard to attain. He was playing in the last group, and his final round was perhaps climaxed by his second shot to the 18th green on the par 4 finishing hole which was set up at 436 yards and playing into the wind. Although his tee shot was in the rough, partially blocked out by a tree - approximately 205 yards from the green which is guarded by water on the front, he executed a superb shot that ended up approximately 15 feet above the hole. Although he did not hole the putt, he rolled the ball to the lip of the hole and tapped in for his 1 under par 71 and a total 72 hole score of 219. This made him the 1988 Southern Amateur Champion by 1 stroke.

Joe Hamorski is no stranger to the Southern Amateur Championship. He finished in a tie for 12^th place in the 1987 Southern Amateur Championship played in Lufkin, Texas, and he was also the low scorer on the Florida 4-man team which won the Bob Jones Trophy that same 1987 Championship. Joe is a recent graduate from the University of West Florida and was the #1 player on their golf team. He had an outstanding record in collegiate competition and was named to the 1987 NAIA All-American Team.

The Sam Perry Medalist Trophy, awarded to the low scorer for the first 36 holes of play, was won by Chris Patton. However, since he and Jeff Daves were tied with even par 144 scores after 36 holes, a playoff was necessary. They were still tied at 221 after 54 holes and another playoff was required. Finally in this 4^th round Patton emerged as the winner.

The Bob Jones Trophy is awarded annually to each member of the low team consisting of the four low players from the same state, based on the first 36 holes of play. The state of Tennessee was the winner in 1988 with a total team score of 581. This score was the result of performances by Jeff Daves of Madison at 144; Jimmy Johnston of Knoxville at 145; Gibby Gilbert of Chattanooga at 145; and Chris Dibble of Greenville at 147.

It is worthy to mention that our 1988 Junior Champion, 16 year old Justin Leonard from Dallas, Texas made the cut and finished with a total of 305 for the 72 hole route, including a fine 73 in the 2^nd round. Also in the field were Rob McKelvey of Lawrenceville, Georgia, our 1987 Junior Champion and Michael Clark of Dalton, Georgia, our 1986 Junior Champion. Both of them made the cut and finished with 301 and 303 respectively. Jimmy Johnston of Knoxville, Tennessee deserves special mention for his 2^nd place finish in our 1988 Championship. These achievements by our past and present junior players makes us all proud of our Southern Junior Amateur Championship and shows how we are helping to produce and train outstanding junior players.