George Williams tourney enjoys success

It was a pleasant weekend at the Coharie Country Club, with dozens of participants showing up to compete in the 4th Annual George Williams Invitational.

The Country Club has been a staple in Clinton for a number of years. It was established in 1946 and the club championship started the same year. There was a man that would go on to win the trophy 20 times over the course of 30 years — George Williams, the moniker for this event.

Williams, who recently turned 105 years of age, played until he was 101 years old. He shot a 2-under at the age of 93. More importantly, most of the players have known him for years and remember him for his kindness and top notch play.

After restarting their four ball tournament, they decided to name it after George Williams. At first he declined, saying there were others more deserving but relented to try and grow the tournament more. They would have to cancel the event only two years in due to Covid. Now, two years later, the country club hosted the event once more.

They had a record showing of 66 participants in this event divided up into three divisions of partners.

After one day, the super senior division was led by Jack Hooks and John Harshbarger, who ended the day shooting 4-under par with a score of 67. The senior division was the smallest group with only 14 participants. Resounding play kept Bryce Edmondson and Turk Burkinshaw ahead of the rest iin the senior group on Saturday shooting five under for a score of 66 to end the day. The biggest flight was the championship flight comprising more than half of all participants. The teams kept the game close, but Bryce Chaffee and Trey Howell led the group rounding out their day 5-under at 66.

The last day was equally as nice for play as there was only a gentle breeze throughout the day. The invitational came to close on Sunday afternoon and the scores were tallied up. The leaders from the day prior remained the same. Hooks and Harshbarger went two over par and scored 74 on the day, but their excellent play from the day prior kept them ahead with their final stroke count 141. Edmondson and Burkinshaw kept hot for the day and shot four under to bring their score on the day to 67 with an overall total of 133 the lowest score of the tournament. Howell and Chaffee hit just two under par their final round bring their score for the day to 70 and the overall 136 to claim the championship.

Howell is a repeat winner and was scheduled to compete with his dad, but due to illness substituted with his friend Chaffee.

“My dad played with George Williams a lot,” said Howell. “We signed up for the first one and won — it was exciting. Mr. Williams has been a part of a lot of Carolina golf events so it’s just an honor to be tied with his name in this way.”