Traveling to Rogers, Ark., last week for an opportunity to play
in the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach in late August, San
Benito High School junior Nathan Winn delivered a two-day score of
164 (76-88) to finish 35th out of some 88 golfers at the Shadow
Valley Country Club.
HOLLISTER
It’s more than just a couple rounds of golf.
Traveling to Rogers, Ark., last week for an opportunity to play in the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach in late August, San Benito High School junior Nathan Winn delivered a two-day score of 164 (76-88) to finish 35th out of some 88 golfers at the Shadow Valley Country Club.
Winn’s score was enough to qualify him toward The First Tee Open, if it was only his score that evaluators from The First Tee Open were looking at.
Again, it’s more than just a couple rounds of golf.
“It’s an organization that specifically targets junior golfers and makes sure there is a future for golf by targeting junior golfers,” Winn said. “But there’s more to it than just golf. Like skills and core values are taught.”
And Winn delivered more than just a strong golf score last week. Qualifying toward The First Tee Open, an official Champions Tour event, Winn will team up with a Champions Tour player and two amateurs at Pebble Beach for a nationally televised event to be held Aug. 31-Sept. 6.
Such Champions Tour players in the past have included Mark O’Meara, Craig Stadler, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Fuzzy Zoeller, Nick Price and Tom Watson, among others.
“This is probably one of my biggest accomplishments, by far,” Winn said.
“I think I will be (nervous) once I get to the first tee on that first day. But other than that, I’m just really excited about it.”
Read the full story in Friday’s edition of The Weekend Pinnacle.
