The Palmetto Amateur
The Palmetto Amateur has been contested since 1976, first as the Aiken Golf Classic and then, beginning in 1998, as the Palmetto Amateur. The tournament is held at the historic Palmetto Golf Club, where golf was first played in Aiken, SC, in 1892.
The 2011 Palmetto Amateur will be the 36th renewal of this event. The tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20 through Saturday, July 23, 2011. The defending champion is Todd White, from Moore, SC, who posted a score of 70 in the final round to go with previous rounds of 73, 69 and 68 for a total of even par 280, and then prevailed in a three man playoff with Paul Woodbury, a member of the University of South Carolina golf team and Riley Pumphrey, a member of the University of Oklahoma golf team.
Palmetto Golf Club, while not overly long, is still quite challenging. The greens are small and the greens complexes are difficult, requiring accurate placement of approach shots. Putting is also a premium and the subtle MacKenzie contours are difficult to negotiate.
We again expect to receive more applications than can be accommodated and, because of that, the field will be selected based on world amateur rankings and performance in high level amateur tournaments, including USGA Open and Amateur events and previous Palmetto Amateurs.
