Palmetto Championship Tees Up This Week at Caledonia, True Blue

By Dylan Hoffman

With the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship at TPC Myrtle Beach emerging as one of junior golf’s leading individual competitions, it has also become a seasonal precursor to an elite high school team competition that also calls the Grand Strand home. And as the Palmetto High School Golf Championship brings its own level of popularity and prestige, the 2021 edition of this event is also shaping up to be a hotly contested affair.

Contested for the sixth consecutive year at renowned Mike Strantz designs Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club, the 2021 Palmetto takes place April 1-3 in a 54-hole, collegiate-style tournament that features 13 teams from states including North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. The Palmetto returns after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled 2020 play, with Charlotte Christian School (N.C.) and 2018 Palmetto champion Boiling Springs (S.C.) among the top returning teams from the 2019 Palmetto. Past Palmetto participant Argyle Liberty Christian (Tex.) brings two squads to this year’s competition.

If you’re heading out to Caledonia or True Blue this weekend to check out the action, here’s some information on some of the Palmetto’s top individual competitors:

Boiling Springs High School – Andrew Gregory (2023 graduate, Inman, S.C.)

• South Carolina Junior Golf Association (SCJGA) ranking of 22 (as of 3/23/21)
• Scoring average of 73.28 (differential average of 0.86)
• Recorded a junior event win at the 2020 George Holliday Memorial Junior (67-66-76), as well as runner-up finishes at the 2020 Junior Spartanburg County Amateur Championship (69-70) and the 2020 Byrnes Rebel Invitational (70)
• Participated in multiple AJGA events such as the HV3 Foundation’s Junior All-Star and Vaughn Taylor Championship

South Aiken High School – Cameron Biddle (2023, Aiken, S.C.)

• SCJGA ranking of 34 (as of 3/23/21)
• Scoring average of 75.55 (differential average of 3.09)
• Recorded 3 junior event wins over the course of the last year
  • 2020 High School – Battle of the Damn (72-71)
  • 2020 SCJGA – Aiken Chapter at Forest Hills (69)
  • 2020 SCJGA – Aiken Chapter Rob Perry Championship at Augusta CC (70)
• Also recorded high finishes at the 2020 SCJGA – Grant Bennett Florence Jr. Invite (73-66-73) and the 2020 George Holliday Memorial Junior (74-72-72)

St. James High School – Walker Devers (2021, Murrells Inlet, S.C.)

• SCJGA ranking of 85 (as of 3/23/21)
• Scoring average of 78.74 (differential average of 6.68)
• Recorded a junior event win at the 2020 SCJGA – Myrtle Beach Tour Championship (73)
• Recorded top five finishes at the 2020 HJGT – College Prep Series at Clemson (74-75) and the SCJGA – Myrtle Beach at Myrtlewood (73)

Argyle Liberty Christian High School – Camron Reddell (2021, Argyle, Tex.)

• Texas Junior Golf Tour (TJGT) ranking of 37 during the 2020-21 season (as of 3/23/21)
• Scoring average of 74.33
• Recorded two top three finishes at the 2020 DFW Elite at Texas Rangers (71-70) and the 2020 DFW Fall Kickoff at Bridlewood (73-71)
• Also recorded 2 top-10 finishes at the 2020 Patriot Classic (78-72) and the 2020 Bridlewood Spring Blast (80-71)

North Raleigh Christian Academy – Josh Lendach (2021, Raleigh, N.C.)

• Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA) ranking of 54 (as of 3/23/21)
• Scoring average of 75.34 (differential average of 2.56)
• Recorded five top-five finishes over the course of the last year
  • 2020 TYGA – Bojangles Junior Open (76-67), 2020 HJGT – South Carolina Spring Junior Open (77-78), 2020 Tarheel Golf Foundation – Bell Holiday Junior (73-73), 2021 Dustin Johnson World Junior Qualifier (73), and 2021 HJGT – NC State College Prep (74-71)

Conway High School – Will Broughman (2021, Conway, S.C.)

• SCJGA ranking of 110 (as of 3/23/21)
• Scoring average of 80.15 (differential average of 8.20)
• Recorded a runner-up finish at the 2020 SCJGA Junior Championship Qualifier (74)
• Recorded top-10 finishes at the 2020 SCJGA – Myrtle Beach Chapter at Burning Ridge (78), 2020 SCJGA – Myrtle Beach Chapter at Long Bay (78), and 2020 SCJGA – Myrtle Beach Chapter at Myrtlewood (76)
• Also participated in the 2020 NJGT – National Championship where he finished T14 (87-77-77)

Among the event’s most distinguished individual alums are PGA TOUR stars Rickie Fowler, who won this event in 2006, and Harris English; and Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat, who competed in the 2019 U.S. Open and is currently ranked 17^th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

To learn more about this year’s event, visit the Palmetto Championship website.