South Carolina Open begins Tuesday

Nine of the 129 players slated to compete in the 58th South Carolina Open today at Seneca’s Cross Creek Plantation are coming off appearances in New Mexico and the 42nd Professional National Championship. Of those nine, none made the cut at Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Clubs — and all will be looking to avenge less-than-stellar performances.

The South Carolina Open is the perfect place for them to rebound to top form before the Section Championship, the final major tournament of the year. For one especially, the Open could be pivotal.

Last year’s Section Champion, Billy Anderson, PGA, of Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C., will be playing in the Open and it couldn’t come at a better time. Coming off of a disappointing PNC finish just one off the cut line, the best thing he says he can do is “play his way into playing shape.” That’s because after the SC Open he’ll head to the Wyndham Championship where he’ll face off against the best of the best on the PGA Tour, including U.S. Open Champion and former Clemson standout Lucas Glover.

“I haven’t been practicing all that much but I’m of the mind that it’s not all about practice,” he said. “Playing well at the SC Open will definitely give me some confidence before heading up to the Wyndham.”

Last year, the South Carolina Open also became a springboard for the Section Championship, the tournament that decides who will play on the national stage in the Professional National Championship and who will get a berth into one of the two PGA Tour stops here in the Carolinas. Ten of the eventual 13 qualifiers for the PNC competed at last year’s SC Open and all but one was in the top 25.

It’s one thing to play well at the SC Open but it’s another to win, especially this year. That’s because the 58th South Carolina Open also marks the return of Kelly Mitchum to major tournament play. The family man skipped the North Carolina Open to visit his brother and will return to a tournament that he has traditionally won in odd-numbered years — 2003, 2005, 2007. It’s a pattern that may be fitting for him this year, coming off his win at the 85th Horry County State Bank Carolinas Open in May.

The South Carolina Open is one of the oldest Carolinas PGA major tournaments, and boasts past champions such as Carolinas PGA Professional Randy Glover (Mount Pleasant) who won the tournament eight times during his career including a five-year run from 1969-1973. Before 2003, only South Carolina PGA Professionals and amateurs were eligible to play, but today the tournament is open to and draws both North and South Carolina professionals and amateurs, creating a larger, more competitive field.

The South Carolina Open is a three-day, 54-hole tournament, with a cut to be established after the second round of play. Competitors at this year’s South Carolina Open will tee off in two flights for the first and second round of play at 7:30 a.m. and Noon. Those who make the cut will most likely tee off for the third round on July 23 at 7:30 a.m.