Latest sign of golf’s growth in South Carolina: SCGA expanding its headquarters

Temperatures that struggle to reach 40 degrees and meteorologists who include “wintry mix,” “freezing rain,” “sleet” and “snow” in their daily forecasts suggest that a conversation involving golf should be delayed until, say, at least mid-March.

Not so fast, counter aficionados of the game who borrow broadcaster Lee Corso’s signature phrase and celebrate Golf Day in South Carolina each January.

“So many good things,” S.C. Golf Association executive director Biff Lathrop said in his annual state of the game assessment in looking toward Golf Day ceremonies at Columbia Country Club.

Sam Jackson will be seeking to become the first player to win the state player of the year award four straight times. Todd White will look to add to his overflowing trophy case. Zach Adams will be after his third State Amateur title in four years. The junior programs are growing by leaps and bounds, state tournaments require qualifiers and the college teams look ambitiously to the spring season.

That’s without mentioning the backbone of the game — the everyday golfers who keep tee sheets filled and continually pursue personal goals. Whether the quest centers breaking 100, or 90 or perhaps matching par, the chase is relentless.

Maybe the latter is best indicator of the strength of the amateur game in South Carolina, and Lathrop’s Golf Day announcement that the SCGA has started the process to expand its headquarters provides emphasis.

Happ Lathrop, who headed the SCGA for 40 years and the father of the current executive director, operated the organization out of his home from 1976 until the association acquired the current headquarters on Irmo Drive in 1990.

“My first office was my kitchen table and my car,” Happ Lathrop said. “When we moved into the new building, the staff was two — myself and Paul Rouillard, who headed the junior program.”

Today, the SCGA staff numbers 12, “and we’ll add four interns this summer,” Biff Lathrop said. “This is overdue; we’ve needed more space for a while.”

The new headquarters will be on a four-acre property off Interstate 26’s exit 101.

Happ Lathrop remembered those early days and laughed at the changes.

“I started running the SCGA from North Augusta, which was ridiculous,” he said. “We moved to Columbia and brought a house with a loft — but no stairs. Well, we built stairs and I had maybe 100 square feet.”

The SCGA has grown from perhaps 100 clubs and 11,000 members at the start of Happ Lathrop’s tenure in the 1970s to more than 270 clubs and 70,000 members today.

Golf in general suffered during the economic downturn around 2008, but the game has prospered in recent years. As an outdoor, non-contact sport, golf provided an athletic outlet during the COVID epidemic, and the popularity has not waned.

“Sometimes you think there will may be a little drop-off, but that hasn’t happened,” Biff Lathrop said.

Indeed, tournaments that once struggled to fill their fields are over-subscribed. For example, the South Carolina Amateur will stage five qualifying tournaments this year. The junior calendar now includes one-day events.

“The game has never been stronger,” Biff Lathrop said, and the move to expand the SCGA’s headquarters provides the proof.

Chip shots. A couple of the state’s veteran PGA Tour pros, Lucas Glover and Kevin Kisner, received welcome news over the holidays. Glover, the former Clemson All-American from Greenville, earned an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters by finishing the year at No. 50 in the World Golf Rankings. Kisner, meanwhile, added to his playing duties and NBC analyst gig by accepting an offer to be an assistant captain on the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team. ... The South Carolina Amateur moves to a late July date for the first time and will be played at the Woodcreek Club in Elgin. The Senior Amateur will be at Woodside in Aiken, the Mid-Amateur at Rock Hill CC and the Junior Championship at Forest Lake Club. ... The South Carolina Women’s Amateur is set for Colleton River Club (Bluffton), the State Women’s Open for Cobblestone Park (Blythewood), the Junior Girls for True Blue (Pawleys Island) and the State Senior Women’s Amateur for the Tradition Club (Pawleys Island).