How this 14-year-old from Myrtle Beach just won a state championship golf tournament
Madison Messimer of Myrtle Beach won a state junior title that she will have a chance to hold onto for a long time.
At just 14, Messimer captured the Women’s S.C. Golf Association Junior Girls State Championship on Wednesday at Arcadian Shores Golf Club in Myrtle Beach.
The rising Myrtle Beach High School freshman won by four shots at 5-under-par 211 over a pair of high school seniors, Adrian Anderson of Murrells Inlet and Wachesaw Plantation Club and Sydney Roberts of Chesnee.
Messimer is believed to be the youngest to win the championship that has been held every year since 1990, and said she’s not intimidated by older players.
“Not really anymore because I’ve proved to myself I can beat them now,” she said.
Messimer shot a 2-under 70 in the final round playing approximately 5,800 yards to overcome a two-shot deficit to Roberts through two rounds.
Anderson, the defending champion who is the reigning South Carolina Golf Association and Carolinas Golf Association Girls Player of the Year, shot a 69 in the final round to move up the leaderboard.
Messimer birdied her first two holes Wednesday to catch Roberts early and both were at 4 under for the tournament going into the par-5 16th hole, where Roberts made a double bogey. Messimer birdied the par-3 17th hole to extend her lead.
She has worked with instructor Ted Frick of Classic Swing Golf School at Legends Resort for the past couple years and said her swing is where she wants it to be right now.
Last year, Messimer was ranked in the top 20 in the world among 13-year-old girls.
She became the first player to win four consecutive major tournaments on the competitive Peggy Kirk Bell Tour in North Carolina to be named the tour’s player of the year.
In 2019, she reached the regional stage of the 2019-20 Drive, Chip & Putt Championship, which is one stage from the finals held at Augusta National Golf Club.
Messimer, who aspires to play at a Division I program followed by a pro career, leaves Sunday for the North-South Junior Girls Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., and has a busy golf schedule this summer.
“I’m trying to get a lot of top 10s and top fives and try to win as much as I can,” she said.
The top six finishers at Arcadian Shores qualified for the S.C. team in the 2021 Georgia/S.C. Girls Junior Challenge Match at The Cliffs at Mountain Park Golf Course in Greenville County. They are Messimer, Anderson, Roberts, Camila Burnett of Bluffton, Hannah Altman of Lake City and Emily Baker of Chapin.
The state junior championship returns to Arcadian Shores next year from June 27-29.
The WSCGA’s next large tournament will be the S.C. Women’s Open from Aug. 12-15 at Cobblestone Park in Blythewood, which is open to amateurs and professionals and is expected to draw players from around the U.S. and a few foreign countries.
