Many of Virginia’s top young golfers made their way to the The Crossings in Hanover County last week for the 2009 Trusted Choice/Optimist Junior Classic golf Tournament, a two–day event sponsored by the Central Virginia Optimist Club and Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia.

  For many of the participants, it was their first opportunity to experience competition play at a higher level.

  “This is by far the best tournament I’ve competed in,” said Tim Brandon of Charlottesville. “The competition is really a step up from what I’m used to.”

  The participants, which included girls and boys age 10 to 18, played in the competition, with the top two finishers in each age group heading to the national Optimist Tournament in July. The top golfer in the tournament also received an invitation to play in the Trusted Choice National Tournament scheduled for July.

  The two groups have co-sponsored the event for the past four years. They joined forces in an effort to attract the best golfers. “There are a lot of youth golf tournaments in the state,” said Robert N. Bradshaw, president of IIAV.

  Gail Headley, tournament director for the Optimists, said it was a logical step to combine efforts. “Both of our tournaments were held at the same time of the year, so this seems like the logical thing to do.”

  The winners in this qualifier have the option of attending either the Trusted Choice Big “I” National Championship in Ardmore, Oklahoma, or the Optimist International Tournament at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

  The Optimists are a civic organization focused on helping and promoting youth through various programs and services.

  “We want to make a difference in a child’s life,” Headley said. “There are different clubs all over the state that strive to help children,” she added.
  “If we can improve the life of a kid, that’s our objective,” said Lawson Headley, governor of the Virginia Optimists.

  Headley said Richmond West, her Optimist club, focuses on raising money to send diabetic children to Camp Jordan in Dinwiddie.

  The club also sponsors scholarship programs and other youth oriented programs.

  Lowery Headley is the governor for the Virginia District of the Optimists. “If we can improve the life of a kid, that’s our objective,” he said.

  Trusted Choice is a trade association for property and casualty insurance agents. Robert Bradshaw, president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia said the national tournament has a storied history with such greats as Ernie Ells and Tiger Woods listed as past winners. The top male and female winners from the tournament are invited to attend the national tournament.

  “We think this is an important event,” Bradshaw said. “It’s a year-round job preparing for this tournament and we depend on lots of volunteers and co-sponsors to pull this off each year,” he added.

  Bradshaw also said golf will influence these kids for years to come, and learning fair play and camaraderie at a young age is a positive experience for the golfers.

  “Golf could be part of their lives for the rest of their lives,” he said.

  More than 60 golfers signed up for this year’s event at The Crossings. The course was in great shape and low scores were the order of the first day of competition, with two golfers recording 70s.

  After two rounds, the overall winner of the tournament was Kevin Clarke with a combined score of 144 for two rounds. He will have his choice of tournaments along with Girls’ champ Hannah Pierce, who shot 158.

  Clarke chose to compete in Optimist National Competition at the PGA National Resort in Florida next month. Pierce opted for the big “I” Trusted Choice event in Oklahoma.

MORE RESULTS
  The other male winners were: Brad Elder of Roanoke had the second best score with a 149 for 36-holes for ages 16 – 18; Connor Walters of Salem scored 145 to lead the 15 – 14 group; ages 13 – 14 was won by Zachary Bauchou of Forest who scored 143 from the white tees, and Fitz Woodrow of Charlottesville won ages 10 -11 with 165. Shabril Brewer of Herndon had the second highest score for the girls playing from the white tees with a total score of 158; Kayleigh Reed of Virginia Beach lead the 14 – 15 girls at 176; and Victoria Davidjohn of Lynchburg scored 185 to win the 10 to 11 bracket.