LOUISVILLE – Jay Nimmo, 13, of Benton advanced to Augusta, Georgia in the Drive, Chip, and Putt Championship. Nimmo will compete before the Masters Golf Tournament on Sunday, April 3rd. The putting portion of the event will be on the 18th green of Augusta National Golf Course where the Masters is played and will be nationally televised.
The Drive, Chip, and Putt Championship was started in 2013 for boys and girls 7-15 by the Masters Tournament Foundation, United States Golf Association, and PGA of America. This year it has grown to more than 250 local qualifying sites throughout the United States.
The top three from the local qualifier advance to 50 subregional sites. The top two in each age group then advance to 10 regional sites around the country. The event consists of three drives, three chips, and three putts. Points are awarded for distance and accuracy on the drives and accuracy on the chips and putts.
On Saturday, September 12th, Nimmo competed at Regional Championship held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. He had advanced to Valhalla from the local site at Seneca Golf Course in Louisville and subregional, Oxmoor Country Club in Louisville, earlier in the summer.
After hitting his first drive out-of-bounds for no points, Nimmo rebounded with two solid drives. At the chipping section, Nimmo had two of three solid chips. The putting portion is where Nimmo distanced himself from his competitors. He made the six footer, lipped out the 15 footer and barely missed the 30 footer.
He won with a score of 133 points with his closest competitor at 118. The score of 133 points was the 2nd highest in any age group for the day at Valhalla.
Jay is a 7th grader at Benton Middle School and member of the Marshall County High School Golf Team.
For more information about Drive, Chip, and Putt visit www.DriveChipandPutt.com .