Headed into State Amateur, Sam Jackson’s golf game thrives with even-keeled approach

It’s a big week ahead for Sam Jackson, the South Carolina Golf Association’s player of the year for the past three years.

Final qualifying for the U.S. Amateur on Monday in Atlanta. Then, on to the South Carolina Amateur on Thursday-Sunday at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg.

Excited about starting a stretch of events that could mean another POY prize? Antsy with anticipation about competition against top amateurs with visions of triumph on the big stage?

Well, not exactly. That’s not his style.

“My approach in any tournament is stay on a pretty even keel,” Jackson said. “(Playing well) used to be the end all be all, but I learned to keep the game in perspective.”

And that means ...?

“I’ll be back in the office Tuesday and Wednesday, then I’ll be making [work] calls during the State Amateur when I’m not on the course.”

The consecutive player-of-the-year awards provide ample evidence that the perspective works for him. And his finishes in the State Amateur reinforce it.

Only Jackson has top-10 finishes in the past four State Amateurs. Zach Adams is close; he won the 2022 and ’24 titles and has a tie for fourth and a tie for 11th in that span. Todd White, who at 57 continues to defy the calendar, earned the championship in 2023 and finished fifth a year ago.

The trio represents a cross-section of competitors. Adams, from Charleston, is a rising senior on USC golf team. Jackson, who resides in West Columbia, played at Presbyterian College and represents the mid-amateurs (25 and older). White, a Spartanburg high school instructor who will be playing on his home course, checks in for seniors (55 and older).

Adams has been playing on the high-level amateur circuit this summer. White tied for second last week in the British Amateur, a tournament he won in 2024. Meanwhile, Jackson has been mostly on the sidelines.

“I haven’t been playing a lot competitively in the past few weeks,” Jackson said. “I played four tournaments in span of six of seven weeks early in the year, which is a lot on top of my work (Pella Windows & Doors).

“But I’ve been working on my game and it’s good. I’m anxious to get back in tournament play.”

After this busy week, his schedule includes “hopefully the U.S. Amateur,” the U.S. Mid-Amateur, a tournament in Birmingham for high-level mid-amateurs, and the Palmetto Amateur.

“I can work from anywhere, following up with or reaching out to clients,” Jackson said.

Indeed, he shocked some reporters by making business calls immediately after he advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur a couple of years ago. And he will do the same in Spartanburg, in the mornings with afternoon tee times and in the afternoons if he plays in the early wave.

The State Amateur, he said, “is pretty special” and winning is one of the holes on his resume. His last four finishes: tie for 8th a DeBordieu, tie for 5th at the Dunes Club, 10th at Musgrove Mill and 4th at the Country Club of Charleston.

He said this will be his 12th or 13th State Amateur. He got his first taste of the event during his senior year in college and he’s come to realize its significance.

“It’s the flagship event for amateurs in our state,” he said. And there’s a family attachment, too: wife Mollie is director of marketing for the SCGA.

Kyle Maloney, the SCGA’s senior director for rules and competition, said the Carolina Country Club course will play at just under 7,000 yards. The distance will older players, seniors and mid-amateurs, a better chance to compete successfully against the younger players who are longer off the tee.

This is the first year in memory that the tournament has been moved from the first week in August into July. The change came after the USGA granted the champion an exemption into the U.S. Amateur in mid-August.

“That (exemption) gives our tournament even more significance,” SCGA executive director Biff Lathrop said.

Jackson will bring his even-keel style to the tee, but do not mistake that approach for a weakness.

“I’m competitive,” he said. “I like to look at the leaderboard and see I’m in the mix” for the lead.

His record says that works just fine.

This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Headed into State Amateur, Sam Jackson’s golf game thrives with even-keeled approach."