Sam Jackson hits jackpot with swing adjustment, wins SC Amateur
Sam Jackson took his first competitive test run with a slight adjustment to his golf swing in U.S. Amateur final qualifying. The result: “Not good at all,” said the man who has earned the South Carolina Golf Association’s player of the year award three straight times.
The second trial came a few days later in the S.C. Amateur Championship. The result: Jackpot!
Jackson, a 32-year-old West Columbia resident, characterized the latter this way: “A good finish.” That assessment is akin to noting that Lake Murray is wet, a giant understatement.
There’s no way to downplay Jackson’s finish last Sunday at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg in the state’s premier tournament for amateurs. Down two strokes with three holes to play, his two birdies coupled with his chief rival’s bogey produced his biggest triumph.
The exclamation point: With two tied for the lead on the final hole, Jackson hit the shot of the tournament — a 50-degree wedge from 110 yards to within three or four inches of the cup.
“I had a perfect distance for a 54-degree wedge, but I had to factor in the wind, went with the 50 and hit it about three-quarters,” Jackson said.
He laughed and said, “I could have made the putt with any club in the bag.”
The victory earned Jackson an exemption into the U.S. Amateur, the event he had hoped to qualify for in his first competition with his adjusted swing.
The victory “means everything,” said Jackson, noting that he will go into the strongest part of his schedule — the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur, South Carolina Mid-Amateur and Palmetto Amateur — with good vibes.
“I have been working with Gregg Payne [Country Club of Lexington pro] on a couple of things, and I have to trust the (changes),” Jackson said. “After Atlanta [a 75 in the U.S. Amateur final qualifying], I played nine holes on Wednesday with positive results.”
He carried those into the State Amateur and outlasted three young guns — Jack Wieler, Chase Cline and Charles Cauthen. Jackson’s 17-under-par 271 edged Wieler by one shot Cline by two and Cauthen by four.
Wieler opened a two-stroke lead with birdies on 11 and 13, but he bogeyed the par-3 17th after missing the green. Jackson birdied the 16th and then the final hole.
“I just had to play my game,” he said. “Anything can happen.”
And what did happen puts Jackson in position to earn another player of the year award.
Facts and figures from the 94th South Carolina Amateur:
>> Jackson is only the third mid-amateur (ages 25 and over) to win the State Amateur since Frank Ford III triumphed in 1996, joining Lee Palms in 2008 and Gregg Jones in 2017. And there’s a senior victory on the list: Todd White won in 2023 at age 55 (and he tied for sixth this year).
>> Runner-up Jack Wieler is a newcomer to the state amateur scene. He sparkled in high school in North Carolina before he moved to Bluffton. He plays at Elon College.
>> Chapin’s Chase Cline continues to impress. He won the 2024 South Carolina Juniors and backed that up with a tie for sixth in the ’24 State Amateur. After a strong freshman season at Western Carolina, he has transferred to Charlotte.
>> Zach Adams, a rising senior at USC from Charleston, saw his bid for a third State Amateur title in four years fall short. After winning in 2022 and ’24, he finished 14th at Carolina CC.
>> Columbian Charles Cauthen, a recent high school graduate, came close to joining Cody Proveaux, Carson Young and Adams in winning the State Amateur prior to college. Cauthen will play at the University of Kentucky this fall.
>> Jackson’s final-hole birdie prevented the tournament’s first playoff since Drew Ernst (Seneca/Coastal Carolina) edged Wesley Bryan (Columbia/USC) in 2010 at Columbia CC.
>> Strange statistic: The final threesome of Cline, Wieler and Jackson played the second hole, a 416-yard par-4, in a combined six over par in the final round. Wieler made bogey, Jackson double bogey and Cline triple bogey.
Chip shots. Thomas Bradshaw pulled away with a final-round 66 to win the Midlands Chevy Dealers Championship at Spring Valley CC. In the revamped Columbia city tournament that expanded eligibility to players throughout the Midlands, John O’brien won the senior division and Tim Teaster claimed the super-senior title. .... USC senior Frankie Harris is ranked No. 12 in the PGA Tour’s University preseason rankings. The No. 1 player in the final rankings next spring will earn PGA Tour membership, and players 2-10 will be eligible for Korn Fery Tour competition for the remainder of 2026. ... Louise Rydqvist, a stalwart on USC’s high-powered women’s team for four years, earned the Women’s Golf Coaches Association’s Edith Cummings Munson award for the second straight year. The honor goes to an upperclassman who is both a WCGA All-American and WCGA All-American scholar. ... Sage Bradshaw (Bluffton/College of Charleston) tied for third in stroke-play qualifying and advanced to match-play’s round of 16 in the U.S. Junior Amateur in Dallas.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Sam Jackson hits jackpot with swing adjustment, wins SC Amateur."