Taylor Stringfield (pictured below) travelled to Burlington, Kentucky on July 23rd to compete in the Drive, Chip, and Putt qualifier at The Stephens Golf Center. When the competition concluded, she had placed 2nd overall in both the driving and putting competitions. More importantly, her efforts landed her as one of the top 3 overall qualifiers that will advance to the sub-regional round in Louisville, Kentucky on August 1st.
The Drive, Chip, and Putt (DCP) is a national golf skills competition for boys and girls ages 7-15 years old. Contestants compete in local, sub-regional, and regional rounds of competition during 2021. Of course, the ultimate goal is to advance to Augusta National Golf Club for the National DCP Championship next April 2022, just prior to the PGA Masters Tournament. A player’s age is determined by how old he or she will be at the time of the National Championship round next April, which is why Taylor was able to compete in the girls 12-13 division as an 11 year old.
Players are awarded points for driving, chipping, and putting skill competitions, and the overall winner is determined by a combination of those three sets of points. Competitors get 3 drives, 3 chips, and 3 putts that determine their overall score. As mentioned above, the top three overall players in each age/gender division advance to the sub-regional round. Taylor’s overall combined points landed her in a tie for 3rd place, however her putting playoff broke the tie. The putting phase of the competition requires competitors to hit one putt each from distances of 6 feet, 15 feet, and 30 feet. In exciting fashion, Taylor holed her 30 foot putt on her final stroke of the competition to claim the tiebreaker and send her on to Louisville next week!
“Seeing that last putt go in from 30 feet to advance was really exciting”, Taylor added. “It is fun when hard work pays off, and I’m just appreciative of the opportunity to compete.”
Taylor’s father and former Wayne Golf Coach Jason Stringfield added, “We are all very proud of both Taylor and Tyler. They have been practicing on a near daily basis for the last couple years, and are really enjoying the game of golf.”
Taylor’s younger brother, Tyler Stringfield (pictured below), also competed in the 7-9 year old boys division. Despite winning this same division as a 6 year old two years ago (last year was cancelled due to COVID-19), Tyler did not qualify to advance to the next round this year. More information regarding Tyler’s 2019 victory as a 6 year old can be found HERE.
Taylor now moves on to the sub-regional round on August 1st at Persimmon Ridge Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. If she can finish in the top 2 places there, then she will move on to Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan on October 16th for the regional round, and an opportunity to advance to Augusta next April.
Although some recent local qualifiers have not been posted at the time of this article, you can follow her progress going forward at drivechipandputt.com
