Tyler Stringfield (pictured below) teed it up in the Drive, Chip, and Putt local round at National Golf Links on Saturday, July 13th. By its conclusion, he had not only finished in the top 3 places to advance to the sub-regional round, but he had won the event competing as a current 6 year old in the 7-9 boys division.
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 2019. Of course, the ultimate goal is to advance to Augusta National Golf Club for the National DCP Championship next April 2020, 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 Tyler was able to compete in the 7-9 division as a 6 year old.
Players are awarded points for driving, chipping, and putting skills competitions, and the overall winner is determined by a combination of those three sets of points. As mentioned above, the top three overall players in each age/gender division advance to the sub-regional round. Not only did Tyler finish 1st in the overall competition, but he also finished 1st in the putting competition and tied for 2nd in chipping. A full breakdown of each competition can be found at the link below:
Tyler’s older sister, Taylor Stringfield (pictured below), also competed as a 9 year old in the 10-11 year old girls division. Despite finishing 2nd in the putting competition, she missed qualifying for the sub-regional round by 4 points.
Taylor and Tyler certainly have golf in their family. Their father, Jason, was the varsity golf coach at Wayne High School for over a decade. Their mother, Christie, played high school golf. Their uncle, Justin, runs Sugar Isle Golf course, which the two kids consider their home golf course. Their grandpa, John Heck, works at a golf course in New Castle, Indiana. Despite dabbling in golf here in there the past year or so, neither kid became serious about golf until this past year. Starting the day after Thanksgiving of 2018, the two kids began hitting golf balls on a near daily basis. In the eight months that have followed, the two have practiced golf in some way, shape, or form an average of 6 days per week.
“I could have never dreamed they would have progressed this quickly in 8 months”, said father and former Wayne golf coach Jason Stringfield. “They have both worked extremely hard over that time, love the game, and have a desire to improve each and every day. We are all so proud of both of them.”
This was the first golf competition that either child had ever been a part of, but at this rate there could be many more in their future in the years to come.
Tyler now moves on to the sub-regional round on August 11th at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio. If he can finish in the top 2 places there, then he will move on to Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on October 5th 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 Tyler’s progress going forward at drivechipandputt.com