There are plenty of good golfers in the world, but you might remember the name of 19-year-old Chris Williams. He plays from the black tees, hits the ball straight and has a habit of breaking course records.
Friday, University of Washington sophomore Williams put together an incredible round at Sun Valley Golf Course during the Danny Thompson Memorial. He broke the 12-year-old course record of former Sun Valley pro Doyle Corbett.
It was the 10th time Williams has set a new course record, coming on the heels of a 59 at Burley Municipal earlier this summer. His 63 matched his previous career-best score, an eight-under 63, carded in the third round of the Pac-10 Championships on April 27.
Playing in a foursome with Dick Andersen of Sun Valley, Bruce Qvale of San Francisco and Jay Little of Baton Rouge, La., Williams showed the form that made him the 2010 Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year award winner covering all NCAA Division 1 golfers.
At Sun Valley, Williams finished with nine birdies in his final 10 holes to score a nine-under-par 63, one stroke better than Corbett's 64 at Sun Valley back in 1998. He had 10 birdies, one bogey and seven pars.
He started slowly, though.
Williams began his 18-hole round during the two-day Thompson Memorial golf tournament with a bogey 4 on the 197-yard par-3 10th hole. He steadied himself with three straight pars, rolled in his first birdie and walked to the par-5 18th hole with an even-par 31.
Thereafter, he needed only 32 strokes on his next 10 holes.
Williams, a native of Moscow who won four straight State 4A golf titles, might have ended his extraordinary round with 10 straight birdies, but his birdie putt lipped out on perhaps the easiest hole on the course, the 120-yard par-3 sixth. His score on the back nine: 28.
He wasn't finished. Saturday at Elkhorn Golf Course, Williams shot a six-under-par 66 that included four birdies and one eagle. Having earned five other birdie putts by hitting green after green, Williams might have equaled his 63 with a good roll or two at Elkhorn.
Williams thus won the Thompson Memorial gross stroke championship for a second straight year with scores of 63-69 for 129. Last August on the same courses, his winning rounds were 68-70 for 138, so he improved by nine strokes.
"He hits the ball dead straight, not as long as some others, but I've never seen him hit a bad shot," said Sun Valley's Buck Levy.
Levy played with Williams in the 2009 Thompson and followed along shot-by-shot in Friday's record round. Levy's granddaughter, Seattle University sophomore Logan Levy, daughter of Buddy Levy, has dated Williams for a few years.
Williams, ninth of 154 golfers in his first NCAA Championship June 3 at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn., came very close to competing in the 110th U.S. Amateur Championship Aug. 23-29 at Chambers Bay, Wash. instead of playing in the Thompson.
On Aug. 4, Williams (66-73 for 139) tied for third place in a U.S. Amateur qualifying tournament on the Palouse Ridge Golf Club at Washington State in Pullman. Then Williams lost on the second hole of a playoff to Oregon State junior Alex Moore from Richland, Wash.—the Moore captured the third and final qualifying spot.
Williams also came close to a likely berth in the 2001 Masters at the 85th U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship July 18 on the Bryan Park's Champion Course in Greensboro, N.C. In the quarterfinals, eventual champion Lion Kim of Florida, a University of Michigan junior, beat Williams 1-up.
But it's been a great 12 months for the only freshman in Washington history to win twice during the NCAA season.
The first Husky golfer to win Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors, Williams had a great season at Washington that included a seven-under-par 65 tying the Gold Mountain Olympic Course record at Bremerton, Wash. during the final round of the NCAA West Regional tournament May 22.
He finished tied for second with a six-under 210 at the West Regional where he made his first-ever hole-in-one using a 5-iron on a 205-yard par-3. He slam-dunked the shot on the fly, mangling the cup and forcing tournament officials to repair the cup immediately.
Williams played on one of the 44 teams in the four-person, two best ball format for the 34th annual Thompson Memorial, a benefit for cancer and leukemia research held at Sun Valley and Elkhorn since 1977.
Tournament director Georgie Fenton said, "It was a very successful tournament. We went over our projections at Friday's auction."
The winning team with scores of 115-112 for 227 featured actor Kevin Sorbo, former University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson, George Golleher of Boise and Vic Carlson. In second place at 117-113 for 230 were Bill Mostowy, Wade Steele, Dave Faddis and Kevin Simmons.
Making a hole-in-one Friday on the 14th hole at Elkhorn Golf Course was 62-year-old U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, a Democrat representing Kentucky. Louisville native and Yale University graduate Yarmuth aced the 204-yard par-3 with a 5-iron.
It was Yarmuth's second visit to the Thompson Memorial. Former owner and publisher of the weekly newspaper Louisville Eccentric Observer and until recent years the writer of a progressive-oriented weekly column, Yarmuth was elected in 2006 with 51% of the vote and in 2008 with 59%.
Musician Don Felder and his wife Kathryn enjoy Friday’s Thompson Memorial cocktail party on the Sun Valley Inn terrace. Former Eagles guitarist Felder performed a tournament benefit concert Wednesday at Sun Valley Pavilion. Express photo by Roland Lane
