2020 Azalea Invitational Announcement

Dates:
Thursday, March 26th through Sunday, March 29th
Practice rounds on Wednesday, March 25th

Azalea Invitational Committee

  • Azalea Invitational Qualifier
    • 2020 Azalea Invitational Qualifier

      ENTRIES WILL NOT BE TAKEN BEFORE JANUARY 1

      Date: Monday, March 9, 2020

      Qualifier Fee: $125.00

      Entry Deadline: Monday, February 24th or the first 75 paid entries 

      Handicap: 3.0 or less

      Tee Times: 8:30 - 10:30 off #1 and #10 tee

      Spots Available: To be determined

      If you wish to sign up for the Azalea Qualifier, please visit:
      www.theazaleainvitational.com



  • Azalea Invitational Application
  • Azalea Invitational Contact Information

    • Azalea Chairman

      Bert Atkinson

      [email protected]

       

      Clubhouse

      Office

      843-795-0422

      Lounge / Dining

      843-795-0422

      Golf Shop

      Hart Brown, PGA

      843-795-2312

      Director of Golf

      [email protected]

      Golf Shop

      843-795-2312

       


  • Azalea Tournament History
    • Azalea History

      Since 1946, the Azalea has been held every Spring with the exception of 1990, 1991, and 2006 when the course was closed, first from hurricane damage and later for course restoration and renovation. In 2005, this was the first year that Frank Ford, Sr. was not part of the Azalea. Mr. Ford passed away that summer at the age of 100. He was a four time Azalea champion including the inaugural event in 1946. One of the preeminent amateur players of his day, Mr. Ford won numerous championships and was elected into the Carolina’s Golf Hall of Fame and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. His grandson, Frank Ford III is a six time Azalea champion. Although his presence will be sorely missed, his spirit and love of amateur golf will always have a special influence on the Azalea Invitational.

      The Frank C. Ford Azalea Champions’ Trophy was presented for the first time at the conclusion of the 2002 tournament. The purpose of the award is to honor Mr. Ford in particular and all champions with recognition for their contribution to the wonderful tradition of the Azalea. The trophy, a beautiful silver antique wine cooler, has been, and will continue to be, inscribed with the names of all Azalea Champions. It will be permanently on display in a prominent place at the Country Club of Charleston.

      Although the Club was founded in 1900 and can trace its roots back to 1786, its present location was not purchased until the early 1920’s. In 1924, the club engaged Seth Raynor to design and build the golf course. He completed his work and the course was opened for play in 1925. Mr. Raynor, a trained landscape engineer, was the town surveyor for Southampton N.Y. when he was hired by noted golf course architect, Charles Blair McDonald. They later formed a very influential design team with a penchant for incorporating the best of original British golf holes in their architecture. After designing a number of courses with McDonald, Raynor began to design and build courses on his own. Using the British influence and his considerable skill for routing and building firm playable courses Raynor had established a reputation by 1925 as one of this country’s premier golf course architects. In keeping with his British influence, the Country Club of Charleston’s signature hole (number eleven) is a version of North Berwick’s fifteenth hole better known as the famous Redan hole. Eleven of Raynor’s courses are ranked in the top one hundred of America’s traditional golf courses. Included in this group are Fishers Island, Long Island, N.Y.; The Creek Club, Locust Valley, N.Y.; The Carmargo Club, Indian Hills, Ohio; The Chicago Golf Club; and Charleston’s own Yeaman’s Hall Club.

      The 2006 Azalea was cancelled when the members of the Country Club of Charleston voted to renovate and restore the golf course. Noted golf course architect Brian Silva was retained to oversee this project. The restoration has proved to be an unqualified success. The integrity of the Raynor design has been preserved despite the fact that the course has new greens, restored and additional bunkers, and a top of the line irrigation system. The Azalea has featured a number of the country’s top amateur players. Starting with Frank Ford Sr., past champions include Dale Morey, Billy Joe Patton, Dick Siderowf, George Burns, Buddy Alexander, Vance Heafner, Ken Green and D.J. Trahan. Ryuji Imada a native of Japan, in 1996 became the first foreign player to win the Azalea. In 2001, Casey Wittenberg, a sixteen year old high school sophomore, became the youngest player to win the championship. Trahan, Wittenberg and Imada are all on the PGA Tour as well as U.S. Open Champion Webb Simpson, who won the Azalea in 2004 and 2007, and 2003 Azalea Champ Spencer Levine. Other PGA Tour players that have competed in the Azalea are Ricky Fowler, Luke List, Jordan Spieth, Eric Compton, Patrick Reed, Billy Horschel and William Mcgirt. Recent Azalea fields have included USGA Amateur Champions John Harris, Buddy Alexander, Jay Segal, Vinnie Giles and Peter Uhlein; USGA Public Links Champions Hunter Haas, Brandt Snedeker, D.J. Trahan and Brad Benjamin; USGA Mid Amateur Champions Danny Green, Jerry Courville, Tim Jackson, Spider Miller, Danny Yates, George Zahringer, Austin Eaton, Trip Kuehne, and four time winner Nathan Smith; USGA Junior Amateur Champions Matthew Rosenfield, Cameron Peck, Corey Whitsett, Brian Harmon and Kevin Tway.

      The Country Club of Charleston is fortunate to have two top professionals tending to its members, golf course and the Azalea Tournament. Paul Corder, the Golf Course Superintendent, is nationally recognized in his field and Hart Brown, the PGA Director of Golf is the epitome of a PGA Professional. The professionalism of these two men and their staffs has played an integral part in establishing a tournament atmosphere that has caused the Azalea to become one of the most popular amateur events in the country.

  • Azalea Invitational Intinerary
    • Wednesday

      Registration in Golf Shop

      Practice Rounds available after 11:00am

      Thursday-Friday

      6:30am – Golf Shop & Driving Range Open

      8:00am-2:00pm – Tee Times (#1 tee only)

      6:30am-10:00am – Breakfast (clubhouse)

      11:00am-4:00pm – Lunch (clubhouse)

      Field repaired based on 2-day total

      Saturday

      6:30am – Golf Shop & Driving Range Open

      8:00am-2:00pm – Tee Times (#1 only)

      6:30am-10:00am – Breakfast (clubhouse)

      11:00am-4:00pm – Lunch (clubhouse)

      Field cut to low 60 & ties for final round

      Sunday

      6:30am – Golf Shop & Driving Range Open

      8:30am-10:00am – Tee Times (#1 & #10)

      6:30am-10:00am – Breakfast (clubhouse)

      11:30am-4:00pm – Lunch (clubhouse)

      Awards presentation following play

       






  • Azalea Invitational Past Champions
    • Past Azalea Champions

      * Weather Shortened Event

      1946 Frank Ford Sr.

      MP

      1947 Frank Ford Sr.

      MP

      1948 Ben Goodes

      MP

      1949 Ben Goodes

      MP

      1950 Frank Ford Sr.

      MP

      1951 Moultrie McKevlin

      MP

      1952 Frank Ford Sr.

      MP

      1953 Hobart Manley

      MP

      1954 Hobart Manley

      298

      1955 Bobby Hackett

      294

      1956 Mickey Gallagher

      293

      1957 Billy Thornton

      290

      1958 Charlie Smith

      297

      1959 Dave Smith

      289

      1960 Dale Morey

      296

      1961 Billy Joe Patton

      289

      1962 Dave Smith

      298

      1963 Bill Christian

      286

      1964 Charlie Smith

      284

      1965 Curtis Wagner

      292

      1966 Curtis Wagner

      294

      1967 R.H. Watson

      289

      1968 *Dick Horne

      284

      1969 Dick Siderowf

      290

      1970 Leroy Rabon

      286

      1971 Jim Belton

      284

      1972 Wally Kuchar

      279

      1973 Bob Bryant

      285

      1974 George Burns

      275

      1975 Skip Dunaway

      287

      1976 Buddy Alexander

      282

      1977 Vance Heafner

      280

      1978 Ken Green

      285

      1979 Bill Britton

      284

      1980 Jim Burgess

      281

      1981 David Lane

      285

      1982 Frank Ford III

      289

      1983 John Finnin

      214

      1984 Randy Sonnier

      291

      1985 John Inman

      282

      1986 Frank Ford III

      285

      1987 Hugh Royer

      288

      1988 Frank Ford III

      285

      1989 Frank Ford III

      280

      1990 Hurricane Hugo


      1991 Hurricane Hugo


      1992 Frank Ford III

      289

      1993 Frank Ford III

      287

      1994 Mike Bright

      277

      1995 Kelly Miller

      282

      1996 Ryuji Imada

      278

      1997 John Engler

      280

      1998 Jeff Knox

      270

      1999 David Eger

      275

      2000 David Eger

      271

      2001 Casey Wittenberg

      279

      2002 D.J. Trahan

      271

      2003 Spencer Levin

      275

      2004 Webb Simpson

      270

      2005 Nathan J. Smith

      201

      2006 Course Restoration


      2007 Webb Simpson

      278

      2008 Zach Sucher

      284

      2009 Tyson Alexander

      275

      2010 Tyson Alexander

      268

      2011 Cheng-Tsung Pan

      265

      2012 Mathew Nesmith

      270

      2013 Austin Langdale

      135*

      2014 Will Murphy

      207*

      2015 Todd White

      269

      2016 Andy Zhang 269   2017 Chris Petefish 276
      2018 Cole Hammer 273      
  • Azalea Invitational Field





  • Tournament Hotel Accommodations

    • Please click on the following link to see hotels near the Country Club of Charleston

      HOTEL LIST 2020



  • Tournament Leaderboard