Staff report

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — South Rowan and N.C. State graduate Davis Richards won the club championship at Surf Golf & Beach Club on Sunday.

Golf has been important to Richards, 27, since he was 3 years old and his grandfather, Wade Lowder, bought him a set of plastic clubs. His athletic hero wasn’t a baseball or football phenom — it was Arnold Palmer.

There were golf lessons along the way, from Dana Rader and Warrior pro Brian Lee. By the time Richards got to South Rowan, where he played golf for coaches Josh Vinson and Steve Beaver, he was combining great power off the tee with touch and he was ready to be one of the best in school history.

Richards made his high school debut for the Raiders with a 30 for nine holes.

As a sophomore, he already had been offered a scholarship by N.C. State.

As a sophomore, he shot a 69 and 73 in the 2013 3A State Championships at Foxfire and finished tied for third in the 36-hole tournament.

In September 2013, early in his junior year of high school, Richards teamed with West Rowan’s Jake Kennedy as the youngest team ever to win the prestigious Labor Day Four-Ball Tournament at the Country Club of Salisbury.

Richards shot a 62 at the Club at Irish Creek on his way to winning the 2014 Junior Open.

Richards led South to the state tournament and was ranked fourth in the state for the Class of 2015.

He played in sectional qualifying in Ohio for the U.S. Open when he was still in high school, shooting 72 and 78, while playing with pros.

His first two seasons with N.C. State had some highlights, including a 67, and he was in the Wolfpack’s top six.

He shot rounds of 66-68 to win the Warrior Club Championship when he was still in college.

Narcolepsy, a serious sleep disorder, hindered Davis’ golf development and eventually interrupted his college career.

He turned pro in 2021 and played in a number of GProTour events.

He shot 68-68-89 and tied for 24th recently in the Colonial Classic in Thomasville.