English recalls formative time spent at Sunset Country Club
May 7—MOULTRIE — While recovering from February hip surgery and contemplating whether he will be healed enough to play in this month's PGA Championship, Harris English recently visited his old stomping grounds.
The former Colquitt County junior golfer was in Moultrie on Thursday and had lunch at Sunset Country Club.
While at the course where he first began making a name for himself two decades ago, the four-time PGA Tour winner ran into several old teammates.
Before playing his high school golf at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn., and improving his game at the University of Georgia before turning pro in 2011, English
learned the game at Sunset, where he developed relationships that continue to this day.
He was greeted on Thursday by former Colquitt County middle school teammate Aaron Elrod, now Sunset's assistant golf professional.
He shook hands with Clarke Hendrick, another member of that remarkable middle school team.
John Fordham, a contemporary who also honed his game on the Sunset fairways and greens, shared a hug and a wide smile.
English was one of the nation's top junior golfers in the early 2000s and was part of the Colquitt County middle school team that did not lose from 2001-2003. That team also included Elrod, Hendrick, Dustin Campbell, Anna Leigh Keith and Brian Berl.
Two-time Future Masters champion English shot a 67 as an eighth-grader to lead Colquitt to the middle school conference championship in 2003.
"I was lucky having a lot of kids my age who I played basketball with, played football with and played baseball with who enjoyed playing golf as well," English said.
"I remember during the summers, my mother dropping me off at the club at 8 in the morning and picking me up at 8 that night. It was great that we had a good, core group of golfers here. It made it fun for me and I think we made each other better."
Elrod, Hendrick, Keith, Fordham and Matt Smith, another contemporary, also went on to play college golf.
Harris recalls members of the group often playing nine holes then staying around to continue working on their games.
"Golf can be a lonely sport," he said. "But that is what made it so fun. We weren't out here just practicing by ourselves.
"Those guys pushed me to get better and I hope I pushed them. We all had that common goal to get better."
The junior players benefited from the encouragement of Colquitt County golf coach Donald Dale.
"It's obvious he loves golf and is passionate about it," English said.
Those players also had a number of older golfers who called Sunset home and were role models, including brothers Kevin and Andy Blanton.
"And I remember Jack Croyle winning the (2000) state amateur and holding the trophy with him out here on the putting green," English said.
English himself won the Georgia State Amateur Championship in 2007.
Sunset Country Club has long had a culture that nurtures young golfers, English said.
"Sunset as a whole was great to us," English said. "They let us practice, use their course."
Many clubs restrict times that junior golfers can get on the course, but that was not the case when English and his peers were developing their considerable talents.
"We always had access to play here and get better at golf," he said. "We had the support and all the tools we needed. There was no better place to grow up than here at Sunset. I love this course. It's where I learned to play."
Ben and Martha English's boy went on to a stellar high school career at Baylor, where he won an individual state championship and helped lead his team to four state titles.
After graduating in 2007, he went on to play for the Bulldogs and earned his degree in business in 2011.
He joined the PGA Tour in 2012 and got his first win in 2013 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis.
Later that year, he won the OHL Classic at Mayakoba with a final-round 65 giving him a four-stroke win.
His next Tour win came in January 2021 in the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii.
Last June, he won the Travelers Championship with a birdie on the eighth playoff hole. It was the second-longest playoff in PGA Tour history.
In September, English played on the U.S. team in the Ryder Club at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.
The U.S. won 19-9 and English went 1-2.
English was looking forward to this season after winning twice last year.
But he was forced to undergo hip surgery on Feb. 14 to take care of a bone growth on his femur, a condition that had bothered him to some degree since he played at Georgia.
English was forced to withdraw from the Masters, a year after he finished tied for 21st, and he also has missed the 2022 Players Championship. He hasn't played since the Sony Open in January.
He is holding out hope that he can play in the PGA Championship, scheduled for May 19-21 at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla.
His concern is having enough stamina for the rigors of tournament competition.
He has been hitting some irons and taking long walks at his home on Sea Island.
But, he said, "I've got to be able to do that four or five days straight. I don't want to get to Saturday or Sunday and not have anything left in the tank."
