A grand future: Deskins has big plans for Richland County Junior Golf Tournament

MANSFIELD — After the 2021 Richland County Junior Golf Tournament, long-time organizer Dick Henry called it quits.

Or so he thought.

After 18 years, Henry, who is battling Stage 4 cancer, decided it was time to slow down a bit and focus on himself. So, he handed over the reigns to 419 Golf owner Tyson Deskins to do the annual organizing and recruiting of players to play in the two-day, 36-hole tournament.

That was last summer. Fast forward to the winter and spring and Henry, who had many conversations with Deskins about what to do and how to run things, got a strange feeling. Like an itch he just couldn't scratch.

So, he called Deskins and asked for his blessing to continue to be a part of the tournament, at a much smaller scale of course.

Deskins was eager to oblige.

So, Henry was there, early, for Day 1 of the RCJG Tournament at Twin Lakes Golf Course on Monday morning, riding his golf cart and doing his part to help organize the event. It went off without a hitch, yet again.

"The local kids owe him a lot," Deskins said. "I am super thankful to him, Twin Lakes and Oak Tree for allowing this tournament to continue. I have told all the kids to stop and shake Dick's hand and tell him thank you because he deserves it. This is not easy and he has been doing it by himself for a long time."

In recent years, the number of players in the tournament steadily declined year after year. Last year was one of the lowest turnouts with just 35 kids in five age divisions.

This year, the tournament saw a dramatic spike in the right direction. In all, 62 kids signed up and showed up for Day 1 of the tournament at Twin Lakes.

"It is fantastic," Henry said. "I am glad to see that number back up. It is so gratifying. COVID hit everyone pretty hard and cut back on our activities, but now it is coming back. I would love to see more girls get involved. We had three today and they played very well. They could have given the boys some lessons."

Henry credited Deskins for the jump in numbers. As owner and operator of 419 Golf in Mansfield, an indoor training facility that offers state-of-the-art lessons as well as golf simulators where golfers can play virtually, Deskins gives lessons to many high school golfers across the area.

"With 419, 70% of the field in this year's tournament are kids I work with there," Deskins said. "I did open it up to kids outside of Richland County just so we could get a bigger field, and I think that has to continue. I have a nice, extensive email list that I can market to, and that is the direction we will be going in the future."

Henry loves the energy and enthusiasm Deskins brings to the RCJG Tournament. He said he hopes Deskins can continue to grow the tournament and touch as many lives through the game of golf as he has.

"It goes back to Vic Jones, [who] ran it over at his driving range," Henry said. "Tyson has some great ideas and he has the experience and connections with the kids that I have all of the faith that this will grow. We just have to get the kids involved. With our summer program at Twin Lakes at Forrest Hills, we are getting kids involved in a game they can play all of their lives."

It is exactly what drives Deskins to continue the tradition of the RCJG Tournament. As the lead instructor at 419 Golf, Deskins began to grow relationships with his students and would regularly attend the tournament to cheer on and offer up some advice to the players who come to him for lessons.

It was there that he met Henry and stuck up many conversations with him over the years. As the years passed, the conversations regularly turned to Henry unsure of how long he would continue to organize the tournament. So, last year, Deskins offered to take it over and 2022 became his first year as lead organizer.

"I have talked to Dick the last couple of years at this tournament because I would come and watch the kids I worked with at 419 and he would say he didn't know how much longer he was going to do it," Deskins said. "I told him last year that if he wanted to step back that I would take it over because I didn't want it to stop."

His first year was a success with a field nearly double last year's total. But Deskins isn't satisfied. He has grand ideas and big plans for the tournament and Richland County junior golf in general.

Namely, a summer series that ends with a two-day tournament the week before high school golf begins.

"I would like to ultimately have a summer series that ends with the Richland County championship just to give the local kids something to play in over the summer," Deskins said. "I see what other kids in other areas have access to and I want that for our kids. Talking with golf course owners around here, I think we can make that happen. That is the vision. Our local kids deserve to have these opportunities.

"For a lot of our local kids, the first time they play in a tournament is when they reach high school and it is a little bit of a shock. The long-term goal is to make sure that doesn't happen."

Richland County has nine golf courses, five in Mansfield alone. With just around 10 weeks between the last day of school and the first day of high school golf practice on Aug. 1, the series could visit nearly every course in Richland County.

It seems like a great plan.

First things first, though. Deskins will be moving everything online in order to reach a bigger audience. Normally, players had to sign up at the hosting golf courses.

"We will be taking things online and promoting it that way," Deskins said. "Next year, the goal is to make everything so much easier with registration and payment right online. It is just how today's world works."

It isn't about money. The Richland County Junior Golf Tournament charges just $25 per player, which covers the cost of the championship and runner-up trophies for each age group, lunch for every golfer on both days of the tournament as well as greens fees at the courses.

The goal is always the same — to get kids involved in the game and see them learn life lessons they can use later on to become successful. It is the goal Henry carried with him over the last 18 years.

"Seeing a lot of young men and ladies get involved in the sport and doing well, then going on and being successful is so gratifying," Henry said. "One of the first kids who went through our junior program at Twin Lakes is Ryan Zahn, who eventually became the head golf coach at Lexington. Jake Houston came through our program and is now at PGA pro at the Springfield Country Club, where they had a PGA qualifier for the open.

"Stuff like that is gratifying to see. I have been very lucky to see some of the best kids come through this game. They are all respectable and they play the game with integrity."

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

Twitter: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County Junior Golf has bright future with Tyson Deskins