Lebanon boy competes at Augusta National
Waiting was the hardest part. Twelve-year-old golfer Brock Jernigan of Lebanon hasn’t had a lot of seven-month stretches in his life, but the seven months ending in April of this year were undoubtedly the longest. In September, Brock lifted a placard with his name on it to the top spot of a Drive, Chip & Putt regional in Castle Pines, Colorado, earning him a spot in the finals at Augusta National Golf Club.
Brock and his family traveled to Georgia in early April to compete in the finals, meet some legends of golf, drive down Magnolia Lane and visit one of the most famous — and exclusive — courses in the world.
Brock’s introduction to golf came when he was only 2 years old. “I would just go out with my dad and grandpa with my little plastic club putting on the greens,” he says. “I remember when I was 4 or 5 years old we were on No. 7 at Marshfield and I chipped it in. That’s when I think I really got to love the game and started practicing a lot.”
The Jernigans eventually moved to Lebanon where Brock’s parents, Matt and Kyleigh, are teachers and coaches. Brock started to play golf tournaments when he was 7, including the Drive, Chip & Putt.
The event has four stages. Competition starts locally in Springfield where three advance to a subregional in Kansas City. The top two advance from Kansas City to Colorado for one of 10 regionals nationally. And only one from each region advances to the finals at Augusta to kick off Masters week.
He’s excelled over the years advancing to Kansas City his first year as an alternate and Colorado the past three years. His father attributes his success to his work ethic and love of the game. “He’s practiced a lot; the kid’s a hard worker,” Matt says. “We’ve got a net in our basement and we’ll hear him down there hitting at 10 or 11 o’clock at night.”
After securing his ticket to Augusta, Brock still played other sports such as basketball and soccer, but his golf practice went to the next level. “We read that when Tiger Woods practiced for the Masters his first time he would putt on gym floors to try and get used to how fast the greens are,” Matt says. “So we actually went to our local gym to practice 15- to 30-foot putts.”
Brock even laid off the other sports and roughhousing at school the week or two before the competition to ensure a sprained ankle or broken wrist didn’t ruin the trip.
The Jernigans traveled to Augusta two days before the competition. Matt says the organization treated the kids like professionals for their entire stay in Georgia. Saturday was set aside for practice at a nearby golf club in South Carolina before a banquet featuring all 80 finalists — 10 boys and girls each in four age divisions — hosted by TV personality Mike Tirico.
Sleep was scarce in the Jernigans’ hotel room Saturday night. Sunday morning they traveled down Magnolia Lane to Augusta National where Brock got about 20 minutes of warm-up time — including hitting next to 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson — before the TV cameras turned on for the finals. “My first two or three practice chips and putts all went like 15 feet past the hole,” Brock says. “I couldn’t believe how fast they were and how big and hilly the greens were.”
Each finalist hit two drives, two chips and two putts. The longest drive — hit inside the 40-yard scoring grid — is counted and the cumulative distance from the hole of chips and putts are added. Brock’s highest score came putting, which in itself was a highlight because of its location. “The putt was on the 18th green where the Masters champion celebrates on TV,” he says. “It was just awesome to be there and experience it all.”
Just a few days before his 12th birthday, Brock finished in 9th place in the Boys 10-11 Division. Other Missouri competitors included Madison Pyatt of Eureka who won the Girls 7-9 Division and Caden Fehr of Wildwood who finished 4th in the Boys 14-15 Division.
The day was full of memories of meeting golf icons and receiving standing ovations everywhere they walked on the grounds. But, their fun was far from over at Augusta National. They returned the next day without golf clubs to take in the first practice round before the Masters, which was being contested in just a few days. Brock can talk for hours about the day but highlights include meeting Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau, autographs, seeing Amen Corner, watching Tiger Woods skip a ball across the pond on No. 16 — which Brock reminds you is named Redbud — and just sitting on the hill on the 18th green.
The Jernigans left Augusta with a new favorite golfer. The high point came off the final green with a little lunar help. “We had met Scottie Scheffler the day before and he took a picture with the boys, so they were excited to see him again,” Matt says. “They had given everyone eclipse glasses when we walked in so our youngest son, Jett, was offering them to the players as they finished. Scottie took them and sat there with us for a little bit watching the eclipse. That’s obviously something that will never happen again.”
Any chance of that being the pinnacle for Scottie on that green for the week faded when he slipped on the Green Jacket six days later.
Returning home, it was back to reality and school for Brock. He was busy working on his golf game — including focusing on his irons since he dedicates so much time to driving, chipping and putting — and playing other sports.
“Those are memories we’re going to have forever,” Matt says. “I don’t know if Brock totally realizes it yet, but that’s just something most people won’t ever get to do. The way they treated us and especially the kids made them feel like a million bucks.”
For more information on the Drive, Chip & Putt visit www.drivechipandputt.com.