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| | | (JASON WRIGHT/www.northfulton.com)
Milton’s Spencer Sappington tees off at the Polo Golf and Country Club in Forsyth, where he is a member. Sappington was recently named to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. (click for larger version) | |
January 07, 2008
MILTON -- Every time he steps up to a golf tee, Milton resident Spencer Sappington is faced with a particularly rare problem.
What more can you do when you've been recognized as the best in a field in which you're still active?
Sappington was recently named to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, an honor he'll receive at the group's 20th Annual Induction Ceremony Jan. 12 in Augusta. He was added to the canon of great golfers for his amazing 14 Georgia Golf Association Championships.
The problem -- if you can call it that -- is that he's only 65, and still competing regularly. In fact, one of those 14 championships was added after the announcement.
"Gosh, it really makes it a lot easier to play," Sappington said of the honor while out on the links. "Everything I had to prove I've proved already."
But, he said, it's closure to a career that started when he was 14 years old.
"You have to be careful," he said. "I guess you can think there's nothing left, but I'm still real competitive."
A native of Jefferson City, Mo., Sappington got his start on the links as a teen. Within four years he was a scratch golfer.
Sappington captained the golf team for Lincoln University and was a NCAA Division II All-American in 1965. Throughout his 33-year career with American Express, he kept his passion for the game alive.
That commitment paid off when he started competing in amatuer championships. Sappington racked up a record three titles in a row from 2003 to 2005, and is the only four-time champion in the history of the tournament.
Golf Digest ranked him in the top 10 among senior amateurs in 2001 and 2003 and Golfweek ranked him in the top 10 in 2002 and 2003.
"I never gave up the competition of the game because I went to work," said Sappington.
But, that juggling act of family, work and golf came with a price.
"I loved golf, loved the competition, and I wasn't going to stop," he said. "With children, golf career, sometimes they got shortchanged. But I'm not unique [in that regard]."
So what's next for Sappington?
He's starting in a new league called "Super Seniors" for golfers over 65. And for him, the future is bright, even after being added to the annals of history.
"People are recognizing 65 now isn't what it was 20 years ago," he said.
- www.northfulton.com
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