LOCAL GOLF: West Point’s Sutter to compete in Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals

Published 6:09 pm Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Before Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and other professional golfers take part in this year’s Masters, Bailey Sutter will get his own opportunity to show out at Augusta National.

The West Point eighth-grader is set to participate in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals on Sunday at the well-known course that’ll host golf’s first major championship of 2022 next week.

“Words cannot explain it — it’s awesome,” Sutter said. “I’ve been waiting to play there. Just seeing it in general is going to be pretty nice. It’s the best of the best.”

Sutter punched his ticket to the event after advancing through local (Council Fire Golf Club), sub-regional (Cleveland Country Club) and regional (Quail Hollow Golf Club) qualifiers in 2021.

He will represent the Middle Atlantic Region and compete against nine other regional qualifiers from around the country in the 14- to 15-year-old division.

As for what lies ahead, Sutter, 14, will have to showcase his skills in three different competitions.

He and other participants will attempt two drives down a 40-yard wide fairway, two 10- to 15-yard chip shots and one putt from 15 and 30 feet out, respectively.

Points are counted per shot, and the overall champion in each division is determined by which golfer accumulates the most points over all three challenges.

“I’ve just got to trust the work I’ve put into it,” Sutter said. “I’m most confident in my putting and chipping, but I’ve got to hit my driver pretty hard to keep up with the bigger guys.”

Sutter, who started playing golf at 18 months old, is a member at Decatur’s Burningtree Country Club. His career-low round is a 66 at Twin Bridges Golf Club, and his favorite golfer is Tiger Woods.

“I’m really hoping to see him there,” he said of Woods, who — according to media reports — played a practice round at Augusta on Tuesday as he looks to return following an injury layoff. “Getting to stand where he did when he won the (2019) Masters is really cool.”

Three of Sutter’s younger siblings — brothers Rawlin, 13, and Kip, 6, and sister Brooklyn, 12, — also competed at the local qualifier. Rawlin and Brooklyn both advanced to sub-regionals, and the former joined Bailey at regionals before falling just short of reaching the finals.

“That was nice,” Bailey said of competing alongside his siblings. “I wish that Rawlin had made it with me, but getting to play with him in those three qualifiers was fun.”

Sutter — along with his parents, Hutch and Katie, and siblings — will travel to Augusta on Friday ahead of Sunday’s competition, which will air live on Golf Channel at 7 a.m. They also received complimentary tickets for Monday’s practice round.