A local golfer's dream come true

Mitchell McGlamery turned a recruiting trip into every golfer's dream last week — a day at the Masters. He and his dad visited the University of South Carolina at Aiken on Thursday and on Friday took in the year's first major golf tournament, thanks to local businessman Frank Sprinkle.
Like everyone who has ever set foot on the Augusta, Ga. course, McGlamery was awed by its natural beauty. The green splendor and floral color rival even Tiger Woods for "top billing" at the world famous tournament.
The young golfer is finishing his senior year at Freedom High School this spring and plans to play college golf next year but has not decided where. He's been Player of the Year for the past two seasons in the Northwestern 4A conference and hopes to make it three straight this year.
McGlamery played his first round of golf on Easter Sunday when he was 6 years old but he was 12 when he took up the game seriously. At that time it became a "dawn to dusk" passion and he soon broke 80 for the first time. His first teacher was Mimosa Hills assistant pro Jimmy Piercy.
Baseball was the first love for this 18-year-old and he played the game from age 8 until he took up golf. He played football through his sophomore year at Freedom High but at that time turned to golf as his only sport.
At 13, McGlamery played in his first junior tournament and described it as a "long day," but by 16 he was playing regularly in Carolina Golf Association tournaments. He won the Western Carolinas Junior tournament when he was 17 by shooting a 66 in the event at Mimosa Hills. That year, he moved from 168th in the state rankings to 90th.
Last summer the local youngster made it to the finals in the North Carolina Junior and was one of only four from our state to make the cut in the national Big I Insurance tourney. Last fall, McGlamery finished fourth in the Joe Cheves Invitational at Mimosa Hills with rounds of 73 and 67.
He is currently averaging a 73 in his high school matches this year and hopes he and his teammates can pick up their play and end up on top of the Northwestern 4A together as a team and individual.
UNC basketball
The National Invitational Tournament was the top college postseason basketball event until 1950. That year City College of New York won both it and the NCAA tournament, bringing the latter more attention than it had ever received.
Since that time, no team has ever dominated the event like North Carolina did this season. No one could have imagined that any team would ever sweep through the affair with six double-digit wins. The closest game they had was a 12-point win over Oklahoma.
Ty Lawson is one of the finest point guards I've ever seen. He had no trouble breaking down the first line of defense against every team the Tar Heels played and when this happens, it becomes a five-on-four game.
What made this team so special was their defense. Rarely did other teams penetrate Carolina's front line of defense and this kept opponents from getting open for three-pointers. Michigan State was left to attempt threes from NBA distance. It was amazing that time after time the Spartans could not get a decent shot.
This year's starters were the best Carolina has had since the Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins championship team in 1982-83 and may have been a stronger fivesome than that team.
It's a game of recruiting and no one does that better year in and year out than the Tar Heels.

Roy Waters is a sports columnist for The News Herald. Waters was baseball and basketball coach at Salem High School from 1955-1966, where his teams won 18 championships. In 2007, he was inducted into the Burke County Sports Hall of Fame.