ROANOKE, Va. – We are a little less than a month away from The Masters Tournament in Augusta but one junior golfer in Roanoke is putting in practice for a special opportunity.
Mason Palmer started golfing around the age of 5--just putting around with his dad.
But since then, he’s taken a liking to the sport. Now, thanks to his diligent work and help from the First Tee-Roanoke Valley, Mason recently qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt National Tournament.
“It makes you feel good that other people have gone through this, but I’m just really excited to go be able to do my part of this,” Palmer said. He credits help form his dad, local PGA instructor Bill Rader and the First Tee for helping develop his golf game and more. “We work on our golf game here, but we also work on like our core values and how to be like not just a good golfer, but a good person as well.”
“It’s not an easy thing to accomplish by any means,” Rader said. “Even the best players struggle in one of those three aspects for the drop, chip, and putt. So it’s kind of a testament to the complete game on the right day.”
Rader tells 10 Sports that Mason is the first from First Tee-Roanoke Valley to ever qualify for the national Drive, Chip and Putt tournament. The tournament takes place on April 6 in Augusta.
