The Links at Stoney Point announced the addition of golf pro Tommy Pendley, who will run the Tommy Pendley Golf Academy at the club.
Stoney Point has hosted the Symetra Tour and Legends Tour for five years, the Peggy Kirk Bell Tour, and the club’s owner, Jim Medford, sees the move as a statement to younger golfers.
“The next statement that we wanted to make is our commitment to younger golfers and the development of youth golf,” Medford said. “That is the future of the golf industry. What better way to do that than have a certified, well-known teaching professional have a golf academy?”
Pendley will remain the director of the Piedmont Junior Golf Association, a chapter of the South Carolina Junior Golf Association that serves Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, Saluda, Edgefield and Newberry counties.
Pendley has worked at Greenwood Country Club, The Patriot at Grand Harbor, The Golf Club at Star Fort and most recently was the club pro at Deer Creek.
“I’m so excited to be on board,” Pendley said. “I’ve been overwhelmed already — just two or three days here this week – by the response from the members. They’re making this transition pretty smooth.”
Pendley, who is from Abbeville, graduated from Erskine College and has worked in Greenwood for decades. He joked that the only change is now he’s driving a different way to work.
Pendley will have the course and its facilities at his disposal, including the club’s weight room. Pendley, who has clients from age 5 to 90, said the weight room will help both his young golfers as well as his older clients.
“I’ve already had two of my serious high school and college kids in the weight room working,” he said. “That’s going to really add to the program and to my teaching ability, to get more flexibility and more strength, because that is a huge, huge part of this game.”
The community of Greenwood is growing, which affords Stoney Point the opportunity to grow with it, offering something for people of all ages.
“The stars have aligned to make this work,” Medford said. “For the growth that we’re experiencing in the community and up and down the lake to these younger families coming out and wanting something for the kids to be able to do and get involved in.”
“What better sport than golf to have a young person play? Because that’s something that you can play for the rest of your life.”