At 5 years old, most kids are sitting home watching Cartoon Network and playing with their toys, but Ford Blanchard wasn’t like most kids.

He traded in his childhood entertainment for some golf clubs as he followed his father, Leonard, to the driving range and worked on his game. These days, the rising junior from Orangeburg Prep is still working on his golf game at various courses across South Carolina, hoping to better himself in preparation for next season. Nonetheless, the work he put in this past season, has earned him the title of 2009 Times and Democrat All-Area Golfer of the Year.

Blanchard began playing for the Indians golf team when he was in the sixth grade. As the fourth man and one of the youngest in the OPS lineup, Blanchard received the rookie treatment from his older teammates.

“Some of the older people were kind of mean,” Blanchard said. “You got picked on and you had to do everything. You had to bring the balls out and stuff and they wouldn’t really help you out. They just walked on you.”

But that was then. Now, Blanchard is more than just one of the top players on the team according to head coach Adam Holmes.

“Ford is almost like an assistant coach, really,” he said. “He gets a lot of stuff lined up when we need to get a little bit of money together for shirts or something like that. Ford is always taking the initiative and making sure everybody knows what time practice is or what time to be at the bus for matches and stuff like that. If I tell Ford something, I know that the rest of the golf team will get it. He’s a valuable asset.”

Despite spending five days improving his game, Blanchard would like to devote more time to it. However, he knows that he has other responsibilities that come first.

“My friend (Trey Watford) and I run our own lawn company and, you know, I’ve got school,” Blanchard said. “Sometimes, I’m just busy, but I do love golf and I try to work at it a good bit.”

Blanchard has still managed to play at a few top-notch golf courses including Long Cove in Hilton Head and Augusta National, even with the various commitments that he has. Still, the SCISA All-State golfer believes that testing himself at different golf courses will help him sharpen his skills tremendously.

“The Country Club (of Orangeburg) is a good place to play golf,” Blanchard said, “but you know it’s not the hardest place. It’s good to play at some places that challenge you like Augusta. I didn’t play it from the back because I didn’t want to be miserable, but it was a tough test. When you go all over the state and around the Southeast playing golf, there are some good golf courses that will test you.”

The work he’s put into his game thus far has earned Blanchard a spot as one of the top five golfers at the 2009 SCISA state tournament, where he finished with a two-day total of 145.

“That was big,” he said. “We practiced a lot going up to that. We knew going in that we had a chance to win, but it was very unlikely. Everyone was going to have to play well. Not to sound bad, but I think A.J. (Andrews) and I were just focusing on ourselves and not worrying about the team too much. We were just kind of worried about how we could do.”

With two years left at OPS, Blanchard is projected to fill in as the top golfer now that A.J. Andrews has graduated. He realizes that there are some aspects of his game that he could tweak in order to become even better than he is now and Holmes believes this past season allowed his young golfer to see what he’s capable of.

“There are a lot of good golfers in SCISA right now with the kid down at Pinewood (Austin Cody),” Holmes said, “but Ford’s got the ability to play with those guys and I think he might have seen that this year. he got to play with some of those big boys and he really did a good job. He stood up to them and played well. Obviously, it showed in the state tournament where he finished in the top five. So, he’s going to be counted on for us.”

2009 Times & Democrat All-Region Golf First Team

Ford Blanchard (Sophomore, Orangeburg Prep) - Average Score: 35.8

A.J. Andrews (Senior, Orangeburg Prep) - Average Score: 37

Andrew Harter (Sophomore, Calhoun Academy) - Average Score: 40.7

Gracie Moore (Freshman, Calhoun Academy) - Average Score: 43.3

Josh Davis (Senior, Calhoun Academy) - Average Score: 44

2009 Times & Democrat All-Region Golf Second Team

Quint Garvin (Senior, Orangeburg Christian) - Average Score: 44

Garrick Johnson (Junior, North) - Average Score: 47

Adonis Harley (Sophomore, Orangeburg-Wilkinson) - Average Score: 51

Justin Harris (Junior, Orangeburg-Wilkinson) - Average Score: 52

Vernon Harris (8th Grade, Orangeburg-Wilkinson) - - Average Score: 52

Paul Harris (Senior, Orangeburg-Wilkinson) - Average Score: 53

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com.

 

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