Former McConnell Golf Junior Scholar Akshay Bhatia captured a thrilling Valero Texas Open this past Sunday to secure the final spot in this week’s Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
The 22-year-old left-hander withheld a jaw-dropping late run by Denny McCarthy and weathered a shoulder injury down the stretch to win the PGA Tour event in a sudden-death playoff and earn a drive down Magnolia Lane.
Bhatia will be joined at Augusta National by another former McConnell Golf Junior Scholar, Grayson Murray, who is making his first Masters appearance and his fourth major-championship start. Murray qualified for the Masters by winning in Honolulu in January to earn his second career PGA TOUR win and his first since 2017.
Also this past Sunday, a McConnell Golf member, 11-year-old Simon Myers of Durham, N.C. — whose parents, Linda and Tim Myers, are members at Treyburn Country Club — became the second McConnell Golf member to compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt national finals at Augusta National. He finished seventh overall in the Boys 10-11 division, including a third place in chipping and a fourth in driving.
Ten years after competing in the Drive, Chip and Putt event at Augusta National, Bhatia became the first participant in the youth competition to qualify for the Masters, earning the last available spot in a brilliantly unlikely way.
Murray received his McConnell Golf Junior Golf Scholarship in 2008, and two years later, when he was 16 years old, became the second-youngest player to make the cut in a Web.com Tour event when he played the weekend at the Rex Hospital Open, at another McConnell Golf property, The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation. By 2016, the former Leesville Road High School golfer had earned his full-time PGA TOUR card by finishing among the top 25 money winners on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour.
McConnell Golf offers its members access to a collection of properties with pure golf, legendary service, and vibrant amenities, each a distinct icon in their locale. Its portfolio of 16 properties spans North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, with courses designed by celebrated architects like Donald Ross, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Arnold Palmer, and Greg Norman. This collection is the byproduct of visionary John McConnell, CEO of McConnell Golf, the largest owner of premier country clubs in the Southeast region.
McConnell Golf provides best-in-class destinations with exceptional golf and revitalizing amenities, from contemporary fitness facilities, resort-style pools, tennis, and pickleball to dining for the epicurious. This includes management of the top-ranked Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in Radford, Virginia, and Raleigh Golf Association (RGA) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Photo Courtesy of Valero Texas Open