Fort Mill golf legend shares stories, auctions items for school golf teams

Telling jokes and stories, Fort Mill High alumnus and Golf Channel on-air talent Charlie Rymer helped raise money Saturday for the Fort Mill boys’ and girls’ golf teams.

Rymer, who graduated from Fort Mill in 1986, spent time Saturday morning at the Fort Mill Golf Club telling stories and auctioning items such as golf clubs and food steamers – raising nearly $10,000. Fort Mill boys’ golf coach Judd Dye said his goal was $3,000.

“It’s been a community effort,” Dye said. “Everybody is eager to help the program. We are very grateful.”

Rymer was part of three high school state championships. He went on to play at Georgia Tech.

“It is fun for me to come back here,” he said. “I have benefited greatly from the golf program here. I loved my time here. I made my first hole-in-one here on (No.) 17.”

After college, Rymer played professional golf on both the PGA Tour and the then Nike Tour winning the 1994 South Carolina Classic. His best finish on the PGA Tour was third place in the 1995 Shell Houston Open.

Rymer said playing golf is a lot of fun, but there were times it was a struggle. He didn’t make the cut as often as he hoped and thought about as he puts it, “getting a real job” until he talked with CBS analyst Gary McCord in 1998.

“He looked at me right in the eye and said, ‘You are an idiot and that qualifies you to be on TV,’ ” Rymer joked.

Rymer said he use to go into the production trucks and watch them produce tournaments being aired on major networks. He fell in love with the process. Rymer started with ESPN in 1998 and moved on to the Golf Channel in 2008, where he currently serves as co-host for “Morning Drive.”

Rymer talked about his time on the PGA Tour and how one of his finest moments came in winning the 1985 USGA Boys Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y.

“That has really meant more to me over the years,” he said.

He also ripped on himself telling stories about shooting a 61 at the 1996 Byron Nelson Classic only to be paired with Phil Mickelson on the final day of the tournament. He said before the final round, Nelson told him he had never shot a 61 before but had often shot a 60. Rymer would go on to shoot a 72 in the final round, dropping from second to 18th. Mickelson shot a 65 and won the event.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Fort Mill golf legend shares stories, auctions items for school golf teams."