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Local golfer puts a face on 'Tiger Boom' |
Fairway Outreach, the charitable wing of Columbia’s annual City Tournament, has helped a host of young players discover golf, but perhaps none has done as much with that head start as Columbia’s Danny Priester Jr.Now 24, Priester — who says he was inspired by Tiger Woods’ 1997 Masters victory — developed his game at Junior Golf Land and became a special project for Fairway Outreach and director Bobby Foster after Priester’s father died in a 2001 fire at the family home.After graduating from A.C. Flora and the United States Military Academy at West Point, Priester was commissioned in May as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He recently underwent combat training at Fort Benning in Georgia.Priester is the subject of a recent article by the U.S. Golf Association’s Rhonda Glenn. Glenn recounts Priester’s life story, starting when he was learning the game from his golf-crazed great-uncles Alvin Walker and Charles Samuel and grandfather Henry Walker. She includes the family’s struggles after Priester’s father’s death.Glenn calls Priester “a face on the long-awaited impact of the ‘Tiger Boom’” that golf officials hoped would spur play by minority youngsters.
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