Honoring fallen United States soldiers represents a small fraction of University of South Carolina students’ plans for winter break.
Junior Will Starke and sophomore Ben Dietrich would have to be included in that figure, however, as the two members of South Carolina’s men’s golf team participated in the Patriot All-America Invitational to close out the 2014 calendar year.
Starke and Dietrich finished up the tournament shooting a 77 (+7) and a 78 (+8), respectively, but participating in an event that recognizes fallen U.S. soldiers is something that Dietrich said “put things into perspective.”
Each golfer at the Patriot All-America was given a commemorative golf bag that had the name of a fallen service member on it. The fallen service member on the player’s golf bag served as the person the player would represent for the entirety of the tournament.
Dietrich was chosen to represent Army Sgt. Arthur C. Williams IV while Starke played for Air Force Staff Sgt. Patrick Lee Griffin Jr.
“It was a first-class event from the time we got there until the time we left,” Dietrich said. “We got a golf bag with their name on it. It’s pretty neat; every round, everybody in our group signed it and wrote what school they were from. It was just a neat experience because we were playing for something bigger than ourselves.”
Through partnership with the Folds of Honor Foundationand The Wigwam Golf Club, the Arizona Golf Association and the Golf Coaches Association of America allowed 84 collegiate golfers to represent 84 different fallen soldiers while vying for a tournament win.
The pressures of competitive golf were minimized over the tournament for Dietrich who said he was able to relax when comparing his situation with the situations the fallen soldiers endured.
“When you play competitive golf, you get so wrapped up in the moment, and you’re like, ‘Oh this shot is like life or death,’” Dietrich said. “I’m playing for somebody who died defending our nation to give me the freedom so that I could actually be here playing golf, and it honestly took the pressure off me.”
Both Dietrich and Starke finished the first round tied for seventh place, each shooting a 71 (+1) for the opening round. Dietrich rose one spot to sixth place the next day, securing another one-over-par for the second round. Dietrich and Starke stumbled toward the end, each totaling their worst round of the tournament.
A small number of golfers were able to interact with the family members of the fallen soldiers, but neither Dietrich nor Starke got the chance to do so.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to say. I’d just thank them deeply,” Dietrich said of the possibility of meeting the family of Army Sgt. Arthur C. Williams IV. “I’d probably thank them and wear their name as proudly as I could. That would be a tough situation, but it would have been pretty neat.”
Dietrich and Starke will return to Columbia for class Monday, but won’t compete with the Gamecocks until February when South Carolina travels to Humble, Texas to play in the Bayou City Collegiate Championships.
And, though the tournament is now over, Dietrich will likely never forget the name of Army Sgt. Arthur C. Williams IV.
“I thought, this is what I get to do because I enjoy doing it and am allowed to do it, and I have the freedom to do it because of these guys,” he said. “So, [playing golf] is really not that big of a deal because I’m out here playing golf and those guys are out there defending our country with their lives.”