By Pat Hanna
Regional Editor
BECKLEY —
Ben McGraw was 14 years old the first time he played in the BNI golf tournament.
His father Greg was the defending tournament champion, and as Greg prepared to present the trophy to the new 2004 champion, England’s Jordan Stelmach, he kept looking over his shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of Ben, who was in one of the lower flights and nearing the end of his round at Grandview.
Ben McGraw steadily progressed in ensuing BNIs. In 2007, the same year both he and his father qualified for the West Virginia Open, he won the third flight. The following year, he climbed to the second flight.
“Every year, he couldn’t wait to play in the BNI,” his mother Lori said. “I could never get him out of bed unless he was playing in one of those tournaments. Then he would be up at dawn cleaning his clubs and shoes. He told his friends at Hilton Head they needed to come to Beckley and play in the BNI with him.”
“One year when we were playing our first round (of the BNI) at Pipestem, he was up and dressed before I had my first cup of coffee,” Greg said. “When it was tournament time, his clothes were ironed, his shoes were cleaned, his clubs were cleaned.
“He was definitely earmarked for the (BNI) championship flight,” Greg added. “The last year he and I played, he was two clubs longer than me.
“He was 30 yards longer with his driver. His length was unbelievable.”
Ben McGraw was killed in a vehicle accident last April 1 in Beckley. He was 19. The 2010 BNI Memorial Tournament, set for Aug. 7-9, is being dedicated in his memory.
“For the BNI to honor him means so much to us,” Greg said. “The BNI is already the elite tournament in southern West Virginia, and the fact that it’s become a (West Virginia Golf Association) points event only enhances it. Having Ben’s name associated with it is a great honor for us.”
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Ben was just a toddler when he picked up a golf club for the first time.
“Randy Hernly (the former pro at Glade Springs) started working with a bunch of them when Ben was 3,” Greg said. “Then came soccer, baseball, snow skiing. Ultimately he blew his knee out (in a paintball game) and golf was about the only sport left.”
Greg, a four-time BNI champion, believes 2007 was a breakthrough year for his son. After making the State Open field and winning his flight in the BNI, Ben spent what would have been his senior year of high school at the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, S.C.
“Once he qualified for the State Open, it triggered something,” Greg said. “By the time he went to the golf academy, I knew his career was going to be in golf. I just didn’t know what shape it would take.”
He soon found out. After returning from Hilton Head, Ben spent the summer of 2008 working with youngsters at The First Tee of West Virginia in Beckley. And he loved every minute of it.
“He would call me and say, ‘Come out here and watch this kid hit the ball,’” Greg said. “Teaching the kids had become his passion. He was great with all kids.
“He would have taught at The First Tee again last summer. Then he was planning to attend a golf school in San Diego and get his Class A (teaching) license. I think that would have led him back to Beckley and another summer at The First Tee. Ultimately, he had the personality and talent to end up at one of the bigger resorts, but I think he still would have been working with young golfers.”
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In his last BNI in 2008, Ben played the first two rounds with Kelly Shumate, two-time champion Brandon Reece and Jeff Miller, while Greg played with longtime partners Jerry Hickman, Billy Lane and Dennis Vass.
“When he got to that level, his demeanor changed,” Greg said. “Playing with Kelly, Brandon and Jeff was part of the course management he was learning.”
As a tribute to Ben last year, Shumate, Reece and Miller played the first two rounds of the BNI as a threesome.
“Seeing them at Pipestem that day was tough,” Greg said. “It was very hard for me to play in the tournament. And Jerry had lost his son (Larry in a vehicle accident the previous summer). We went ahead and played. I think the friendships in the group I played in, plus Kelly, Brandon and Jeff, I think that healed some of the pain.
“And the championship flight, seeing that same group, seeing that support, also helped in the healing process.”
Ben’s death came 12 years after his sister Rachel died following a traffic accident.
“We’ve had so much support from everyone,” Lori said.
The second annual Ben McGraw First Tee Classic will be played Oct. 1 at Glade Springs. As with last year’s inaugural event, proceeds will benefit the Ben McGraw Learning Center at The First Tee facility at Grey Flats.
