Hilton Head Monthly Connecting the Lowcountry 
Bluffton auto racer Gus Dean speeds into the future
Since he started racing go-karts at age 6, Gus Dean has had a one-track mind — or, you might say, a racetrack mind.
The Bluffton native captured the American Kart Racing Association’s Junior II national championship in 2007, before he even became a teenager, and he’s been roaring through the auto racing ranks ever since.
USCB TRACK STAR HOPES TO SLED HIS WAY TO THE GAMES
It took some time for Darryl Dunham to warm up to the idea of skeleton racing because, well, sliding down a frozen track head first on a tiny sled sounded awfully cold to someone who has lived his entire life on the coast.
How cold? Try 20 degrees below zero.
The University of Alabama won the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Golf Tournament last year. Cheyenne Knight was the individual champion in 2016 and 2017. The University of South Carolina's women's team hosted the event.
Long Cove Club, in partnership with Darius Rucker and the University of South Carolina, is hosting the seventh annual Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Golf Tournament from March 2-4, featuring feature top women’s collegiate teams from around the country.
Long Cove Club headed a group of six Beaufort County courses included in Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Courses for 2018.
The acclaimed Pete Dye layout at Long Cove ranked 19th – the highest-rated South Carolina course on the list. Old Tabby Links on Spring Island came in at 36th, while both Colleton River courses made the top 100 (Nicklaus at 71st and Dye at 95th). Haig Point on Daufuskie Island was ranked 90th, and Belfair’s West Course was 100th.
THE WEXFORD INTERCOLLEGIATE WILL RETURN TO WEXFORD GOLF CLUB FROM FEB. 25-27.
This year’s field of 18 NCAA Division I and II teams is highlighted by the University of Georgia and Texas Christian University. Other NCAA Division I teams in the field include Akron, Charleston Southern, Cleveland State, Davidson, Dartmouth, Dayton, Furman, Gardner-Webb, High Point, Memphis, Mercer, Presbyterian, Radford, and Wofford. Host Francis Marion and fellow NCAA Division II power USC Aiken round out the field. The tournament is open to spectators.
Doug Weaver, longtime director of golf instruction at Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, was named the 2017 Palmer Maples Teacher of the Year by the Carolinas Professional Golf Association.
Weaver hosts private and group lessons, conducts weekly clinics, gives lessons to children while using songs to help them remember how to play, assists with Special Olympics programming, and serves as the Hilton Head Island High School golf team’s assistant coach.
A team of Hilton Head Island’s top male senior players won the USTA League national championship in November in Orlando.
John Brittis, Michael Mitchell, Tom Jilly, Guenter Bergmann, Pat Child, Bobby Tillison, Gavin Cox, Job de Boer, Mark Sheaffer, Bill Sturm and Charlie Frangos teamed up to win the state and sectional tournaments, earning their ticket to nationals, where they posted a 6-0 record to claim the national crown in the men’s 55-and-older 9.0 division.
The Yacht Club of Hilton Head and the South Carolina Yacht Club held their annual Regatta Weekend from Oct. 13-15, including the 47th annual Harbour Town Cup and the 46th annual Calibogue Cup.
Mike Roe took home the top honors in his Hunter 356 boat — nicknamed Roeboat — winning The Island Packet Trophy for the best overall performance in both regattas. Roe won the PHRF Non-Spinnaker Class in both races.
The Sea Pines Resort’s newest golf instructor, Dana Rader, has been named one of the “50 Best Teachers in America” by Golf Digest. She is one of only four women to make the prestigious list.
The honor comes just months after Rader was formally inducted into the LPGA’s Teaching and Club Professional Hall of Fame — the highest honor bestowed to teaching and club pros, awarded for extraordinary service and leadership while contributing to the game of golf and the golf industry.
AFTER ANOTHER BIG WIN, HHI CROSS COUNTRY COACH STEPS DOWN
By any account, there’s no good reason why Hilton Head Island should produce more talented distance runners than any other town its size.
Sure, outdoor activities are popular here, and training in the humid environment might benefit local runners when they race elsewhere, but high humidity isn’t unique to the Lowcountry. The terrain is flat as can be — the bridges to the mainland and across Skull Creek provide the only opportunities for substantial elevation change.
