Travis and Edwards Lead the Pack: Tied for First Place in Sunny King Charity Classic

Calhoun County, AL – Travis and Edwards, in their first year as a Sunny King team, join three other teams at 15 under par to lead after the first round

By Joe Medley

Contention in the Sunny King Charity Classic is all about picking the right brother-in-law, and Dustin Travis has found one in Sawyer Edwards.

The tandem shot 15-under-par 57 during Friday’s first-round action at Silver Lakes and finished the day among four teams tied for a one-stroke lead.

Also at 57 are Ty Cole-Gary Wigington and Layton Bussey-Jesus Montenegro, who battled through a four-hole playoff to decide the 2022 Sunny King. Cole-Wigington won, putting Wigington to within one Sunny King victory of 10 … five with Randy Reaves and four with Cole.

Jackson King-Freeman Fite also finished Friday in the 57 club.

Randy Lipscomb-Blake Boozer, Daily Thomas-Nathan Williams, Ryan Howard-Scott Murphree and Brennan Clay-Jeremy McGatha stand one shot off of the lead.

More than 200 teams are playing out the three-round Sunny King at Anniston Country Club, Cider Ridge and Silver Lakes. The Championship Flight moves on to Cider Ridge on Saturday and ACC on Sunday.

Travis, Edwards and Bussey give White Plains High School three connections to the four leading teams. Travis graduated in 2015. Bussey was Class 4A co-medalist in 2016.

Edwards just finished his junior year, having finished as Calhoun County runnerup and medalist at the sectional and sub-state tournaments. He finished third in Class 4A at state tourney and was the county’s co-player of the year.

White Plains’ girls have won three state tiles, and the boys have won one.

“It’s a tradition out there,” Edwards said. “We raise’em.”

Bussey called the White Plains influence on the leaderboard “impressive.”

“Shows how important golf is to us,” he said. “I definitely feel like that is something Dustin and I had a big part in starting when we were there,”

Travis and Edwards became a Sunny King tandem this year and “brother-in-lawed the whole day,” Travis said.

“We just didn’t have a partner,” Edwards said. “I was thinking of people that would have a wedge game, and Dustin is the one I need.

“We were playing one day, and I was like, ‘You got a Sunny King partner?’”

Their day started with an eagle, followed by a par and seven birdies.

What Travis called Edwards’ “fantastic” shot out of the bunker helped the pair save par to open the back nine. After another par, they hit four consecutive birdies, a par, birdied then parked.

“This is the first time for me to be in contention,” Travis said. “The one year I felt like I had a chance going into the tournament with Ryan Howard, I shot 10 here, then turned around and shot 16 at Cider. We finished third or fourth.

“This is the closest I’ve come, and 15 definitely is low for me here.”

Flight scores