Meet the 2025 Play Golf Myrtle Beach World Amateur Championship winner: Scott Collette of Knoxville, Tenn. Scott takes us through his journey that first led him to the World Am, and the years that followed that have now culminated in his new status as World Champion!
Scott:
Back at my home course, Three Ridges in Knoxville, Tennessee, there was a gentleman who was playing on our Saturday lowball and he’d come a few weeks and he had a DuPont World Champion bag. And so I looked into it, and loved Myrtle Beach and love coming down here. I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I was trying to get buddies to come with me. I finally said, I’m coming.
In 2014, I played awful. I mean the nerves. And I was just trying to break a hundred and I was hooked. My wife and I talked about my game where I was lacking, and she’d tell me, “You need to putt and chip more.” And so that’s what I did. I was very confident with that putter that the PGA TOUR Superstore fitted me with.
I was sitting on the balcony with a buddy of mine that had come down and it was 4:30 and he said, “You think they’ve updated (the flight leaderboards)?” And I was like, “Well, let’s look.” I got my phone out and I went, “Oh, my God.” He goes, “What?” I went, “Does that have my name on it?” He said, “Yeah.” I immediately called Scott and my other buddy, I was like, “Check your phone, see if I’m on top.” And he confirmed it. I think it was Brad at the scoring table. And I was like, “I just want to know is this final?” And he said, “Celebrate.”
It started off pretty rough, but on the greens, they were absolutely pure. All week, I get in a rut of thinking too much. Get out of your own way. You aim and shoot. You don’t sit there and go through a checklist.
He mentioned it when we were looking for his ball, that he was six down and at what point are we going to call it? And they said, “Well, that’s your decision.” And he’s like, “Well, let’s play on.” And he hit it in the water and I was up at my ball and looked back at him and he gave me that motion and I was like, “I think he just called it.” They went back and confirmed and it was done.
It’s the best feeling that I’ve had since the birth of my daughter. To be a world champion is, my dream never got this far. My wife’s everything. I wouldn’t be here if she wouldn’t encourage me and telling me I can do it, and the Lord’s with me. Just hang in there, stay focused, and so it starts there. I definitely wouldn’t be here without her.
Hi, I’m Scott Collette from Knoxville, Tennessee, and I am the 2025 World Am Champion!
