Rusty Strawn’s excellence on the golf course goes back to high school, and he has found a way to honor someone who was a great influence in his early playing days and simultaneously recognize young people who hope to follow in his footsteps.

The McDonough insurance firm Strawn & Co. has awarded a $1,000 scholarship to the top golfer at Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy for the past 16 years. Strawn is actually an ELCA alum, having attended the former McDonough Christian Academy which became ELCA nearly 30 years ago.

This year’s Strawn & Co. Most Valuable Golfer Award was recently presented to Bo Shuler, a senior at the school who won for the third consecutive year. He led his team with a 37.7 nine-hole stroke average and a 75.5 average for 18 holes.
Top scores are important but not the only consideration when choosing each year’s winner.

“They must have a stroke average of less than 40 throughout the year. If nobody qualifies, the scholarship money is given directly to ELCA,” said Strawn, who added that there have been three times in which that was the case.

Golfers who qualify with a good stroke average must also maintain a B average or better in the classroom, Strawn said. “We look at character as well.”

The award is given in honor of the late Dr. Paul E. Davis, who was Strawn’s high school golf coach and also headmaster at MCA.

“He did so much to support us, not only financially,” said Strawn. “He took us to all the golf tournaments and just did a great job with our program.”

Will Evans was the very first winner of this award. He and Shuler are the only two to win it three years in a row. Evans went on to play on scholarship at Georgia Southern University.

What undoubtedly gives this award a bit more weight in the eyes of the young recipients is the track record of the man who has spearheaded it. Strawn was low medalist on his MCA teams all four years of high school, when they finished state runner-up three times before finally winning the Georgia Independent Schools Association state championship his senior year of 1981.

More recently, the 60-year-old won last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur championship in Massachusetts and plans to defend his title later this year in Lake Tahoe. He has a busy summer schedule on the links, with entries in the U.S. Senior Open in Wisconsin, the U.S. Amateur tournament in Colorado, and two top events across the Atlantic – the British Senior Amateur in England and the British Senior Open in Wales.

When asked about any possible big sponsorships like all of the top players seem to have, he laughed.
“I’m sponsoring myself.”