Like father, like son

Cypress, Braylin Hathorn shoot 17-under-par 55, match Jacob LeCroy and Harrison Hughston for top score after first round of Sunny King Charity Classic.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

SILVER LAKES — The Sunny King Charity Classic has drawn parent-child teams through its 46-year history. Some have won the tournament.

Cypress and Braylin Hathorn became the talk of Friday’s first round at Silver Lakes, shooting a 17-under-par 55. They came away tied with former Donoho School teammates Jacob LeCroy and Harrison Hughston for the day’s best score.

Playing in their first tournament together, the Hathorns matched the day’s best score while playing in the Championship B-Acura MDX flight.

Ott and Dalton Chandler were the last father-son team to win the Sunny King, prevailing in a playoff in 2021. Cypress Hathorn last played on the winning team when he teamed with Garrett Burgess in 2013.

Father and son Hathorn teamed up for this year’s Sunny King because Cypress Hathorn’s normal Sunny King partner, Kenny Wright, was unavailable.

“Jimmy Flowers called me out of the blue,” Cypress Hathorn said. “I wasn’t sure I was going to play. … Jimmy called me and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a couple of teams in the tournament and just wanted a couple of buddies, people that may or may not be playing. I wasn’t sure if you had a team.’

“I said, ‘Man, if you asking my and Bry to play.’ Until three or four weeks ago, we weren’t committed to playing. Jimmy Flowers was good to offer that for us.”

Cypress Hathorn’s playing prowess is well known in Sunny King circles. 

Braylin, 22, is a former Alabama North-South All-Star who played for Pell City High School and Snead State Community College. He had backed off of golf while settling into his work-a-day life but picked the clubs back up recently.

They’re two of three Hathorns in the Sunny King field, Noah, 25, Cypress’ oldest son, partnered with former White Plains High standout Drennan Beam.

Scramble partners call complementary golfing “brother-in-lawing,” but Cypress and Braylin Hathorns did fine father-and-soning Friday. Both left-handers, they produced four eagles and nine birdies.

They went eagle-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie from No. 5-10.

 “It’s good, because I’m a lot better driver of the ball than I am a putter, and he’s a lot better putter than a driver,” Braylin Hathorn said. “We kind of complement each other. 

“Whenever I missed a lot of putts, he made a lot of putts in moments where we needed them.”

Their big round Friday “kind of snuck up on us, really,” Cypress Hathorn said. “I’ve been playing a little better recently, in the last week or so.

“We were just trying to get it on the green and see if we can make a putt. … We played a little above expectations, which didn’t have a lot. We’re just trying to compete with these guys. There’s a lot of good players out here, and he’s never played in the tournament before.” 

Their day included a spirited father-son debate about whether to use a mulligan on No. 2. Father was a yes vote, son a no vote.

“He was a little vocal about it,” Cypress Hathorn said.

Braylin Hathorn said he mistakenly believed that he and his father had one mulligan apiece.

“Turns out, we had two,” he said. “I didn’t read the rules sheet, I guess.”

Father prevailed and hit the mulligan within 8 feet, but with a caveat. He missed the putt.

“I couldn’t say, ‘I told you so,’” he said.

Bylin said their arguments “are a little more stiff than most teams.”

Ah, family.

Their bottom line was being tied for the lead after one round of the Sunny King Charity Classic. They agreed they’d be happy to take Friday’s round and go home.

‘It was just a special day for us,” Cypress Hathorn said. “I’ve been pulling for him since he was born, so to be a part of this, not just to watch it … and feel like I contributed a little bit was pretty special for me.”

As for LeCroy-Hughston, they’re making their Sunny King return as a tandem since finishing second last year. 

“We were upset about iit last year,” LeCroy said. “We felt we played good and got beat. We knew we had more in the tank last year, and we’re out for revenge.”

The pair went 8 under on the front and nine on the back.

“We just played great,” LeCroy said. “And I’ll say, I just played OK golf. My partner golfed the grass off of it today. He played unbelievable.

“I was making decent shots, and he topped me every single hole so good, carried us all of the way through it.”

And Hughston’s version.

“Jacob was there when we needed them,” he said. “But I felt, after we got through 5 or 6, like I hadn’t seen the best out of Jacob yet, and we were still five or six under through those.

“I felt pretty good, because I knew it was coming.”

Championship-Honda Passport

Championship B, Acura MDX

First-Grand Highlander

Second-Honda Pilot

Third-Acura RDX

Fourth-Tundra

Fifth-Honda Accord

Sixth-Toyota 4 Runner

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