Appomattox Own Jillian Drinkard Earns Top Professional Honors in Womens Open of Virginia

Greater Lynchburg native Jillian Drinkard earned low professional honors and tied
for fifth overall with a final round 1-over-par 73 at the second Women's Open of Virginia on
Wednesday. The three-day event was held at Independence Golf Club in Richmond. Full scoring results of the event can be found here.

After the tournament, Drinkard commented, "I struck the ball well all three days.
Today, I didn't have as many close putts to give myself opportunities for birdie. It was a constant battle for me to hit greens and find the right pace on the greens. Overall, I had a great ball-striking three days and drove the ball well."

Jillian Drinkard's name is well-known in Greater Lynchburg golf circles. She was born, raised, and learned to play golf at her family farm in Appomattox, as well as at Falling River Country Club. She earned multiple honors while playing four years of varsity golf at Appomattox County High School and was named the 2017 All-Area Golfer of the Year, surpassing notable golfers like Isaac Simmons, who later competed in the 2023 US Men's Open.

She attended Methodist University, earning multiple honors both on and off the
course, including being a five -time Academic All-American and WGCA Division III First-team All-American. During her time at Methodist, Drinkard became the first student-athlete to win multiple awards being named the 2019 WGCA DIII Freshman of the Year and the 2022 WGCA DIII Player of the Year. That same year she helped her team win the DIII National Championship. She also excelled in the classroom with a degree in Professional Golf Management/Business Administration and is currently working on her Masters Degree in Business Administration; both at Methodist.

After internships at The Patterson Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, and a summer
internship back home at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Jillian
started working at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club while returning to Methodist a 5th year to also pursue her MBA. From there, she became a Teaching Professional at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, a position she held during her stellar performance in this year’s Women’s Open of Virginia.

"I haven't even been professional for an entire year yet. I just started at Farmington Country Club in January. It was great to have my friend Marin (Warring), who I also work with, on the bag today. She really helped me stay positive. It's a great honor," Drinkard said about earning low pro honors.

If course knowledge is important, Drinkard should have a leg up on next year's
Women’s Open as the Virginia State Golf Association and Middle Atlantic PGA
announced the next Women's Open of Virginia, to be held in June 2025, will be
contested at Farmington.

The perpetual trophy for the championship will be named in honor of Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Robbye Unger, longtime Farmington member and champion of women's golf and junior girls' golf in Virginia. Unger was on hand at Independence on Wednesday to help with the presentation of the champions' trophy.

For the rest of the summer Jillian is enthusiastic about her Farmington CC teaching role along with playing in MAPGA (Middle Atlantic) section events. She also travels to Tampa in August to compete in the LPGA Professional National Championship where a good showing would potentially qualify her for an LPGA event. When asked what the future looks like she said, “Depending on how my game continues to progress going to Qualifying school is never out of the question but I really enjoy teaching and growing the game of golf in any way I can!”