Bill Shriver Shoots Course Record 64 at Belleair's West Course
Growing up with a father who was never without a club in his hand, playing tournament golf, teeing it up with the likes of Gary Player, Bill Shriver has been looking to "go low" since he was young boy. Bill hails from the small, "one stop light" town of Grafton, West Virginia, home to the Mother's Day Shrine, where Mother's Day was first celebrated in the U.S. Currently the Co-Director of Instruction at the Belleview Biltmore Golf Club's Golf Academy, Bill spends most days on the lesson tee. When managing to find time to compete, Bill still has what it takes, firing a 64, the course record, on Belleair Country Club's challenging West Course during a North Florida West Central Chapter PGA Pro-Am Tournament on Monday, August 20, 2007. Bill won the Pro-Am needless to say, and is now practicing for a qualifying tournament at the demanding World Woods Golf Club in Brooksville, Florida. If successful, Bill will move on to the PGA National Club Professional Championship. Having played professional "mini tour" golf for eight years in the 1990's in Florida, Bill is no stranger to competition. He has played in four PGA Tour events, seven Nationwide Tour events, and has qualified for the National Club Professional Championship four times. Having played in the PODS Championship three times at Innisbrook is an accomplishment of mammoth proportion, considering Bill worked full time teaching vacation golf "schools" for the Ken Venturi Golf Academy at Mystic Dunes and the Belleview Biltmore when he won the "Monday Qualifiers" to win entry into the Innisbrook PGA Tour event. A "Monday Qualifier" is a one-day tournament where as many as 144 players show up to take a gamble at shooting the low round for the day, winning them a "spot" in the PGA Tour event. Bill won that one-day event four times. The round of 64 at Belleair was no fluke for Bill. Having shot scores that low many times, he had earned enough wins and top five finishes to earn himself the North Florida PGA Section Player of the Year in 1999. Bill shot 64 playing in the Pro-Am with three of the Belleview Biltmore's golf club members, Kevin "Dice" McGrath, Doug McArthur, and Marvin Bailey. What's amazing about the round is that Bill made the turn at even par, and then proceeded to make seven birdies on the back nine, six in a row. Belleair's West Course has steep, elevated greens, not an easy course to go so low on, unless your irons are extremely accurate and all your putts find the hole. If you would to see Bill for golf instruction, call (727) 581-5498. He teaches at the Belleview Biltmore Golf Academy at the Belleview Biltmore Golf Club, and is available to the public.
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