Marc St. Martin

Marc St. Martin does not rank himself highly when it comes to hitting a golf ball.

"I played against a lot of players who hit the ball better than I did,’’ St. Martin says. "The strength of my game was the short game and putting. That’s how I won."

Those who saw the Kirkbrae star become one of the dominant players in Rhode Island golf would not disagree. One of the most precise, focused and determined players ever to compete in state events, St. Martin almost willed himself into reaching the top levels of the game.

He won the State Amateur in 1976, 1984 and 1988. He took the Caddy Championship in 1968, won the Four-Ball with Richard Grimes in 1976, captured the Providence Journal Tournament of Champions in 1993 and was the RIGA Player of the Year in 1990.

Still, he is best remembered as the last amateur to win the State Open, doing that in 1990. He did it all despite missing almost six years in his late 20s and early 30s. He played professionally for three years, then had to wait the required two years to regain his amateur status. He moved to Florida in 1991, where he has continued to win awards, including the South Florida Player of the Year.