# Hugh Royer III

Hugh Royer III (born February 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer and golf instructor.

## Early life

Royer was born in Columbus, Georgia. He is the son of the professional golfer Hugh Royer Jr., who played on the PGA Tour for 14 years and won the 1970 Western Open. He spent the majority of his childhood traveling with his father on Tour.

## Amateur career

Royer received a scholarship to Mississippi State University where he played for two years. In those two seasons, Royer had one tournament win and seven top-10 finishes, and held the low stroke average each year. He then transferred to Columbus State University for his junior and senior years, where his father served as head golf coach. He was NCAA Division II Player of the Year and First Team All-American in 1985 and 1986. He was named 1987 Amateur Player of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Reporter.
In the summer following his senior year at CSU, he won the Georgia State Amateur Championship by one stroke over Allen Doyle. Two weeks later, he defeated Doyle again in the Southeastern Amateur by five strokes setting a record at 20 under par - a record not broken until 2017. Because of open-heart surgery, Royer was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Amateur later that year. Shortly after his recovery, Royer won the Azalea Amateur Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina in a playoff and won the Western Amateur. This gave the Western Golf Association the only father-son combination to win the Open and Amateur in their history.

## Professional career

Royer turned professional in 1987. He competed on the South African Tour for six years, where he had one tournament win and several runner-up finishes.
He started playing on the Nike Tour in 1991 and won his first title in 1993 in Florence, South Carolina at the Nike South Carolina Classic. Later that year, he won again in Texarkana, Arkansas at the Nike Texarkana Open. In 1995, he won the Nike Dominion Open and the Nike Permian Basin Open. Royer gained his PGA Tour card that year and retained it until 1998. He had four top-10 finishes. He competed on the Nationwide Tour in 1999 and 2000 before retiring.

### Instructor career

Learning the game from his father and some top instructors gave Royer the desire to teach the game to others, especially to those who desire to play professionally. Royer's knowledge of the game, in addition to his playing experience, provided him with an adequate teaching philosophy that has proven successful among his own stable of students.
Royer worked for three years at the International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island where he trained the 2005 U.S. Girls' Junior champion, In-Kyung Kim, among other successful junior and collegiate players.
In 2007, Royer opened the Champions Golf Academy at the Long Bay Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Champions Golf Academy is a specialized golf academy that provides instruction and individualized training programs for players of all levels, gap-year students, collegiate players, and amateurs.

## Awards and honors

* Royer was inducted into the Columbus State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

## Personal life

Royer and his wife, Heather, reside in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and have five children: Leighanne, Sydney, Brai, Abbey, and Hugh Royer IV.

## Amateur wins

* 1985 NCAA Division II Championship
* 1986 Georgia State Amateur, Southeastern Amateur
* 1987 Azalea Invitational, Western Amateur

## Professional wins (6)
### Southern Africa Tour wins (1)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
| 1 | Feb 16, 1991 | Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic | −23 (64-66-67-68=265) | 4 strokes | Robin Freeman, Des Terblanche |
Southern Africa Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
| 1 | 1991 | Lexington PGA Championship | Mark James, Roger Wessels | Wessels won par with on second extra hole Royer eliminated by par on first hole |

### Nike Tour wins (4)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | May 2, 1993 | Nike South Carolina Classic | −15 (68-65-69-71=273) | 1 stroke | Chris DiMarco, Steve Haskins |
| 2 | Aug 29, 1993 | Nike Texarkana Open | −21 (67-67-66-67=267) | 2 strokes | Steve Rintoul |
| 3 | Jun 4, 1995 | Nike Dominion Open | −18 (67-65-69-69=270) | Playoff | Tom Scherrer |
| 4 | Aug 20, 1995 | Nike Permian Basin Open | −13 (69-68-68-70=275) | 1 stroke | Paul Claxton, Frank Conner, Kawtka Cotner, Franklin Langham, Dave Miley, Chris Smith, Phil Tataurangi |
Nike Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | 1995 | Nike Dominion Open | Tom Scherrer | Won with birdie on first extra hole |

### Pro Golf Tour wins (1)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
| 1 | Jul 31, 1988 | Tascosa Invitational | −16 (69-69-66-68=272) | 5 strokes | Ivan Smith |