Jim Renner carries his father's spirit with him at Pebble Beach

By Becky Blaeser

On Jim Renner's official PGA Tour page, he notes that his finish at the 2001 Massachusetts Amateur Championship is his biggest thrill in golf.

That statement comes as no surprise to anyone who was fortunate enough to be at The Orchards Golf Course that week. Jim, who was coming off his junior year of high school at the time, did not win, but he earned friends and fans who follow his career to this day.

A young Jim Renner at the '01 Mass Am

Despite being one of the stronger junior amateur players of that time (he won the Optimist International Championship at age 15 and finished eighth in the same event at age 14 and 16), Jim was a dark horse at the 2001 Mass Amateur and very few would have guessed that the youngster would push veteran and eventual champion Brendan Hester in that final 36-hole match.

That runner-up finish in 2001 set the stage for what has turned into a strong professional career that hit a crescendo at Pebble Beach. He went on to capture the 2005 New England Amateur Championship and then returned home – as a professional – to capture the 2008 Massachusetts Open Championship at Stockbridge Golf Course, among many other State Open titles.

One person who was most certainly with Jim in spirit at Pebble Beach was his father “Buck”, who passed away in August of 2012.

Buck Renner was a member at the Foxborough Country Club where he won the club championship in 1985 and again in 1988. He also won the Attleboro Area Golf Association Open in 1983 and was inducted into the AAGA Hall of Fame in 1994. His impact on the local level was unmatched and will never be forgotten.

A few years later, en route to the '08 Mass Open Championship

In Buck’s obituary it was written that he “was never any prouder than of his son Jim Renner, the former Bishop Feehan High and Bryant University standout, currently playing on the pro tour.”

In honor of his father, Jim and his family started the John “Buck’ Renner Scholarship Fund. The goal of the fund is to help a student golfer from either King Phillip High School or Bishop Feehan High School further their education. The scholarship emblem is proudly on display on Jim’s PGA Tour bag.

The bond between Jim and Buck is just one example of how the path to success is never a solitary journey. It seems only fitting to re-read this compelling article which appeared on the Golf Channel web site in September of 2012.

It talked about how the loss of their fathers connected Jim Renner and Jon Curran – another Bay State native who is making a name for himself in professional golf circles – and it is a story that everyone should read.