The Press Thornton Future Masters

At first glance, the game seems extraordinarily simple: You swing a stick at a ball to knock it toward a hole in the earth umpteen yards away.

But anyone who has ever stood in a tee box and gazed down a fairway can report that the game is deceptively complex and thoroughly addictive.

Perhaps it speaks to a primal urge to conquer, using only concentration, trained muscles and a rod fixed with a metal foot with a canted face.

Men and women entranced by golf often spend their lifetimes pursuing a mastery of the game.

This time every year — as has occurred each of the last 60 years — Dothan is visited by youngsters whose families journey from the four corners to have their prodigies participate in our city’s legendary junior golf tournament, the Press Thornton Future Masters. On the links at the Dothan Country Club, some of the finest junior golfers in the game have braved triple-digit temperatures to chase the dimpled white ball, competing not only against themselves, the elements and the course, but, this time, against their contemporaries.

Play continues today and concludes late Saturday with the final round.

Don’t miss a chance to see tomorrow’s legendary golfers. Admission is free.