Allen Vaughan • News-Leader • August 16, 2009 So far, no one from the Price Cutter Charity Championship gallery has quizzed Tommy Gainey how
he won “Big Break VII”, nor have they asked about any potential hanky-panky with his then-partner Bri Vega. Not one person has asked him why he wears a golf glove on each hand when he plays. But don’t think for a second most of the fans don’t recognize Gainey as a quasi-celebrity, the every-man who made the most of his opportunities. “That a boy, Tommy!” shouted Springfield native John Bertsch after Gainey sank a Saturday birdie on hole No. 11. Bertsch’s friend Mark Kittrell pitched in, too. “It’s great to see him out here, because a lot of people know him from that TV show,” said Kittrell, a Nixa native. While the Ozarks contingency has left Gainey alone through most of this week’s Price Cutter Charity Championship at Highland Springs Country Club, a lot has changed for the self-described Southern boy.
The 32-year-old South Carolina native with no formal golf training jumped into golf’s mainstream in 2007 after winning season seven of The Golf Channel’s “Big Break”, a successful reality show built around skill challenges.