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War Memorial Classic much more than a tournament for Chris Jenkins

The 10-time champion reflects on the memories he's made playing the annual Fourth of July tournament for the past three decades

LITTLE ROCK, Ark — For more than half his life, Chris Jenkins has played in the War Memorial Classic on the Fourth of July. 

"I started when I was 16," said Jenkins, "and I'm 49 now."

But with the course closing following Sunday's final round, next year, he'll have to find something else to do. 

"For 33 years, my Fourth of July was never going to the lake. It was never doing the things that a lot of families do on the Fourth of July," Jenkins said. "Mine was always playing golf at War Memorial."

Jenkins has won 10 War Memorial Classic tournaments overall, including the last five. But preparing to defend his title in this year's Classic, something has been different.

"There's sadness, mostly," Jenkins said. "Winning or losing, just playing it again, knowing that we're not going to come back here next year. Just being here is important. I hope everyone that plays grasps that a little bit."

But War Memorial is much more than just a tournament to Jenkins.

"My brother was a pro here. My dad played here, played this tournament forever," said Jenkins. "One of my brothers won the tournament way before I did. He's a little older than I was. He won the tournament back in the '80s. Just the fact that we have such ties to this place. We're kind of anchored here. I think more than anything else, this has helped define our family a little bit, golf-wise."

So when Jenkins takes to the War Memorial golf course this year, it won't so much be a championship that he's chasing. Instead, this year, he's focused on making the most of the memories.

"I've actually tried to envision what that feeling was going to be like walking off number 18 and putting out for the last time," said Jenkins.  "Whether I shoot a million or play well. It's going to be emotional. It's not just for me, it's for a lot of folks. For me, not being able to come back again, there's going to be a void there that I've not had to deal with."

And doing his best to not think about what he's going to do next year. 

"Unless they replace it with something else, somewhere else. I'm going to have to go to the lake, I guess."

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