By Thomas Dozier
Thomas Dale High School and the surrounding community are mourning the loss of former Thomas Dale graduate Griffin Clark, who died following a car crash near his parents’ home over the weekend.
Police say the crash happened in Chesterfield County, at the 1900 block of Walthall Creek Drive, around 12:26 a.m. on Monday, July 4.
Clark, a former golf standout for the Knights, would have been a rising redshirt-junior at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Fla. next year. He was a key member of the Lions golf program, as he was with the Knights, and good things seemed to happen when Clark was around for both teams.
In fact, Saint Leo, with Clark leading the way, captured the NCAA Division II National Championship in May – the first ever national championship for the Roman Catholic school located 35 miles north of Tampa, Fla. – and Clark achieved one of his life-long goals in golf.
“This is tragic news for all of us in the Saint Leo family, and we join Griffin’s parents and family in their sorrow,” said Francis X. Reidy, Saint Leo’s director of athletics in a press release.
At the national championship match, it was Clark’s three-stroke victory in a head-to-head showdown with Kelley Sullivan of Chico State that secured the Lions’ 3-2 win over Chico State and gave the Lions team the title.
“Just six weeks ago, Griffin was a part of one of the greatest moments in the history of Saint Leo Athletics,” Reidy added. “Those indelible images of Griffin celebrating a national championship at Green Valley Ranch with his teammates and his coach will now serve as a reminder of his spirit, his competitive drive, his enthusiasm, and love for his sport. That’s the memory of Griffin we will hold onto forever,” said Reidy.
“We will provide all the support we can to his teammates, his friends, and his family as they confront their grief, both now and when our student-athletes return to campus.”
A criminal justice major at Saint Leo, Clark was 21 years old.
Clark, who loved the team aspect of golf, had a brilliant four-year career at Thomas Dale. In fact, as the son of a golf pro, he hit the ground running, and during his freshman year he won medalist honors at the Central District golf tournament.
“Griffin was a lot of things: talented, funny, and competitive,” said Dave Duncan, his golf coach at Thomas Dale. “What stood out the most was his genuine nature. He told you what he felt, he was loyal to the cause, and he was always trying to get better.”
Duncan said Griffin’s reach spread far beyond the golf course and the hallways of the Chester school.
“Griffin knew a ton of people through golf. His reached stretched out well beyond the Chester community,” Duncan said. “Other golfers loved to be paired with him, not just because of his competitive level, but also because of his personality.”
Clark carved out many memories, but Duncan said two stand out in particular, and both occurred on the same day.
“We were at the state golf tournament at Laurel Hill,” Duncan explained. “It was day two and he was having an ebb-and-flow day playing against Mark Lawrence from Mills Godwin.
“Midway through the round, I walked up next to him and joked that he wasn’t ‘half bad’ as a golfer. He responded without missing a beat by saying that ‘he had seen me play and that I wasn’t half good.’ I loved that sense of humor and back- and-forth we had.
“The second memory is how well he handled losing the playoff hole to Mark Lawrence. He exemplified true sportsmanship and true friendship to Mark. That took a little of the sting off of me and how I felt watching Griffin on the playoff hole.”
Griffin’s father, Kenny Clark, is the golf pro at the Country Club of Petersburg and he spoke to the local television stations about his son.
“If you knew Griffin you loved him and if you didn’t love him you didn’t know Griffin,” Kenny Clark told NBC12.
Saint Leo coach Chris Greenwood learned of the tragedy Monday morning.
“Don’t know that anybody could properly process it,” he said. “When you get that kind of news it takes you a while to grasp it and understand it. The guys, they are obviously upset. Losing any team member is hard.”
“I’m going to miss him every day, he’s a special kid, he was so much fun to be around and it was so much fun to see him gaining confidence and go out and be successful.”
Griffin a four-time All-Central District performer and three-time District Player of the Year, was the son of Kenneth and Cynthia Clark, and he had one brother, Taylor, who played baseball at Thomas Dale.
