Roster Set For 16th Mid Atlantic Girls Matches

The Carolinas return three players from last years championship roster

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (July 27, 2017) -- The 16th Mid-Atlantic Junior Girls' Challenge Matches will be held at Scotch Hall Preserve in Merry Hill, N.C. on July 29-30, 2017. The annual team match is conducted by the Carolinas Golf Association, Virginia State Golf Association and Maryland State Golf Association.

Related: Championship Website | Scoring | 2016 Recap

This annual team match competition is conducted by the Carolinas Golf Association in conjunction with the Virginia and Maryland State Golf Associations. The Challenge is an invitation-only event pitting top junior girls from North Carolina and South Carolina against a team from Virginia and Maryland. Girls’ team members must be 18 years of age or younger and must not have started college. Gracyn Burgess, Kathryn Carson, and Kathleen Sumner return from last year's team.

The Carolinas took a 3-1 lead heading into the final day. With Carson winning the first match on the final day, the Carolinas needed just 2½  points to secure victory. However, the Virginia/Maryland team won four straight matches to climb back into contention. The Carolinas team would claim a point on the final match to secure a 6½-5½ victory. The Carolinas lead the all-time series 10-4-1.

The team championship is conducted over two rounds of matches. The first round is a four-ball match play format and the second round is singles matches. There are 12 total points available. The Carolinas team needs 6 points to retain the cup while the Virginia/Maryland team needs 6½ points to win the cup.

Carolinas Team Roster

Gracyn Burgess, 17, the top-ranked junior girls golfer in South Carolina, repeated as champion at the Twin States Junior Girls' Championship in June, winning on the first playoff hole. The future Clemson Tiger also walked away victorious at the Vicki DiSantis Girls' Championship in May, finishing the final day with a round of 67 to erase a five-shot deficit. Burgess also won the WSCGA Junior Girls' Championship, finished second at the SCJGA Blade Junior Golf Classic and finished third at the North & South Girls' Junior Championship. Burgess was the Beth Daniel Player of the Year in 2016, an honor which is given to the top female golfer by the South Carolina Junior Golf Association.

On July 15th, Emily Hawkins of Lexington, N.C. walked away victorious at the North Carolina qualifier for the Trusted Choice Big I Girls, posting a 72-72--144. The Campbell University commit also finished fifth at the Twin States Junior Girls' Championship last month. In 2016, Hawkins became just the third player in CGA history to capture both the North Carolina Junior Girls' and Carolinas Junior Girls' titles in the same year. She ranks third in the North Carolina Junior Girls' Rankings.

Jodee Tindal ranks as the second-best junior girls golfer in South Carolina and finished T4 in the Carolinas Women's Four-Ball, finishing at even-par with her sister, Jaelyn. Jodee, who will play with her older sister on the Mercer University women's golf team this fall, won the Carolinas PGA Junior Girls’ and finished in seventh in the WSCGA Women’s Amateur Championship in 2016. She is also a two-time champion of the Carolinas Parent-Child championship, winning in 2014 and 2015.

Kathryn Carson of Mooresville, N.C. ranks fifth in the North Carolina Junior Girls' Rankings and clinched the N.C. Junior Girls' title in June, defeating fellow Carolinas teammate Rachael Mast 4-and-3. During the match play portion of the entire championship, the future East Carolina University Pirate trailed for only three holes. Carson also finished T2 in the North Carolina Women’s Amateur Championship and won their low junior award.

Seventh in the North Carolina Junior Girls' Rankings, Natalie Petersen of Holly Springs, NC won the PKB Girls' Golf Tour - SE - Eagle Classic in February and was a quarterfinalist at the North Carolina Junior Girls' Championship last month. Petersen won the 2016 Dogwood state Junior Girls' Championship after a one-stroke victory over Carolinas teammate Emily Hawkins.

Alyssa Campbell of Lake Wylie, S.C. finished seventh at the SCJGA Blade Junior Golf Classic in July. Campbell won the 2016 South Carolina Junior Match Play and made it to the quarterfinals this year.

Rachel Mast of Lexington, N.C. was a finalist at the 2017 North Carolina Junior Girls' Championship. She defeated Nina Kouchi of Charlotte 5-and-4 to reach the championship match.  Mast also finished in the Top-10 of the North Carolina Women's Amateur Championship.

Kathleen Sumner finished T4 at the Junior Heritage in February. The future Florida State Seminole also finished T-11 at the Vicki DiSantis Girls' in June. She is ranked 12th in the South Carolina Junior Girls' Rankings.

About the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)

The CGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization that was founded in 1909 to promote and to protect the game of golf in the Carolinas by providing competitions, education, support and benefits to golf clubs and golfers. The CGA is the second largest golf association in the country with over 700 member clubs represented by nearly 150,000 individuals.

The CGA annually conducts 48 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 150 One-Day (net and gross) events as well as qualifying for USGA national championships. The CGA serves golf in the Carolinas with numerous programs such as: the USGA Handicap System; tournament management software and support; course measuring and course/slope ratings; agronomy consultation; answers about the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, and Handicapping; Carolinas Golf Magazine; Interclub series; Tarheel Youth Golf Association; Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame; expense assistance for USGA Junior and Girls' Junior qualifiers from the Carolinas; and the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF). The CGF has distributed nearly $2,000,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives including junior and women's programs.    

For more information about the CGA, visit our website.

 

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