Preview: 106th Carolinas Amateur Championship

 

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (July 6, 2020) -- The Carolinas Golf Association will conduct the 106th Carolinas Amateur Championship at Cape Fear Country Club in Wilmington, N.C. from July 9 - 12, 2020. (7,005 yards, par 36-36--72)

 

The CGA will be conducting this championship under the new COVID-19 Tournament Protocols. Learn more here. 

 

Related: Championship Web Site | Full Field of Players | Starting Times | Scoring | History

 

Players to Watch:

 

• Peter Fountain of Raleigh, N.C. is the No. 1 player in the Carolinas Men's Amateur Rankings and enters the championship with a recent win. Fountain, a freshman on the University of North Carolina men's golf team, won the 60th North Carolina Amateur Championship in a playoff at North Ridge Country Club on June 21. He followed that up by making the match play portion of the prestigious North & South Men's Chamnpionship as the No. 2 seed after falling on the third hole of a playoff for medalist honors. Last year, Fountain finished third at the Carolinas Amateur Championship.

• Ben Woodruff of Huntersville, N.C. is the No. 2 ranked player in the Carolinas Men’s Amatuer Rankings. In the last year, Woodruff won the North Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship and finished in the top ten at both the 2019 Carolinas Amateur Championship and the 2020 North Carolina Amateur Championship. Woodruff is a rising junior on the men’s golf team at UNC Charlotte.

• Jordan Sease of Lexington, S.C. is the No. 8 ranked player in the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings and played his collegiate golf at Winthrop University. Sease, who won both the South Carolina Mid-Amateur and the SCGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2019, was named the 2019 Player of the Year by the SCGA. He recently made the match play portion of the South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship.

• Tim Bunten of Concord, N.C. is the No. 10 player in the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings, and like Fountain, already has a CGA Championship win to his name this summer. Bunten, a rising senior on the East Carolina University men’s golf team, finished at 9-under-par at the Carolinian Amateur Championship to take home the title on June 14. He also was in contention to take the title at the North Carolina Amateur Championship, finishing tied for third.

• Davis Womble of Winston-Salem, N.C. is the No. 11 golfer in the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings and comes to Cape Fear looking to improve upon his second-place finish in last year’s Carolinas Amateur Championship. Womble, who played collegiate golf at Wake Forest University, also has top-10 finishes at the 2019 NC Four-Ball Championship and most recently at the 2020 North Carolina Amateur Championship.

• Logan Sowell of Kershaw, S.C. is the No. 17 golfer in the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings and is a rising senior on the men’s golf team at College of Charleston. Sowell has finished runner-up at the South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship each of the past three years, however, he came out on top at the 2020 Puerto Rico Classic for his first collegiate win. He has been named to All-CAA teams twice in his collegiate career and placed second at the 2019 SCGA Amateur Championship.

• Spencer Oxendine of Fayetteville, N.C. is a rising sophomore on the men’s golf team at N.C. State and the No. 23 ranked player in the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings. Oxendine finished tied for third at the North Carolina Amateur Championship. He finished runner-up in the 2018 Carolinas Amateur Championship.

• Fulton Smith of Pinehurst, N.C. is ranked No. 28 in the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings and recently completed his freshman year on the Wake Forest University men’s golf team. Smith holds the CGA single-round scoring record with an 11-under-par 61 during the first round of the 2019 Carolinian Amateur Championship. He would win that championship and went on to capture his fourth CGA championship title in December at the 11th Carolinas Young Amateur.

• Blake Taylor of Atkinson, N.C. is the No. 51 player in the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings, but enters the Carolinas Amateur Championship with some momentum on his side. Taylor, who recently graduated from East Carolina University where he was a member of the men’s golf team, was the No. 9 seed in the match play portion of the North & South Men’s Championship. He also finished runner-up in the 2019 U.S. Four-Ball Championship.

 

Cape Fear Country Club is steeped in southern charm and offers a challenging 18-hole original Donald Ross designed course. The finely manicured golf course features a wide variety of shot values and angles sure to challenge golfers at every skill level Cape Fear Country Club served as the former home of PGA Tour’s Azalea Open from 1949 to 1971, and previously hosted the Carolinas Amateur Championship in 1912, 1996 and 2008.

 

Past Champions in the Field (1):        

Paul Simson, Raleigh, N.C., 1991, 2005

 

Championship is conducted at 72 holes of stroke play. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the low 50 scores and ties for the final two rounds. An on-course playoff is used to break a tie for the championship.

 

Entry is open to any male amateur golfer who has reached his 13th birthday by July 9, 2020, maintains a residence in North Carolina or South Carolina, is a member in good standing of a club which is a member of the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) and has an active GHIN® USGA Handicap Index® at a CGA member club that does not exceed 10.4.

 

Capers Cup Team Competition

 

Concurrent to the Carolinas Amateur Championship, the Caper Cup competition is held during rounds one and two of the championship proper. Three or four bona fide members from the same club comprise a team. The low three scores count each round. The CGA will contact clubs with more than four eligible players to select their team roster. Otherwise, the CGA will select the four players with the lowest USGA Handicap Index.

 

Schedule of Rounds:

 

Wednesday, July 8

Tee Times Available for Practice Rounds

 

Thursday, July 9

First Round - 18 Holes of Stroke Play

 

Friday, July 10

Second Round - 18 Holes of Stroke Play

Field Cut to Low 60 Scores and Ties

 

Saturday, July 11

Third Round - 18 Holes of Stroke Play

 

Sunday, July 12

Final Round - 18 Holes of Stroke Play

 

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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