Players to Watch at Dogwood State Jr.

 

The 11^th Dogwood State Junior Championship will be held at Prestonwood Country Club (Meadows) in Cary, NC on August 4-6, 2015.

 

42 junior girls and 101 exempt junior boys are entered into this year's Championship. The championship format is 54 holes of stroke play. Boys and girls will compete in divisions based on gender. There are no age divisions. Each division will be cut to the low half and ties after 36 holes.

 

Entry is open to any male or female amateur golfer who has not reached his or her 19th birthday by August 6, 2015, who has not started college, is a legal resident of North Carolina, is a member or their parent is a member in good standing of a club which is a member of the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) and has an current USGA Handicap Index® at a CGA member club that does not exceed 18.4.

 

Exempt boys are accepted into the championship at the time of entry. Non-exempt boys gain entry into the championship through sectional qualifying. There is no qualifying stage for girls. The first 42 junior girls to register gain entry into the championship. Sectional qualifying for boys will be held on Monday, August 3rd at Lochmere Golf Club in Cary, NC. First tee time is at 7:00am and the top 12 and ties will advance to the championship proper.

 

The Meadows course, at more than 7,000 yards, is a championship layout that provides a challenging round to golfers of all skill levels. In fact, a combination of Meadows holes are used annually as the back nine for the SAS Championship, a PGA TOUR Champions Tour event. The Meadows course was recently ranked the best course in Cary and within the top-75 in North Carolina by The North Carolina Golf Panel. The industry recognition comes on the heels of recent enhancements including the completion of a 54-hole green complex renovation, the addition of a new state-of-the-art indoor learning center, and the unveiling of new hybrid tees.

 

Callista Rice of Mars Hill, NC and Nolan Mills, Jr of Charlotte, NC captured their first CGA titles in winning their divisions in the 2014 Dogwood State Junior Championship hosted by Sapona Ridge Country Club in Lexington, NC. Rice will look to defend her title at this year's championship, but Mills is not entered.

 

Notables in this year’s Girls field include:

 

Callista Rice of Mars Hill. Rice, a rising high school junior, is the defending Dogwood State Junior Girls’ champion. (#15, 2017): This year, she has had two top-five finishes in Peggy Kirk Bell events and tied for fifth in last week’s Carolinas Junior Girls’ Championship.

 

Jessica Spicer of Bahama. Spicer, 2014 Carolinas Junior Girls Champion, had a top five finish at this year’s NC Junior Girls and qualified for the US Junior Girls’ Championship. The sixth ranked junior in NC is a rising senior in high school and committed to play golf for Virginia Tech in the fall of 2016.

 

Sarah Spicer of Bahama. A rising high school senior, she is ranked #5 in NC and won the NC Women’ Amateur in June. She reached the round of 64 in this year’s US Junior Girls’ Championship and will join her sister at Virginia Tech in fall 2016.

 

Sarah Funderburg of Wilmington. Funderburg, a rising junior in high school, won this year’s tYGA Coastal Plains Junior and TYGA @ Bradford Creek. She is ranked #57 in the state of NC.

 

Kathryn Carson of Mooresville. Carson is the 10^th ranked junior in NC and a rising junior in high school. So far in 2015, she finished 2nd at the Peggy Kirk Bell Precision Jr. and T-9 at the NC Juniors Girls.

 

Notables in this year’s Boys field include:

 

Eric Bae of Pinehurst. Bae is the top ranked junior boy in NC. The rising senior in high school won this year’s NCHSAA 4A Championship, Jimmy Creed Invitational, and tied for first at the US Junior Amateur qualifier in Asheboro. He made it to the round of 64 at the US Junior Boys.

 

Michael Freeman of Asheville. Freeman is the 20^th ranked junior boy in the state of NC and a rising senior in high school. He finished second at the AJGA Preseason @ Chateau Elon and second at the Tom Fazio Junior Masters.

 

A.J. Beechler of Pinehurst. Beechler is ranked #21 in NC and a rising sophomore in high school. He has had two second place finishes so far in 2015 - the TYGA Tillery Tradition and NC Trusted BIG I Qualifier in Fuquay Varina.

 

Grant Powell of Colfax. Powell carded a top-five finish at this year’s NC Junior Boys’ Championship. A rising senior in high school, he is the 23^rd ranked NC junior boy.

 

Jack Massei of Cary. Massei has also had a strong start to 2015, winning the NC Junior Boys Championship and finishing tied for third at the NC Junior Qualifier. The #84 ranked junior is a rising sophomore in high school.

 

Address: 300 Prestonwood Pkwy, Cary, NC  27513

Pro Shop Phone Number: (919) 467-9601
General Manager:  Matt Massei

Director of Golf: Larry Conner
Course Superintendent: David Dalton

Course Architect: Tom Jackson

Boys’ Championship Tees: 7,016, par 36-36—72; Slope/Course Rating: 73.9/136

Girls’ Championship Tees: 5,837, par 36-36—72; Slope/Course Rating: 74.1/136