Preview: NC Match Play Championship

Preview: 6^th North Carolina Match Play Championship

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- The Carolinas Golf Association will conduct the 6^th North Carolina Match Play Championship on High Point Country Club's Willow Creek course in High Point on August 5-9, 2015.

127 men will travel to High Point to vie for the title of North Carolina Amateur Match Play champion. 2014 champion Al Dickens IV of Charlotte looks to be the first repeat winner in the history of the event. 2014 Runner-up David Donovan IV of Hampstead looks to steal the title away after falling 3 & 2 in the finals last year.

Home to one of the state’s top 30 golf courses, the Willow Creek facility is just a few miles from the in-town location. Over the years, Willow Creek has hosted numerous tournaments of regional and national significance, including qualifying events for the US Open and U.S. Amateur. This will be the 13th CGA championship conducted on the course.

Players will compete in 36 holes of stroke play qualifying, trying to make it into the top 31 players (defending champion Al Dickens IV is the #1 match play seed). Those 32 will then be seeded based off of their qualifying scores. Players will compete in match play until the field is cut to the final two. The championship match will take place Sunday morning to determine the champion.

Medalist	Score	Site
James Mishoe IV Cary	66	Brier Creek Country Club Raleigh
Matt Elliott Wilkesboro	69	Sapona Ridge Country Club Lexington
Eric Edwards Salisbury	67	Monroe Country Club Monroe
David Cho Chapel Hill Nick Kroustalis Clemmons Brian Phaup Taylorsville	72	Whispering Pines Country Club Whispering Pines

Players to Watch:
Al Dickens IV of Charlotte is a rising senior at East Carolina University and the defending champion of the North Carolina Amateur Championship. Dickens is currently the 9th ranked male golfer in the Carolinas.

David Kocher of Charlotte is a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland and is the 12th ranked male golfer in the Carolinas. Kocher has top ten finishes in both the Carolinas and North Carolina Amateur Championships this year, including a T2 finish at the Carolinas Amateur in early July.

Stanhope Johnson Jr. of Greensboro is the 22nd ranked male golfer in the Carolinas. Johnson was a quarterfinalist in last year’s North Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship falling to eventual champion Al Dickens IV. Earlier this year Johnson finished T4 at the Carolinas Amateur Championship.

Henry Shimp of Charlotte, a rising high school senior, is the 2-time defending champion of the Carolinas Junior Boys Championship. Shimp recently finished with a tie for 6th at the Carolinas Amateur. He is currently ranked 8th in the NC junior boy’s rankings and has committed to play collegiate golf at Stanford University.

Chris Cassetta of Winston-Salem is the 26th ranked Carolinas male golfer. Cassetta competed in last year’s US Mid-Am Championship and finished T16 in this year’s 2015 Carolinas Mid-Am Championship.

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.

Now in its 106th year, the CGA annually conducts 43 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 140 One-Day (net and gross) events and 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 more than $1,500,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives including junior and women's programs.    

For more information about the CGA, visit www.carolinasgolf.org.

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