Top Players at N.C. Amateur Match Play

2012 champion Matthew Crenshaw of Burlington will compete for his 7th CGA title
 

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SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (August 8, 2016) -- The Carolinas Golf Association will conduct the 7^th North Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship at Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club in Southern Pines from Wednesday to Sunday, August 10-14.

Related: Pairings | Scoring | History

126 men will travel to Southern Pines to vie for the title of North Carolina Amateur Match Play champion. The championship format is 36 holes of stroke play to determine 32 qualifiers for match play. Those 32 will then be seeded based off of their qualifying scores. Players will compete in match play until the field is dwindled to the final two. The championship match will take place Sunday morning to determine the champion.

The golf course at Mid Pines remains as Donald Ross crafted the course in 1921. Many people have characterized the course as “pure Donald Ross” because of how it fits the land where it was built. While 18 CGA championships have been contested at Mid Pines, this will be the first individual event hosted by the club.

Exempt players were automatically eligible into the championship, while others had to qualify through one of four 18 hole qualifiers held around the state.

Defending champion David Kocher will not be in the field as he is traveling to Michigan to compete in the U.S. Amateur.

 

Notable Players to Watch:

• Matthew Crenshaw of Burlington is a 6-time CGA champion. Crenshaw won this event in 2012, defeating Scott Harvey of Greensboro, 1 up.
• At this championship in 2014, David Donovan, IV of Hampstead earned runner-up honors. Donovan played collegiate golf at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
• In June, Nicholas Lyerly of Salisbury became the youngest player to win the North Carolina Amateur. In July, he advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Junior. The 17-year-old is the top ranked junior in N.C.
• Joshua Martin of Pinehurst previously held the record for youngest North Carolina Amateur champion when he won in 2014. The 2014 N.C. Junior Player of the Year will attend UNC-Chapel Hill this fall.
• Nolan Mills, IV of Charlotte earned stroke play medalist honors at last year's championship held on High Point Country Club's Willow Creek Course. Mills, who is a rising sophomore at N.C. State, won the CGA's Dogwood State Junior Championship in 2014.
• William Rainey of Charlotte, a rising senior at College of Charleston, was a 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship Individual Finalist. This spring he captured his first CGA win at the Carolinas Four-Ball with teammate Phillip Oweida. Rainey currently ranks 13th among male golfers in the Carolinas.
   

Championship Schedule:
Wednesday, August 10
Stroke Play Qualifying Round 1. Tee times at 8:00am/12:30pm off #1/#10 tees.

Thursday, August 11
Stroke Play Qualifying Round 2. Tee times at 8:00am/12:30pm off #1/#10 tees.
Cut to low 32 scores for match play. Playoff for medalist and last match play position.

Friday, August 12
Round of 32 (AM) and Round of 16 (PM) match play (18 holes each round).

Saturday, August 13
Quarterfinal (AM) and semifinal (PM) rounds of match play (18 holes each round).

Sunday, August 14
Championship match (18 holes).


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 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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