50th Twin States Junior Girls' Preview

(L-R): 1967 champion Debby Rhodes, Gwin Derouin, and runner-up Marianne Kraycirik.

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (June 25, 2016) -- The Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) will conduct the 50^th Twin States Girls’ Championship at The Windermere Club in Blythewood, S.C. on June 28-29.  The day prior, the practice round will include this year’s participants as well as former champions who wish to play. That night, a special banquet will celebrate the 50-year history of the event. The keynote speaker will be Debby Pinnell, who is coming from San Antonio, Texas, to help celebrate the milestone. The former Debby Rhodes, from North Wilkesboro, won the first three Twin States from 1967-69 on her way to college golf and an eight-year LPGA career.

The Windermere Club is a gorgeous Pete & P.B. Dye design golf course that has previously hosted six Carolinas Golf Association championships dating back to 1994. This will be the second time the club has hosted the Twin States Girls' Championship (2010).

Related: Tee times & Pairings | Hole-by-hole scoring | Championship History

 

Kathleen Sumner of Charleston, S.C. enters the championship looking to win back-to-back Twin States titles. Sumner won last year by one stroke at Chapel Hill Country Club over Gracyn Burgess of Lexington, S.C. and by two strokes over Carly Lyvers of Simpsonville, S.C.

Sumner, a high school junior, was the recipient had an outstanding 2015 season, winning the CGA’s Twin States Girls’, SCHSAA 2A Championship, SCJGA’s Cheraw Fall Challenge and Players’ Championship. Sumner’s most recent victory in 2016 came at the beginning of June in the Jimmy Self Invitational where she shot rounds of 75-72 to claim a one shot victory over Emily Cox.

Coming into this year’s Twin States Girls’ Championship, Sumner has been working on her game and feels confident about the chances of defending her title. “I have been working a lot on my irons and putting and I'm feeling good about both right now. I feel excited to play in the tournament! I had a good time last year and I hope to have a good time this year as well. Just like all tournaments, I want to win. (Being the defending champion) I don't think I'm really changing my mindset at all.” Sumner is currently ranked #3 by the SCJGA junior rankings.

Ashley Czarnecki of Greenville, S.C. Czarnecki, a high school senior, was named the 2015 Carolinas Junior Girls’ Player of the Year and won the 2015 Beth Daniels award as the SC Junior Girls’ Player of the Year.  In 2015 she won the SC Junior Girls’ Championship, the SC Junior Match Play Championship and the George Holliday Junior. Czarnecki finished fifth in last year’s Twin States and currently sits atop the SCJGA junior rankings. The 17-year-old has committed to play college golf at Wofford College.

Gracyn Burgess of Lexington, S.C.  Burgess, a high school sophomore, won the SCJGA Ford-Picard Christmas Classic and finished in second place in the Sea Pines Junior Heritage and WSCGA SC Junior Girls’ Championship.  Burgess finished runner up in last year’s Twin States and is currently ranked #2 on the SCJGA junior rankings.

Others to watch at the Twin States Girls’ Championship: Jodee Tindall of Rock Hill, S.C., Smith Knaffle of Murrells Inlet, S.C., Jensen Castle of West Columbia, S.C., Kathryn Carson of Mooresville, N.C., Emily Hawkins of Lexington, N.C., Samantha Vodry of Mooresville, N.C., Elle Johnson of Inman, S.C., Carly Lyvers of Simpsonville, S.C., Natalie Peterson of Holly Springs, N.C., Madison Isaacson of Greensboro, N.C.

 
Full field of players 

Adam, Nicole, Pinehurst, NC		Knaffle, Smith, Murrells Inlet, SC
Adamchik, Mogie, Raleigh, NC		Knecht, Cecelia, North Charleston, SC
Battle, Mackenzie, Aberdeen, NC		Kramer, Nicole, Charlotte, NC
Bonifay, Anna, Pfafftown, NC		Lamb, Kerrington, Easley, SC
Bruxvoort, Hannah Rose, Chapel Hill, NC		Langs, Meredith, Hilton Head Island, SC
Burgess, Gracyn, Lexington, SC		Lyvers, Carly, Simpsonville, SC
Campbell, Alyssa, Lake Wylie, SC		Martin, Lauren, Mooresville, NC
Carles, Phoebe, Clinton, SC		McDonald, Anna, Hickory, NC
Carson, Kathryn, Mooresville, NC		Morgan, Anna, Spartanburg, SC
Castle, Jalen, West Columbia, SC		Mortier, Delanie, N. Charleston, SC
Castle, Jensen, West Columbia, SC		Pendleton, Hailey, Waxhaw, NC
Cox, Alyssa, Mount Airy, North Carolina		Petersen, Natalie, Holly Springs, NC
Cox, Michaela, Greensboro, NC		Rawl, Isabella, Lexington, SC
Crumrine, Caroline, Wilmington, NC		Richardson, Ashlee, Simpsonville, SC
Czarnecki, Ashley, Greenville, SC		Rogers, Jayla, Wilmington, NC
DeBusk, Samantha, Lexington, NC		Smith, Katie, Murrells Inlet, SC
Dominiak, Ally Grace, Mount Pleasant , SC		Smith, Sarah, York, SC
Dunlap, Emily, Greenville, SC		Stalvey, Ella, Elgin, SC
Evans, Baylee, Lancaster, SC		Stalvey, Parker, Elgin, SC
Fesperman, Hannah, Georgetown, SC		Strauch, Julianne, Advance , NC
Freeman, Anna, Aiken, SC		Sumner, Kathleen, Charleston, SC
Gillespie, Peyton, Greenville, SC		Talledo, Mary Kathryn, Blythewood, SC
Gooch, Janie, Raleigh , NC		Tindal, Jodee, Rock Hill, SC
Greene, Carleigh, Williamston, SC		Tsiros, Ana, Asheville, NC
Hamilton, Riley, Reidsville, NC		Uppal, Muskan, Cornelius, NC
Hardwick, Molly, Rock Hill, SC		Vodry, Samantha, Mooresville, NC
Hatcher, Abigayle, Roebuck, SC		Warren, Natalie, Raleigh, NC
Hawkins, Emily, Lexington, NC		White, Mary Slade, Winston Salem, NC
Hill, Kate, Clemson, SC		Whitfield, Katie, Clemson, SC
Hodges, Charleigh, Mooresville, NC		Whitney, Alexis, Charlotte, NC
Isaacson, Madison, Greensboro, NC		Wofford, Emma, Mount Pleasant, SC
Johnson, Elle, Inman, SC

 

Scoring will be provided by the CGA throughout the championship, offering 9 and 18-hole updates. Live updates will also be available on the CGA’s official Twitter accounts, @cgagolf1909 and @CarolinasJunior. Continue to visit the CGA website throughout this championship and all year long for complete championship coverage including scores, interviews, photos, and recaps.

 

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 our website.

  

##30##