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Carolinians in U.S. Am Four-Ball championships
The 2015 & 2016 individual N.C. Amateur Match Play champions, David Kocher and William Rainey of Charlotte, will team up for the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (May 22, 2017) -- The third U.S. Amateur Four-Ball championships for men and women will take place May 27-31.
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Sherrill Britt (left) & Greg Earnhardt reached the championship match of the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball |
The 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship will be contested at the 7,161-yard, par-70 Course No. 2 and the 7,073-yard, par-71 Course No. 8 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball consists of 36 holes of stroke play on May 27 and 28, after which the 128 sides (256 players) will be reduced to the low 32 sides (64 players). There will be five rounds of match play conducted on Pinehurst’s Course No. 2, starting May 29. The quarterfinals are slated for May 30, while the semifinals will be played the following morning. The championship is scheduled to conclude with an 18-hole final on Wednesday, May 31, starting at 1 p.m. EDT.
By the first day of the championship, Akshay Bhatia, 15, and Grayson Wotnosky, 16, of Wake Forest, N.C. one of the two youngest teams in the field, will have a combined age of 31.
Fourteen players in the field hail from North Carolina:
- Anthony Baker, 35, of Walkertown
- Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest
- Sherrill Britt of West End
- Bryan Colquitt, 28, of High Point
- Greg Earnhardt of Greensboro
- Scott Harvey of Greensboro
- Tyler Johnson, 28, of Charlotte
- David Kocher, 20, of Charlotte
- Brandon Mader, 24, of Greenville
- William Rainey, 21, of Charlotte
- Richard Taylor, 41, of Charlotte
- Cam Warren, 40, of Charlotte
- William Wears, 22, of Durham
- Grayson Wotnosky of Wake Forest
Five players in the field hail from South Carolina:
- Matthew Hopper of Greenville
- Thomas Hunter, 32, of Florence
- Charles Ipock, 30, of Darlington
- Richard Oref of Charleston
- Todd White, 49, of Spartanburg
Scott Harvey will celebrate a birthday during the championship, turning 39 on May 30.
General Player Notes:
Akshay Bhatia, 15, of Wake Forest, N.C. & Grayson Wotnosky, 16, of Wake Forest, N.C.
Bhatia, the second-youngest player in the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball field, aced the 17th hole on Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 at age 12. Bhatia and Wotnosky are both playing in their first USGA championship.
Sherrill Britt, 51, of West End, N.C., & Greg Earnhardt, 51, of Greensboro, N.C.
Britt and Earnhardt reached the championship match of the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, losing to Nathan Smith and Todd White, 7 and 5. Britt, a self-employed building contractor, has played in four USGA championships, and won the 2015 Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship. Earnhardt, an insurance agent, has competed in eight USGA championships, including two U.S. Amateurs. He became the first back-to-back North Carolina Mid-Amateur winner by defending his title in 2016, and was a member of the North Carolina squad that tied for second in the 2003 USGA Men’s State Team Championship.
Scott Harvey, 38, of Greensboro, N.C., & Todd Mitchell, 38, of Bloomington, Ill.
Harvey and Mitchell advanced to the semifinals of the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. Harvey was a member of the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team and won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur. A property manager for S&K Triad Properties, he has competed in 22 USGA championships. Mitchell reached the Round of 16 in the 2015 U.S. Amateur and was the 2008 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up. He has competed in 24 USGA championships. Mitchell, who did not play college golf, was a shortstop at Illinois State and chosen in the 14th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Yankees.
Thomas Hunter, 32, of Florence, S.C. & Charles Ipock, 30, of Darlington, S.C.
Both Hunter and Ipock are playing in their first USGA championship. Ipock, now an attorney, majored in professional golf management at North Carolina State University and worked at several golf resorts, including Pinehurst Resort & Country Club. He was standing next to the 18th green when Payne Stewart made his putt to win the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
Ryan Kelly, 43, of Gig Harbor, Wash. & Ryan Welborn, 45, of Tacoma, Wash.
Kelly caddied for his brother, Troy, in the 2005 U.S. Open Championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, the 2012 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, and the 2015 U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay.
Alex Kephart, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colo. & Kurtis Lucas, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colo.
Kephart works as a civil service contractor for the United States Air Force Academy. Lucas, who served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2011-16, played on two all-Marine golf teams. He is playing in his first USGA championship.
David Kocher, 21, of Charlotte, N.C. & William Rainey, 21, of Charlotte, N.C.
Kocher, a junior at the University of Maryland, won the 2014 North & South Junior Championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club. In 2015, he finished runner-up in the Carolinas Amateur Championship, then won the North Carolina Amateur Match Play. A senior at the College of Charleston, Rainey won the 2016 North Carolina Amateur Match Play and 2016 Carolinas Four-Ball championships.
Nathan Smith, 38, of Pittsburgh, Pa., & Todd White, 49, of Spartanburg, S.C.
Smith and White won the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship with a 7-and-5 triumph in the final. The two players were also members of the victorious 2013 USA Walker Cup Team. Smith is a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (2003, 2009, 2010, 2012). An investment advisor, he is playing in his 40th USGA championship. White, a high school history teacher, is playing in his 23rd USGA championship. He advanced to the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur semifinals and reached the quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015.
Richard Taylor, 41, of Charlotte, N.C. & Cam Warren, 40, of Charlotte, N.C.
Taylor and Warren are both playing in their first USGA championship. A financial advisor, Taylor helped Florida Southern College win back-to-back NCAA Division II Championship titles in 1998 and 1999.
U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball
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The Spicers, identical twins, are teammates at Virginia Tech University |
The 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship will be played at the 6,298-yard Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball consists of 18 holes of stroke play on May 27 and 18 holes of stroke play on May 28, after which the 64 sides (128 players) will be reduced to the low 32 sides (64 players) for match play. There will be five rounds of match play, starting May 29 with the first round. The second and quarterfinal rounds are slated for May 30. The semifinals will be played the morning of May 31, with the 18-hole championship match scheduled to follow at 1 p.m. EDT.
Only Meghan Stasi and Dawn Woodard have competed in all three Women’s Amateur Four-Balls together.
One player in the field hails from South Carolina:
- Dawn Woodard, of Greenville
Nine players in the field hail from North Carolina:
- Debbie Adams, 50, of Asheville
- Jennifer Chang, 17, of Cary
- Mary Katherine Donovan, 22, of Hampstead
- Gina Kim, 17, of Chapel Hill
- Courtney McKim, 26, of Raleigh
- Amanda Sambach, of Davidson
- Jessica Spicer, of Bahama
- Sarah Spicer, of Bahama
- Muskan Uppal, 16, of Cornelius
General Player Notes:
Debbie Adams, 50, of Asheville, N.C. & Sherry Herman, 59, of Middletown, N.J.
Adams won two Florida Women’s Amateur titles and the 2004 North Carolina Women’s Amateur, and won team and individual gold medals representing the United States in the Maccabi Games. She is a high school golf coach at Carolina Day School. Herman won the 2009 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and is a two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur semifinalist.
Jennifer Chang, 17, of Cary, N.C. & Gina Kim, 17, of Chapel Hill, N.C.
Chang was named 2015 North Carolina Girls Player of the Year and is a two-time American Junior Golf Association All-American who has verbally committed to play for the University of Southern California in 2018. Kim was named the 2014 and 2016 North Carolina Girls Player of the Year and won the 2016 AJGA Rolex Junior Girls Championship. A 2016 member of the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team and an AJGA First-Team All-American, Kim has verbally committed to play for Duke University in the fall of 2018.
Amanda Sambach, 13, of Davidson, N.C. & Muskan Uppal, 16, of Cornelius, N.C.
Sambach, the second-youngest player in the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, is also an accomplished tennis player, winning the 2013 North Carolina singles and doubles championships, as well as the 2013 Southern doubles title. Uppal, who moved from New Delhi, India, to the U.S. seven years ago, volunteers more than 200 hours a year to various organizations, including The First Tee of Charlotte, raising money from individual contributions for every birdie she makes.
Jessica Spicer, 19, of Bahama, N.C. & Sarah Spicer, 19, of Bahama, N.C.
The identical twins are one of three sister sides competing. Teammates at Virginia Tech University, the Spicers both qualified for the 2015 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. The duo used to compete in synchronized ice skating, advancing to the 2010 U.S. Synchronized Skating National Championship.
Meghan Stasi, 39, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. & Dawn Woodard, 42, of Greenville, S.C.
Stasi is a four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012) and represented the USA Team in the 2008 Curtis Cup Match on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, where she got engaged to her husband, Danny, on the iconic Swilcan Bridge. She also served as the head women’s golf coach at the University of Mississippi from 2000-2007. A Tulane University graduate, Meghan and Danny own a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Woodard, a graduate of Furman University in Greenville, S.C., is the only player in the field from South Carolina. The three-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur medalist has competed in 27 USGA championships. She is also a six-time South Carolina stroke-play champion, five-time South Carolina match-play champion and the 2007 Tennessee Women’s Amateur champion.
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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