Preview: 105th Carolinas Amateur

 

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (July 9, 2019) -- The Carolinas Golf Association will conduct the 105th Carolinas Amateur Championship at Governors Club in Chapel Hill, NC from July 11-14, 2019.         

Related: Championship Web Site | Full Field of Players | Starting Times | Scoring | History

Players to watch:

• Joshua Martin of Pinehurst, N.C. is our defending Carolinas Amateur champion. Martin finished his senior year at UNC Chapel Hill with the 11th-lowest stroke average in the program’s history (73.20). Martin played in 40 tournaments as a Tar Heel, playing in the NCAA Championships twice.

• Spencer Oxendine of Fayetteville, N.C. is looking to improve on his runner-up finish in last year’s Carolinas Amateur Championship. He also finished runner-up in the CCNC Amateur at the end of 2018. He finished tied for ninth earlier this summer at the Carolinian Amateur Championship and tied for fourth at the Carolinas PGA N.C. Open in June.

• Jack Parrot of Columbia, S.C. is coming off a big win at the South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship in June. Parrot had a great performance in this event last year finishing tied for fourth.

• Blake Taylor of Atkinson, N.C. has had a summer to remember. He and his partner, Logan Shuping, finished runners-up in the U.S. Amateur 4-Ball Championship at Bandon Dunes earlier this summer. He also finished runner-up in the Carolinas PGA N.C. Open, tied for second place at the N.C. Amateur Championship and was a semi-finalist in the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst Resort.

• Thomas Todd III of Laurens, S.C. is the top-ranked South Carolinian in the field. Todd’s recent top finishes include a tie for fifth at the Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship and a tie for 10^th at the SCGA Mid-Amateur Championship. He and his partner, James Lightsey Jr., were runners-up in the Carolinas Four-Ball Championship. Last fall, Todd was able to make it to the match play portion of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.

• Sam Echikson of Charlotte, N.C. finished tied for second place earlier this year at the Carolinian Amateur Championship and tied for 21^st at the N.C. Amateur Championship. Echikson made it to the round of 32 in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.

• Jake Carter of Aiken, S.C. has had a string of strong finishes at top, national amateur events. Carter finished tied for third at the Florida Azalea Amateur in March, tied for 17^th at the Palmetto Amateur and tied for 30^th at the Monroe Invitational. He finished in third place last fall at the SCGA Amateur and tied for 20^th in Carolinas Amateur Championship last year.

• Peter Fountain of Raleigh, N.C. has several wins under his belt in 2019 including the N.C. Junior Boys’ Championship, the NCHSAA - 4A East Regional, State Championship, the TYGA Pinehurst High School Invitational and the Neuse High School Invitational. Last Fall, Fountain finished in second place in both the Hope Valley Junior Invitational and the Dogwood State Junior Boys’ Championship.

• Harry Reynolds of Greenville, S.C. followed up his win at the 2018 Carolinian Amateur Championship with a strong fourth-place finish. Reynolds was able to make it to the round of 16 at the S.C. Amateur Match Play Championship in June.

• Garrett Risner of Holly Springs, N.C. is one of the younger competitors in the field but is coming in off a recent win at the TYGA Bojangles’ Junior Open in June. Most recently, he finished in third place at the North & South Junior Amateur at Pinehurst Resort.

• Thomas Owen of Fayetteville, N.C. finished tied for second place earlier this year at the Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship, tied for third at the 2018 N.C. Mid-Amateur Championship and tied for 25^th in last year’s Carolinas Amateur Championship.

Past champions in the field (2):

Paul Simson, Raleigh, N.C., 1991, 2005

Joshua Martin, Pinehurst, N.C., 2018

This year marks the 105th playing of the Carolinas Amateur Championship and the first time at Governors Club has hosted the Carolinas Amateur Championship. The Championship was first played in 1910 at Sans Souci Country Club in Greenville, S.C. which is now known as Greenville Country Club. Berrien Brooks of Columbia, S.C. defeated F.M. Laxton of Charlotte, N.C., 2 and 1 to win the inaugural event. The Championship was not played in 1917-18 due to World War I and from 1943-45 due to World War II. The format was changed from match play to stroke play in 2010.

Governers Club is an award-winning 27-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course blanketed with Hybrid Bermudagrass from tee to green while peppered with Zoysia grass and fescue along some roughs. For this championship, players will be taking on the Lakes and Foothills Courses. The Lakes Course is the flattest of the three nines. Fairways, nestled between lines of mature trees, offer a park-like setting. As the course name implies, strategically placed ponds and lakes add to the natural beauty of the course, and serve up challenges for our players. Transition from the relatively level Lakes Course onto undulating hills and slopes on the side of Edwards Mountain. The Foothills Course is the longest of the three courses. Governers Club hosted the 2016 N.C. Amateur Championship. Nick Lyerly of Salisbury, N.C. shot 8-under-par, 280 to win the title and broke the record for the youngest champion in the event at 17 years, 5 months and 7 days.  

The Championship is conducted at 72 holes of stroke play. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the low 60 scores and ties for the final two rounds. An on-course play-off is used to break a tie for the championship. Entry is open to any male amateur golfer who has reached his 13^th birthday by July 11, 2019, maintains a residence in North Carolina or South Carolina, is a member in good standing of a club which is a member of the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) and has an active GHIN® USGA Handicap Index® at a CGA member club that does not exceed 10.4.

Schedule of rounds:
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Round 1 -- 18 holes stroke play
Tee times at 8:00 a.m./12:30 p.m. off #1 and #10 tees
Lunch available for players from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Friday, July 12, 2019
Round 2 -- 18 holes stroke play
Tee times at 8:00 a.m./12:30 p.m. off #1 and #10 tees
Cut to low 60 scores and ties. Field re-paired according to score

Saturday, July 13, 2019
Round 3 -- Tee times begin at 8:00 .m. off #1 and #10 tees
Field re-paired according to score

Sunday, July 14, 2019
Final Round -- Tee times begin at 8:00 a.m. off #1 and #10 tees
Awards ceremony immediately following play.