Anderson and Balbin Win the Carolinas Young Amateur

 

PINEHURST, N.C. (January 4, 2023) -- Final results of the 14th Carolinas Young Amateur Championship at Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia) in Pinehurst, N.C. on January 4, 2023. The women competed at 6,063 yards and the men competed at 6,969 yards (par 36-36--72).

 

Related: Championship Website | Full Field | Scoring | History | Photos
 

While inclement weather shortened the first CGA Championship of the year to an 18-hole event, Pinewild Country Club continued to set the perfect stage for the 14th playing of the Carolinas Young Amateur Championship. The final round was washed out leaving the opening round scores to determine the first Carolinas Golf Champions of 2023. 

 

The local, 2022 champion Symon Balbin of Pinehurst, N.C. completed his title defense after an outstanding opening round of 5-under-par, 67. Adrian Anderson of Murrells Inlet, S.C. captured her second CGA Championship title by three strokes with a strong 3-under-par, 69.

 

“I went out there with no expectations,” Anderson said. “This is my first tournament since October so I just wanted to go out there, have some fun and play some good golf.”

 

The College of Charleston freshman did exactly that with a bogey-free outward nine, including a birdie on the par-4, No. 6. After the turn, she carded four additional birdies on Nos. 10, 12, 14 and 18 to take the lead that she assumed she would need to extend in the final round.

 

“I was a little bit nervous at first today, because it has been a while since I have been in this position,” Anderson said. “I went out there and played my best like this was going to be the final round. I actually played pretty well today and sank a lot of putts.”
 

While the second round was cut short and ultimately canceled, both Anderson and Balbin held their opening round leads as the storm rolled in. This is Anderson’s second CGA Championship win, the first being the 2021 Jimmy Anderson Junior Girls’ title, however it is her first as a collegiate athlete.

 

“This situation was a win-win for me. If we didn’t get to finish then obviously I got the win, but if we did get to play then I got another round of golf playing with my friends so it was a fun experience,” Anderson said. “This is pretty exciting because it is my first amateur win. It is also really nice to see that my work has been paying off.”

 

Grace Holcomb of Wilmington, N.C. earned runner-up with an even-par, 72 followed by Isabella Rawl of Lexington, S.C. who captured third at 1-over-par, 73.

 

Balbin took Pinewild Country Club by the reins for the second year in a row improving on his 2022 championship round of 2-under-par, 70 by three strokes carding a 5-under-par, 67 to defend his title. 

 

“I have been out here [Pinewild Country Club] a lot, because I live in the area,” Balbin said. “I am very comfortable at this course, I have always felt good out here. To be honest, I wasn’t feeling the most confident coming in since I haven’t been playing much lately. I just wanted to aim straight and not hit it to the left or right.”

 

The senior at UNC Greensboro was 1-under through No. 3 and feeling unsettled with his performance. Balbin mentioned that his birdie on No. 4 was the catalyst for the remainder of his round that topped his Championship winning round the prior year.

 

“I made a few birdies on the front nine that jump started my round,” Balbin said. “Heading into the back nine I made three in-a-row again starting on No. 11. I got a little too hot on No. 14 and yanked it out of bounds, but that reeled me back in to hit a few more good shots on the way in.”

 

The defending champion drained eight birdies on the day finishing with a 5-under-par, 67 to take the lead.

 

“There was a little bit of pressure after winning last year, but I know a lot of the people playing in this tournament from high school and college so that loosened up the event and took some pressure off of me.”

 

While Balbin may have been feeling the pressure to start, the two-time champion remarked on his win and what it has done for his confidence heading into his final college season at UNC Greensboro.

 

“This really builds my confidence heading into this season. This is going to be great to build off of heading into my last semester at UNCG,” Balbin said. “It was nice winning the one day tournament last year and I wanted to be able to win it in two days this year. It still feels great to win though.”

 

Alex Martin of Thomasville, N.C. and Layne Lambert of Matthews, N.C. tied for runner-up at 3-under-par, 69 at Pinewild Country Club. 

 

The Carolinas Golf Association would like to thank the members and staff of Pinewild Country Club for their continued support of the Carolinas Young Amateur Championship. A special thank you to the Head Golf Professional Kyle Kirk and his pro shop staff, Club Manager Chris Little, and Director of Golf Course Maintenance John Robertson.

 

14th Carolinas Young Amateur Championship

Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia), Pinehurst, N.C.

Final Results: Women’s Division

 

Pos.	Player	City, State	To Par	Total
1	Adrian Anderson	Murrells Inlet, SC	-3	69
2	Grace Holcomb	Wilmington, NC	E	72
3	Isabella Rawl	Lexington, SC	+1	73
4	Isabella Britt	Chesnee, SC	+2	74
T5	Sydney Roberts	Chesnee, SC	+3	75
T5	Lauren Denhard	Salisbury, NC	+3	75
T7	Kayleigh Reinke	Rock Hill, SC	+4	76
T7	Emily Dunlap	Greenville, SC	+4	76
T9	Jaclyn Kenzel	Southern Pines, NC	+6	78
T9	Mary Sears Brown	Pinehurst, NC	+6	78
T9	Victoria Ladd	Greensboro, NC	+6	78
T12	Victoria Cook	Reidsville, NC	+7	79
T12	Merrick Semans	Winston-Salem, NC	+7	79
T12	Amber Capote	Waxhaw, NC	+7	79
15	Layla Meric	Wesley Chapel, NC	+8	80
T16	Karlee Vardas	Lexington, SC	+9	81
T16	Kylie Bowes	Bluffton, SC	+9	81
T16	Jayden Ford	Pinehurst, NC	+9	81
T16	Mallory Fobes	East Bend, NC	+9	81
T16	Mary Kathryn Talledo	Aiken, SC	+9	81
T16	Shea Smith	Charlotte, NC	+9	81
T22	Grayson Warren	Washington, NC	+10	82
T22	Emma Niebauer	High Point, NC	+10	82
24	Ryann Sinclair	Mooresville, NC	+13	85
T25	Ava Romfo	Charleston, SC	+15	87
T25	Taylor Burch	Elgin, SC	+15	87
27	Caleigh Noonan	Greenville, SC	+20	92

 

14th Carolinas Young Amateur Championship

Pinewild Country Club (Magnolia), Pinehurst, N.C.

Final Results: Men’s Division

 

Pos.	Player	City, State	To Par	Total
1	Symon Balbin	Pinehurst, NC	-5	67
T2	Alex Martin	Thomasville, NC	-3	69
T2	Layne Lambert	Matthews, NC	-3	69
4	Branden Boyce	Spring Lake, NC	-2	70
5	Sam Davidson	Asheboro, NC	-1	71
6	Max Cranford	Newton, NC	E	72
T7	Jack Boyer	Greensboro, NC	+1	73
T7	Michael Vick	Raleigh, NC	+1	73
T7	Nicholas Mathews	Mebane, NC	+1	73
T7	Justin Poole	Wendell, NC	+1	73
T7	Owen Kose	Holly Springs, NC	+1	73
T7	Cody Transou	Gaffney, SC	+1	73
T7	Sean Finan	Winston-Salem, NC	+1	73
T14	Kris Jackson	Greenville, NC	+2	74
T14	Liam Harris	Wake Forest, NC	+2	74
T14	Ian Faulconer	Simpsonville, SC	+2	74
T14	Jackson Brimfield	Chapel Hill, NC	+2	74
T14	Zach Murrow	Gastonia, NC	+2	74
T19	Cameron Hardison	Greenville, NC	+3	75
T19	Mason Tucker	Lancaster, SC	+3	75
T19	Luke Sullivan	Columbia, SC	+3	75
T19	Aidan Browning	Charlotte, NC	+3	75
T19	Ayush Bodhale	Huntersville, NC	+3	75
T19	Carter Rains	Greenville, NC	+3	75
T19	Willis Rogers	Charleston, SC	+3	75
T26	Eli Kinlaw	Mount Holly, NC	+4	76
T26	Addison Beam	Cherryville, NC	+4	76
T26	Daniel Jones	Greensboro, NC	+4	76
T26	Jackson Bode	Pinehurst, NC	+4	76
T26	Cayden Bryner	Winston-Salem, NC	+4	76
T31	Evan Mendyk	Summerfield, NC	+5	77
T31	Travis Bryant	Southern Pines, NC	+5	77
T33	Harrison Long	Fort Mill, SC	+6	78
T33	Jackson Steiner	Charlotte, NC	+6	78
T33	Spencer Benton	Gilbert, SC	+6	78
T33	Ryan Jahr	Ocean Isle Beach, NC	+6	78
T33	Preston Andrews	Chester, SC	+6	78
T33	Tyler Owens	Cary, NC	+6	78
T33	Jeremy Edmunds	Charlotte, NC	+6	78
T40	Brandon Jones	Sanford, NC	+7	79
T40	Jake Wiktor	Bluffton, SC	+7	79
T40	Maddox Whittington	Lenoir, NC	+7	79
T40	Colin Dutton	Foxfire, NC	+7	79
T44	Spencer Turtz	Charlotte, NC	+8	80
T44	Logan Jarrett	Concord, NC	+8	80
T44	Charles Howden	Asheville, NC	+8	80
T44	Noah Whitley	Colerain, NC	+8	80
T44	Will Harris	Cashiers, NC	+8	80
T44	William Bryant	Charlotte, NC	+8	80
T50	Will Conway	Weddington, NC	+9	81
T50	Cullen Cox	Chapel Hill, NC	+9	81
T52	Alan Van Asch	Raleigh, NC	+10	82
T52	Myles Patterson	Apex, NC	+10	82
T54	Cooper Bolt	Greenville, SC	+11	83
T54	Zachary Armentrout	Walterboro, SC	+11	83
T54	Darren Edwards	Bahama, NC	+11	83
T54	Simon Burgos	Raleigh, NC	+11	83
58	Aidan Harrington	Raleigh, NC	+14	86
T59	Dawson Thornton	Mooresville, NC	+15	87
T59	Dylan Smith	Wilmington, NC	+15	87
T59	William Phipps	Florence, SC	+15	87
T62	Juan Manuel Paredes	Charlotte, NC	+19	91
T62	Sean Donton	Apex, NC	+19	91
64	James Lufkin	Saint Helena Island, SC	+22	94
T65	Andrew Coppin	Denver, NC	+23	95
T65	Jason Ross	Apex, NC	+23	95
T67	Matthew Coltren	Mount Olive, NC	+25	97
T67	Brandon Sheng	Winston-Salem, NC	+25	97
69	Trystan Smoak	Walterboro, SC	+29	101
70	Will Roth	Isle of Palms, SC	+30	102

 

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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