Carolinas 15th Mid-Atlantic Girls' Team

Pictured from top (L-R): Gracyn Burgess, Emily Cox, Kathleen Sumner, Baylee Evans, Kathryn Carson, Callista Rice, Madison Moosa, Haeley Wotnosky

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- (July 29, 2016) The 15^th Mid-Atlantic Girls' Challenge will be held at Williamsburg Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va. from July 30-31.

Related: Scoring Site

This annual team match competition is conducted by the Carolinas Golf Association in conjunction with the Virginia and Maryland State Golf Associations. The Challenge is an invitation-only event pitting top junior girls from North Carolina and South Carolina against a team from Virginia and Maryland. Girls’ team members must be 18 years of age or younger and who have not started college. 

The Virginia/Maryland team posted a three point victory (7.5 - 4.5) at last year's championship held at River Landing in Wallace, N.C. After sweeping all but one of the four opening day four-ball matches, Virginia/Maryland outscored Carolinas by four and half points (4.5 - 3.5) in concluding singles’ play. Carolinas leads the all-time series, 9-4-1.

The championship is conducted over two rounds of matches. The first round matches are four-ball format while second round matches are singles matches. There are 12 total points available. Virginia/Maryland needs 6 points to retain the cup while the Carolinas team needs 6½ points to win the cup.

Williamsburg Golf Club, formally Williamsburg Country Club, was established in 1958. The land, of great historical interest, was a site in the Civil War involving the capture of Fort Magruder. The Williamsburg Golf Club features 18 championship holes and practice facilities re-designed in 2009 by John LaFoy. Mr. LaFoy set the Williamsburg Golf Club apart from any other course in the Tidewater area.

Carolinas Team Roster

Gracyn Burgess of Lexington S.C., a rising high school junior, has had a very successful summer thus far, winning the Twin States Girls’ Championship and qualifying for U.S. Junior Girls'. Burgess, ranked #1 in the state of S.C., has recently committed to play college golf at Clemson University.

Kathryn Carson of Mooresville, N.C., a rising high school senior, won the N.C. 4A West girls' golf regional in 2015. Carson captured this year's PKBGT Open at CC of Salisbury and finished runner-up at the Twin States Girls'. She is ranked seventh in N.C.

Emily Cox of Lancaster, S.C., a rising high school senior, won the 2015 Vicki DiSantis Girls'. Ranked fourth in S.C., Cox again successfully qualified for the U.S. Junior Girls'. She has verbally committed to play college golf at Southern Mississippi.

Baylee Evans of Lancaster, S.C., a rising high school junior, won the 2016 WSCGA Junior Girls', qualified for the U.S. Junior Girls' and finished tied for fourth at the Vicki DiSantis Girls'. Evans is ranked eighth in S.C.

Madison Moosa of Charlotte, N.C., a rising high school senior, won the 2015 Carolinas Junior Girls' and 2013 Vicki DiSantis Girls'.  Through a sponsor's exemption, Moosa played in the Symetra Classic at Raintree in May. She is currently ranked 15th in N.C.

Callista Rice of Mars Hill, N.C. Rice, a high school senior, won the 2015 Dogwood State Junior for the second straight year. Rice won this year's PKBGT Masters at Cutter Creek GC and had second place finishes at the Vicki DiSantis Girls' and PKBGT Open at CC of Salisbury. Rice is currently ranked fourth in N.C.

Kathleen Sumner of Charleston S.C., a rising high school senior, finished runner-up in the Carolinas Junior Girls' Championship earlier this week . 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. The 17-year-old is currently ranked #2 in S.C. and is committed to play college golf at Florida State.

Haeley Wotnosky of Wake Forest, N.C., a rising high school junior, finished T-9 at this year's N.C. Junior Girls' and qualified for the U.S. Junior Girls'. Wotnosky is currently ranked third by TYGA.


Girls’ team members must be 18 years of age or younger and who have not started college. The following Carolinians are invited to participate in the Mid-Atlantic Challenge junior girls team matches:
· CGA Vicki DiSantis Champion
· WSCGA SC Junior Champion
· CGA NC Junior Champion
· CGA Twin States Champion
· CGA SC Junior Match Play Champion
· CGA Carolinas Girls' Champion from the previous year (if still eligible)
· CGA Dogwood State Junior Champion from the previous year (if still eligible)
· 1 captain’s pick

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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