Top Contenders at Carolinas Women's Match Play

Kathryn Carson of Mooresville, N.C. looks to secure her second CGA championship of 2017

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (July 21, 2017) -- The Carolinas Golf Association's 20th Carolinas Women's Match Play Championship will take place July 25-27 at Rock Hill Country Club in Rock Hill, S.C. 43 golfers will be competing for the title.

The Carolinas Women's Match Play format is 18 holes of stroke play qualifying to determine seeding and flights for match play in the Championship Division and seeding for match play in the Carolinas Division. Players have the option to compete in either the Championship Division (6,085 yards) or Carolinas Division (5,234 yards).

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

Players to Watch:

Kathryn Carson, 17, of Mooresville, N.C. led from start to finish to capture last month's North Carolina Junior Girls' Championship. The future East Carolina Pirate won medalist honors, carding a three-under-par 141, to secure the number one seed for the match play portion. During the championship, she trailed in just one match for a total of three holes. This spring, she won the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour Open. Carson, currently fifth in the N.C. Junior Girl's Rankings, finished T2 at the 2017 North Carolina Women's Amateur and T6 at the Carolinas Women's Amateur in June. 

Baylee Evans, 17, of Lancaster, S.C. reached the quarterfinals of the South Carolina Junior Match Play earlier this month. She was also named an alternate at a U.S. Girls' Junior qualifier earlier this month. Last year, Evans won the Women's South Carolina Junior Championship.

Courtney McKim finished T9 at the 91st Carolinas Women's Amateur in May. The 26-year-old ranks fourth in the Carolinas Women's Rankings and finished T2 in the North Carolina Women's Amateur. She also made it to the Round of 16 in the Doherty Women's Amateur Championship and qualified for match play in the 2016 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. McKim was part of the team that represented the Carolinas at the 2017 Virginias-Carolinas Women's Team Matches earlier this month.

Three-time CGA champion Lea Venable, 43, of Simpsonville, S.C. lost in the quarterfinals last year. She also finished T6 in the WSCGA Amateur Championship, was runner-up at the 2016 WSCGA Amateur Match Play and was a quarterfinalist at the 2016 Carolinas Women's Match Play. She is seventh in the Carolinas Women's Rankings and was a member of the Carolinas roster at the Virginias-Carolinas Women's Team Matches earlier this month.
 

Championship Division:
The Championship Division will play from the championship tees and compete using gross scores only. The championship flight will be comprised of the top 32 qualifiers and will compete for the overall champion title. Players will be seeded based on qualifying score. All ties for seeds 1-31 will be broken by blind draw. Ties for the last spot in the Championship Flight will be broken by an on-course playoff. A consolation flight will be created from the Championship Flight.

Carolinas Division:
The Carolinas Division will play a shorter course and is not eligible for the overall championship. The Carolinas Division will be pre-flighted based on Handicap Index and seeded within their flights based on qualifying score. Players will use gross scores only. The number of flights and flight sizes are determined based on the number of entries. The CGA reserves the right to adjust any flights based on the number of entries received. All ties in seeding (outside of the last spot in the Championship Flight) will be broken by blind draw.

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, @CGAGolf1909. Continue to visit the CGA website throughout this championship and all year long for complete championship coverage including scores, interviews, photos, and recaps.

 

Championship Facts

Event: 20th Carolinas Women's Match Play

Playing Dates: July 25-27

Host Site: Rock Hill Country Club in Rock Hill, S.C.
Championship Division - 6,085 yards, par 72, Course Rating 75.3/131 | Carolinas Division - 5,234 yards, par 72, Course Rating 71.0/119

Defending Champion: Cecily Overbey, High Point, N.C.
Format: 18 holes of stroke play qualifying to determine seeding and flights for match play in the Championship Division and seeding for match play in the Carolinas Division.

Eligibility: Entry is open to any female amateur golfer who has reached her 13th birthday by July 25, 2017, is a legal resident of 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.

 

Schedule of rounds

Tuesday, July 25 AM

Stroke Play Qualifying (18 holes)

Cut to 32 for Championship Flight

Seeding announced for Carolinas Division

Lunch available to all players

 

Tuesday, July 25 PM

Round of 32 in Championship Flight - Shotgun start 3:00 p.m.

First Flight created as consolation bracket in Championship Division

 

Wednesday, July 26 AM

Round of 16 in Championship Flight

Round of 16 in First Flight

Quarterfinals in Carolinas Division

 

Wednesday, July 26 PM

Quarterfinals in Championship Flight

Quarterfinals in First Flight

Semifinals in Carolinas Division

 

Thursday, July 27 AM

Semifinals in Championship Flight

Semifinals in First Flight

Final in Carolinas Division

 

Thursday, July 27 PM

Final in Championship Flight

Final in First Flight

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.

 

##30##