Carolinas Junior Side set for 32nd Carolinas-Virginias Junior Team Matches

Reigning Carolina Golf Association (CGA) Carolinas Junior champion Henry Shimp of Charlotte, NC leads a group of eight golfers who will represent the Carolinas Junior  team against their Virginias counterparts at the 32nd Virginias-Carolinas Junior Matches, set for Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 16-17 at River Landing Golf Club in Wallace, N.C.  Shimp won his first CGA championship in a playoff over Andrew Wilmoth of Raleigh, NC in late July at Camden CC in Camden, SC.  Shimp will be returning to NC for the team matches after competing in the US Amateur Championship in Atlanta, GA earlier this week.

Also named to the team were Christian Baliker (Simpsonville, SC.); RJ Bartolomucci (Hilton Head, SC); Trace Crowe (Bluffton, SC); Jack Parrott (Columbia, SC); Nolan Mills, Jr. (Charlotte, NC); Alex Smalley (Wake Forest, NC) and Andrew Wilmoth (Raleigh, NC).  The Carolinas team is captained by CGA board member Dan O’Connell of Spartanburg, SC.

Bartolomucci secured his spot on the Carolinas junior team by winning the SC Junior Match Play Championship in July at CC of Newberry in Newberry, SC.  Parrott won the SC Golf Association’s SC Junior (stroke play) championship to earn his place on the junior team.  In June, Smalley won the NC Junior Championship (match play) at Roaring Gap Club in Roaring Gap, NC to receive his spot on the team.  Wilmoth received his invitation by finishing as the runner-up to Shimp in the Carolinas Junior.  Mills won the recent Dogwood State Junior (NC stroke play) championship at Sapona Ridge CC in Lexington, NC to obtain his spot on the junior team.  Crowe and Baliker had outstanding summers and were both captain’s picks by O’Connell.

The team match format consists of foursome (starting at 8:00 a.m.) and four-ball competition (beginning at approximately 1 p.m.) scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 16, followed by eight singles matches, which get underway at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17. Teams will be vying for the Vinny Giles Trophy, honoring the Virginia amateur legend.  One point is available per each match.

At last year’s matches, the eight-golfer Carolinas team won six of the eight closing day singles matches to post a five-point victory (10½-5½) against Virginias in the event conducted at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Va.  Carolinas leads the all-time series 16-14-1 and is riding a three-match win streak dating back to 2011.  The event alternates between its traditional Virginia home of Boonsboro Country Club and alternates between sites in the Carolinas.

The Carolinas Junior team is selected by the winners of the junior championships in North and South Carolina and by two captain’s picks that are based on the players’ performances in select junior tournaments.  

 

Name	Age	Hometown
Christian Baliker	16	Simpsonville, SC
RJ Bartolomucci	17	Hilton Head, SC
Trace Crowe	17	Bluffton, SC
Jack Parrott	15	Columbia, SC
Nolan Mills, Jr.	17	Charlotte, NC
Henry Shimp	17	Charlotte, NC
Alex Smalley	17	Wake Forest, NC
Andrew Wilmoth	14	Raleigh, NC

Team Captain: Mr. Dan O’Connell, Spartanburg, SC

Tournament home page:  https://www.carolinasgolf.org/championship/home/14cavaboys/year/2014

Andrew Blair, Virginia State Golf Association, and Jason Cox, Carolinas Golf Association, each contributed to this announcement.