Porters Neck to host 31st NC Senior Amateur Golf Championship next week

WILMINGTON, NC (CGA RELEASE) — The Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) will conduct the 31st North Carolina Senior Amateur Championship at Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington from May 16-18.

Players to watch:

7-time event champion Paul Simson of Raleigh. Simson overcame an eight shot deficit in last year’s final round at Champion Hills Club to edge Jim Grainger in a playoff. Simson is the all-time leader in CGA titles with 29. The 2nd ranked senior golfer in the Carolinas turns 65-years-old tomorrow.
Last year’s runner-up, 6-time CGA champion Jim Grainger of Charlotte. The 59-year-old won the 2014 Carolinas Senior Amateur and back-to-back Carolinas Senior Four-Ball championships with different partners.
Pat Thompson of Asheville. The 57-year-old currently ranks 3rd among Carolinas senior golfer. Thompson missed the playoff by one shot at last year’s championship, then later in the year earned his first CGA title at the Carolinas Senior Amateur.
Jim Pearson, 60, of Charlotte. Pearson won this championship in 2014. He is already a winner this year, teaming with Grainger at the Carolinas Senior Four-Ball.
5-time CGA champion Arlis Pike, 68, of Kernersville. The three-time defending Carolinas Super Senior champion finished fourth in last year’s championship.
3-time CGA champion Russ Perry, 64, of Winston-Salem. Perry won this event in 2013 and finished T-23 last year.

Some of the local players include:

Compton, Penn
Wilmington, NC
Cape Fear Country Club

Dowless Sr., Mike
Wilmington, NC
Wilmington Golf Club

Dutton, Tom
Leland , NC
Magnolia Greens Golf Pltn.

Egan, Michael
Wilmington, NC
Country Club of Landfall

Horton, Jerry
Wilmington, NC
Porters Neck Country Club

James, Bill
Leland, NC
Magnolia Greens Golf Pltn.

Keegan, Rich
Wilmington, NC
Cape Fear Country Club

Norris, Greg
Wilmington, NC
Pine Valley Country Club

Pisarek, John
Wilmington , NC
Porters Neck Country Club

Porter, Dale
Leland, NC
Magnolia Greens Golf Pltn.

Rhodes, Bill
Wilmington, NC
Pine Valley Country Club

Sears, Rick
Leland, NC
Magnolia Greens Golf Pltn.

Stephens, Jimmy
Wilmington, NC
Porters Neck Country Club

Taweel, Jeffrey
Wilmington, NC
Porters Neck Country Club

Wilkinson, Steve
Wilmington, NC
Pine Valley Country Club

Wilson, Steve
Wilmington, NC
Country Club of Landfall

121 players are expected to compete on the 6,518 yard layout. Exempt players were automatically accepted into the championship while others were required to qualify through one of four 18-hole qualifiers.

Designed by Tom Fazio, Porters Neck Country Club opened in 1991. The Fazio Group oversaw a major renovation of the course in 2005-06, including new greens and bunkers. The club has previously hosted five CGA championships. In the 2010 Carolinas Senior Four-Ball, Paul Simson and Don Detweiler of Raleigh won in a playoff.

The North Carolina Amateur Championship is 54 holes of stroke play. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the low 60 scores and ties. Entry is open to any male golfer who has reached his 55th birthday by May 16, 2016, is a legal resident of North Carolina, is a member in good standing of a club which is a member of the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) and has a current USGA Handicap Index® at a member club that does not exceed 10.4.

Schedule of rounds:
Monday, May 16 Round 1 – Tee times at 8:00am and 12:45 pm off #1 and #10 tees.
CGA hosted lunch cookout for players in the clubhouse.
Tuesday, May 17 Round 2 – Tee times at 8:00am and 12:45 pm off #1 and #10 tees.
Field cut to low 60 scores and ties. Field re-paired according to score.

Lunch for players in ballroom from 11:00am-3:00pm
Wednesday, May 18 Round 3 – Tee times at 8:00am off #1 and #10 tees.
Awards ceremony immediately following play at scoreboard

The CGA will post any tournament delays or cancellations via our Twitter account. Follow @cgagolf1909.

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.