Three rounds down, one to go for NC Amateur at CC of Landfall

Posting the low round of the tournament thus far, a six-under-par 66, Justin Tereshko of Greensboro holds a two-stroke lead. Last fall, the 25-year-old Tereshko relocated from DePauw University in Indiana to North Carolina to coach the Guilford College golf team. Earlier this month Tereshko won the 2015 N.C. Open. If he holds on for the victory tomorrow, he would be the only golfer to win both the N.C. Open and N.C. Amateur titles in the same year.

Second Round:
Following two days full of weather delays, the sun finally broke through Saturday, allowing play at the 55th NC Amateur Championship to get back on schedule. Competitors who had not started their second round teed off at 7:00am.

Nine groups that were still on the course Friday evening when play resumed their second round Saturday morning at 8:30am. One of those players was six-time CGA champion Carter Jenkins of Raleigh. “It’s been a weird couple of days,” said Jenkins. “On the first day I played five holes, then about 29 yesterday, and then back this morning for a hole and a half. It was frustrating because I was four-under thru five holes the first day before weather suspended it.”

At the completion of the second round, Wesley Conover of Holly Springs held a one stroke advantage over Jenkins and 19-year-old David Kocher of Charlotte, who won the 2014 North & South Junior Championship. Conover is a rising senior at East Carolina University. Both Conover and Jenkins finished tied for third place in last year’s championship at Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte.

Third Round:
After the 36-hole cut, the field of 133 players was cut to the low sixty players at 8-over 152. The third round began with a shotgun start at 2:30pm. Some players who made the cut played 36-holes on Saturday. One of those players was Kocher. “We play a lot of 36 hole days in college golf,” said Kocher, who is a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland. “you get your tempo on your first 18 holes and try to keep it going all day.”

Kocher capitalized on the first hole, a 534 yard par-5, knocking his second shot to two feet for a tap-in eagle. On the next hole, however, Kocher erased that momentum with a double-bogey. The lead group of struggled in their third round. Conover and Jenkins each shot one-under 71. Kocher shot even par.

While the lead group failed to increase their space from the field, Tereshko put on a show. Starting on the 2nd hole of the Ocean course, Tereshko opened with a birdie. He then made four consecutive birdies on holes 7 thru 10. Seven total birdies with a lone bogey combined for a six-under-par round of 66. His three day total of 69-71-66–206 (-10) puts him two ahead of Conover and three in front of Jenkins. “If you had told me three days ago that I could be 10-under, regardless of where the lead was, I would take it,” Tereshko said with a smile. “But there are 18 more holes tomorrow.”

Play was halted for twenty minutes at 3:55 due to lightning in the area.

Defending champion Josh Martin, 18, of Pinehurst sits at four-over 220, tied for 17th.

Nicholas Adams, a 19-year-old from Goldsboro, recorded his first hole-in-one on the 4th hole of the Ocean course using a pitching wedge.

The North Carolina Amateur Championship is 72 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 13th birthday by June 18, 2015, 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 5.4.

Click here for Sunday’s tee times (final round)

55th North Carolina Amateur Championship
Country Club of Landfall (Nicklaus)