The Carolinas Golf Association – an educational non-profit founded in 1909 to promote golf in the Carolinas – will hold the 25th North Carolina Four-Ball Championship at two area golf courses from Friday, Oct. 9 to Sunday, Oct. 11.
The Four-Ball competition – a golf variant where teams, rather than players, compete against each other, and the best score from each hole is the only score that counts – will be held at Forest Oaks Country Club and at The Cardinal’s Pete Dye golf course.
Entry is open to any male amateur golfer who’s reached his 13th birthday by October 9, is a legal resident of the state and is a member in good standing of a club that’s a member of the Carolinas Golf Association. A few other conditions apply as well.
During the tournament, each team will play at both The Cardinal and at Forest Oaks. The final round on Sunday will be held at the Cardinal course.
Like many other events being held these days, this one will look different than the 24 Four-Ball championships in the past because it will be conducted under a variety of new COVID-19 tournament protocols meant to keep participants and spectators safe.
Tournament promoters point to several storylines in this year’s championship. For one, Trey Howell and Neil Wilkinson of Wilmington – the reigning state Four-Ball champions – will be back to attempt to reclaim their title. Also, Davis Womble and Dan Walters of Winston-Salem – the 2019 NC Four-Ball runners-up – are in it, and they’ve been playing some impressive golf since the event last year. Walters just claimed runner-up at the NC Mid-Amateur last week while Womble finished fifth at the Carolinas Amateur after nearly winning the Four-Ball championship last year.
There’s some local talent as well to pull for. Greensboro’s Scott Harvey – the association’s 2019 Men’s Player of the Year – will take part. In August, Harvey finished 33rd at the US Amateur Tournament. Harvey will be playing with Preston Dembowiak of Kernersville in this year’s championship.
The format calls for 54 holes of four-ball stroke play. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the low 40 scores and ties.
Those who want to register to play or who want more information should go to https://cga.golfgenius.com/pages/2352046.
