Tournament Champions
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The weekend leading up to the 5th event of the 2024 season for the Charlotte Chapter of the Amateur Players Tour was a thing of dreams for springtime golfers. Temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s coupled with primarily dry weather is what we all hope for as the calendar flips to March. Unfortunately, the weekend ended and Monday brought with it some gusty winds and much cooler weather as we visited the Country Club of Salisbury to see who would take home some very sleek looking trophies and some winnings. Facing some of the most pure greens we’ll see all year, 101 players took on the course and each other in some tight races.
Park Williams (Carolina Triad / +1) continued his scorching hot start to 2024, picking up his 3rd win in his last 4 events while besting a Division 1 field of 26 entrants. 4 bogeys were offset by 3 birdies including a pair on 16 and 18 to seal the victory. Williams won by 3 over both Scott Patnode (Charlotte / +4) and Rell Fields (Charlotte / +4) who both had some untimely missteps that ultimately cost them a shot. Wrapping up the Division 1 money finishers, we had a three-way tie between Kyle Moffett (Central Carolina / +5), Will Morgan (Central Carolina / +5) and David Gibson (Augusta / +5).
Division 2 gave us our only playoff of the day. When Mick Correll (Carolina Triad / +8), Chase Brown (Charlotte / +8) and Joseph Jones (Charlotte / +8) finished up… they had nearly a 2 hour wait to see if J Combs (Carolina Triad / +8) would come back to them. In the end, a triple bogey on number 5 and a bogey on number 8, the penultimate hole for Combs, would see him fall in to a tie. Jones had made the decision early on to head out, figuring a tie would not materialize. This left just 3 players to head back to the 10th tee to battle it out in the playoff. Bogey would be good enough to move on after the 10th for both Correll and Combs. Both players made par on the 11th before Correll closed it out on the 12th hole. The victory was his first after coming tantalizingly close in several other events. To win after sitting in the blustery cold waiting on the final results for over 2 hours is especially impressive and I’m sure the ride home in the heat of his truck felt extra nice for Mick. Todd Mullis (Charlotte / +10) and Johnny Moffett (Charlotte / +10) both narrowly missed out on the playoff but collected the final spots in the money.
Brad Greene (Charlotte / +9), starting on number 10, made the turn at +8 and then went on a strong run en route to a final nine 36 / +1. Playing in the group behind, Jason Smith (Carolina Triad / +12) went out in 40 / +4 before finding some struggles on the front side. Back-to-back doubles on 4 and 5 saw Greene take a 1 shot lead which he never relinquished. For Brad, it was his first round since October. He said it allowed him to forget all the bad things he was doing and just focus on playing golf. It was also the first APT win for Greene, marking our second first time winner of the day. Kirk Tatge (Charlotte / +15) and Ronnie Frames (Charlotte / +17) rounded out the money spots in Division 3.
Division 4 saw another tight race and the top 4 spots all came from groups that teed off one after the other. Ultimately, it was Brandon Long (Myrtle Beach / +15) nabbing his second win of the 2024 season. For him, it was an early lesson on limiting damages that led to his victory. Opening with a triple bogey, he quickly learned that putting from the areas around the greens would benefit him way more than trying to chip from tight lies. This strategy allowed him to keep any further triples off his card. Thomas Gibson (Charlotte / +16) gave Long a run for his money playing in the group behind, but while Brandon closed his final 4 holes in just +1, Gibson played the same stretch in +5. Standing on the final hole needing a par to go to a playoff, he couldn’t quite make it happen. Spencer Bensch (Charlotte / +18) and Wes Phillips (Charlotte / +18) were also in the mix, but a tough stretch of finishing holes for the Division 4 players took their toll. Both Bensch and Phillips finished in the money. Expect to see Phillips break through soon as he’s finished top 3 in each of his last 2 events.
In Division 5, it was Douglas Willie (Charlotte / +22) picking up his second win of the 2024 season. Willie came out of the gate slowly. His 53 / +17 on the back side was quickly forgotten as he blitzed the front side for a 40 / +5 to take the title over Will Elmore (Charlotte / +25). In what is possibly the story of the day, Lance Blackshear (Charlotte / +26) aced the 14th hole for his first ever hole-in-one! A great shot that would have seen him walk away with $500 and some swag for his effort… if only he’d entered the hole-in-one club. Next time you see Lance, be sure to congratulate him! Also be sure to either see Phil at check-in to sign up for the hole-in-one club. You never know when that shot is going to come off the face just right and find the bottom of the cup!
Senior Division winners on the day were Park Williams (Carolina Triad / +1) in Division 1, Todd Mullis (Charlotte / +10) in Division 2, Kirk Tatge (Charlotte / +15) in Division 3, Thomas Gibson (Charlotte / +16) and Douglas Willie (Charlotte / +22) in Division 5. Willie pulled off the double dip win!
In all, the 101 players that attended the event competed for over $6750 in prize money and skins throughout the day. Just 9 players took on the Target Score challenge where they competed against themselves in an attempt to turn just $10 in to additional prize money.
Our next event for the Charlotte Chapter is less than 3 weeks away at Statesville Country Club.
