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For players searching for Western North Carolina amateur golf tournaments or Blue Ridge Mountains golf events, the Western North Carolina Amateur Players Tour opened its 2027 season Saturday at Etowah Valley Country Club in Etowah, North Carolina.
The day itself was absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine and temperatures in the mid-60s gave the field nothing to fight but the golf course, and the golf course was enough. Etowah Valley played hard for most of the 59 players who teed it up, with fast, demanding greens and tee shots that pinched in on more than one hole. Par was defended by the putting surfaces and the corridors, not by the conditions.
The scoring bore that out. The par-4 4th was the hardest hole on the property, surrendering no birdies at all across 58 cards and playing nearly a shot and a half over par, and the par-4 13th gave up none either. The relief came at the home hole: the par-5 18th played the easiest on the card, yielding nine birdies and the day’s only eagle, a 3 from Joe Brooks.
Saturday’s field of 59 was spread across five divisions plus the Mid-Am Net and Senior Net games. Players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index. A large contingent made the trip in from out of chapter, with players from Upstate South Carolina, East Tennessee and Myrtle Beach filling out the tee sheet alongside the Western North Carolina membership.
Division 1 came down to the last two holes, and Jody Clary of Shelby, North Carolina took top honors by birdieing both the par-3 17th and the par-5 18th for an even-par 72, the low round of the day. Clary made the turn in 4-over 40 and was nowhere near done — he came home in 4-under 32, five birdies in all, four of them from the 12th hole onward. The division was dead level after twelve holes, with Clary, Christopher White and Daniel Smith all on the same number. White, of Hendersonville, North Carolina, produced the second-best inward nine in the group, a 2-under 34 built on birdies at the 10th, the 16th and the 18th, and signed for 2-over 74 to finish two back. Smith, also of Hendersonville, was two clear of the field after six holes and matched 2-over 38s on each side for 4-over 76 and third place. Five of the seven players in the division finished within seven shots of the winner.
Division 2 belonged to Carlos Mojica of Glenville, North Carolina, who posted 5-over 77 for his first victory in almost two years. Mojica built it with four birdies — at the par-5 2nd, the par-5 6th, the par-3 9th and the par-4 10th, the last of those one of the three toughest holes on the course — and kept the inward half tidy with a 3-over 39. Brayden Anderson of Hendersonville was two strokes ahead of him after six holes and matched him for birdies with four of his own, including one at the par-5 15th, but Mojica had the lead back by the turn and never surrendered it again, taking the division by two over Anderson’s 7-over 79. Weston Brown of Gaffney, South Carolina came home in 3-over 39 with birdies at the par-3 9th, the par-4 11th, the 15th and the 18th to finish third at 8-over 80. Six players finished within five shots of the lead.
Division 3 produced the tightest finish of the gross divisions. Calvin Carter of Hendersonville, representing the home chapter, went out in 2-over 38 and birdied the par-4 10th — a hole that gave up only four birdies all day — before closing out a 9-over 81 to win by a single stroke. David Croston of Franklin, North Carolina was level with Carter through six holes and birdied the par-5 6th along the way, while Tommy Lee of Maryville, Tennessee, in from the East Tennessee chapter, made his lone birdie at the par-3 17th and played the closing six in 1-over. The two of them tied at 10-over 82 to share second. Three players finished within two shots of the lead.
Division 4 was decided by one stroke as well, and Michael Chastain of Easley, South Carolina got there the hard way. Chastain birdied the opening par-4, turned in 8-over 44, then played the back nine in 5-over 41 to post 13-over 85. He had been chasing for most of the afternoon: Daniel McNabb of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina led by three after twelve holes and was still two in front with three to play before Chastain’s closing stretch settled it. McNabb finished at 14-over 86, tied with Jeff Best of Hendersonville, who birdied the par-5 18th to join him. Eight of the thirteen players in the division finished within five shots of the winner.
Division 5 needed extra holes — three of them. George Bright of Greenville, South Carolina, Desmond Smith of Pickens, South Carolina and K. Bruce Reeves of Anderson, South Carolina all signed for 18-over 90, and the three-way playoff ran three holes before Bright emerged with the title. Bright had been four behind Smith after six holes, turned that into a two-shot advantage through fifteen on the strength of a birdie at the par-4 7th, and then watched the three of them arrive at the clubhouse on the same number. Smith and Reeves shared second. Four players finished within two strokes of the top.
Clary doubled up in the Mid-Am Net, where his net 3-under 69 was good for a two-shot win. Anderson and White tied at net 1-under 71 to share second, the same order the two of them produced in their respective gross divisions. Three players finished within two of the lead in an eleven-man field.
The Senior Net went to Mojica for a second title on the day, his net 4-under 68 edging Carter’s net 3-under 69 by a single stroke in the largest contest of the afternoon at 22 players. Carter had drawn level with a dozen holes played before Mojica pulled away again over the closing stretch. Croston, Desmond Smith and Reeves all came in at net 1-under 71 to share third and round out the money positions. Eight players finished within five shots of the winning number.
Next up in the Western North Carolina chapter — a trip to Cummings Cove Golf & Country Club on Saturday, November 14th. Space is limited and registration closes November 12th.
