Fall Ball at Southern Pines

Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

Faux fall looks to be subsiding with the return of high-80s temps this weekend, but that isn’t tempering our excitement for fall golf in the Carolinas! Cooler temperatures and lower humidity do wonders for course conditions and go a long way in offsetting the sadness brought about by shorter days.

The fall season kicks off this weekend with a big tournament at one of North Carolina’s top courses, so keep scrolling to get a full preview of the North Carolina Mid-Amateur and more news and notes from the world of Carolinas golf.

Lots of new folks here recently - welcome and enjoy this week’s newsletter!

THIS WEEK’S HEADLINE

North Carolina Mid-Amateur Begins Today at Southern Pines Golf Club

Round 1 Tee Times | Live Scoring

The 32nd playing of the North Carolina Mid-Am commences today at Southern Pines Golf Club. 132 of the state’s best, including 5 former champions, will compete in the 54-hole event, with the field being cut to the low 60 and ties for the final round.

Fully back: This event represents the apex of the Southern Pines comeback tour. Hosting a major CGA championship on this course would have been unthinkable prior to 2021, when the Mid Pines/Pine Needles resort acquired the property and commissioned a full-scale renovation by Kyle Franz. Now ranked as one of the top 10 courses in the state, the restored Donald Ross gem more than worthy of its position in the spotlight this week.

Venues matter: We’ve been looking forward to this event all year! Selecting strong host venues gives these events juice - it motivates qualifiers, provides context for fans/followers (especially when hosting at public venues), and elevates the championship for those competing. I’m excited to see the CGA continue to prioritize taking its tournaments to great courses across our region (more on that later).

What to watch: Southern Pines isn’t a long course (tournament yardage is 6,494 yards), but it’s one that requires precision. Sloping fairways often run off into sandy waste areas, and sensible play is required when approaching the elevated and significantly undulating putting surfaces. There will be plenty of birdie chances given the yardage, but the course has enough bite to punish those who get out of position or overly aggressive.

The dramatic, drivable 11th will certainly be a hole to watch come Saturday’s final round. The hole banks hard left-to-right around a pond, allowing for competitors to bounce the ball onto the green by using a short-left kicker slope. The reachable par 5 15th and short par 4 16th will also provide opportunities for fireworks down the stretch.

Contenders: In addition to the 5 past champs (Nic Brown, Dan Walters, Matt Kilgo, Greg Earnhardt, and Joe Jaspers), the field is headlined by big names like 2020 Carolinas Mid-Amateur champion Cyrus Stewart, 2025 Carolinas Mid-Amateur champion Brett McLamb, 2025 North Carolina Amateur champion Jackson Spires, and 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Kevin O’Connell. I’m swearing off predictions after the recent Charlotte City Amateur, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the winner came from this group.

STORIES TO TRACK

50th Walker Cup Begins Saturday at Cypress Point: It’s not necessarily a Carolinas golf story, but with all due respect to the N.C. Mid-Am, this is the event of the week. Team USA takes on Team Great Britain & Ireland this weekend at Cypress Point - Alister MacKenzie’s California masterpiece and a consensus top 5 course in the world.

• Carolina connections: 2 Carolinians feature on Team USA. Michael La Sasso of Raleigh, NC earned a spot by winning the NCAA Individual championships during his junior season at Ole Miss. WAGR #1 Jackson Koivun, the Auburn standout who made several PGA Tour starts this summer, is listed as representing Chapel Hill, but spent most of his pre-college life living in California.

• For your viewing pleasure: The event will get 6 hours of airtime on both Saturday and Sunday, but you’ll have to do a bit of platform hopping to catch all the coverage. Both days follow the same schedule - 12:30 PM-3:30 PM on Peacock, 7:00 PM-10:00 PM on Golf Channel (all times Eastern).

Future CGA Host Site List Updated: The relatively hidden section of the website has been updated with some notable names, including a couple flashy venues for upcoming Carolinas Amateur and Mid-Amateur championships. Highlights include Broomsedge Golf Club (2026 Carolinas Mid-Amateur), Country Club of Charleston (2027 Carolinas Amateur), Carmel Country Club (2027 Carolinas Mid-Amateur), and Country Club of North Carolina (2028 Carolinas Amateur).

• Beating a dead horse: If feels like we’ve made this point many times by now, but in today’s golf landscape, locking in host sites early is critical to securing great venues! It’s way too easy for clubs to say “no” last minute, so kudos to the CGA for getting ahead of things on the scheduling front.

Pine Lake Country Club Opens Friday, 9/5 After Renovation: The Charlotte-area club has been closed all summer for work led by architect Jeff Lawrence. The project, which aimed to elevate the course’s “strategic complexity and visual appeal,” involved stripping the course down to its bones, rebuilding bunkers and regrassing greens.

• Rankings pop?: I’m bullish this project will be great for Pine Lake. The course sits on a nice, rolling piece of parkland property - there is no reason the golf course shouldn’t be good! Bermuda greens, which should present faster and firmer playing conditions for more of the year, will be a big improvement for PLCC.

QUICK LINKS

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe for free below for news and perspectives on golf in Charlotte and across the Carolinas.

New to 2DP? Check out the full newsletter archive on our website.

Do you have recommendations for future newsletter content? Send them our way.