Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

Slight delay on this week’s newsletter due to my day job and some personal travel, but I’m still buzzing about last weekend’s Carolinas Mid-Am. I’m know for a fact I’m living in a little Carolinas golf bubble online, but it seemed like the event attracted a lot of eyeballs! As we’ve said before and will say again, venues matter at all levels of golf competition.

In today’s 2DP, we have a full recap of the action at Broomsedge, including quotes from the top 2 finishers. We also have a tournament-heavy news slate, including U.S. Open qualifying, a 6-way playoff at a CGA championship, and Charlotte City Am qualifying details. These stories and more below - thanks as always for reading.

THIS WEEK’S HEADLINE

There's a version of last weekend where Sean O'Donnell never tees it up at all.

2 weeks before the 46th Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship, the Pinehurst resident strained an intercostal muscle and was unable to twist for the better part of 2 weeks. As the event approached, he was in limbo, emailing the CGA to ask when the withdrawal deadline was and watching his tournament prep time evaporate.

"It healed up about 5 days before the event started," O'Donnell said. "I'm definitely not getting any younger."

When the dust settled last Saturday at Broomsedge Golf Club, O'Donnell had ground out a closing 67 to claim his first Carolinas Golf Association title - one shot ahead of runner-up Jon Weiss, who matched O’Donnell with a brilliant final round of his own.

Both O'Donnell and Weiss entered Saturday’s final round in the mix, but narrowly trailing 36-hole leader Patrick Stephenson, who won last year’s Carolinas Four-Ball with Stephen Lavenets. The players were paired together in the penultimate group alongside Simpsonville’s Robert Lutomski.

Weiss was a model of consistency all championship, making just 4 bogeys across 54 holes and leading the field in pars. He never felt out of it, but entered the final round with low expectations shaped by his humble approach to the game. "My golf does not define me," he said. "I play golf because I love to meet people and play unbelievable golf courses. I care more about people saying they had a wonderful time playing with me than winning golf tournaments."

On Sunday, Weiss birdied 12 and 13 to build momentum, then made a birdie on 15 to get firmly in contention. He looked at his caddie after that birdie and asked where things stood, knowing he was squarely in the tournament. He closed strong, hitting every green on the back 9 and giving himself multiple birdie looks on the home stretch, but a missed 15-footer on 16 and an 8-footer on 17 saw him come up just short of O’Donnell’s final tally.

O'Donnell's final round was a drama in 3 acts. The front 9 was a slog - he failed to birdie the opening hole, which he considered the easiest on the course, and managed just 1 birdie going out. He'd set a mental target of -10 for the week, but was running out of holes.

Birdies on 12 and 13 gave him life, but after spinning a wedge off the green and making his only bogey of the day on 15, he figured his chances were all but shot. At that point, he felt he needed to birdie in to have a chance.

On 16, he got a bit too aggressive with his approach and missed the green short-sided, but after playing a conservative recovery shot, he casually drained the 40-footer for par. Then, on 17, he hit a wedge from a poor lie from 90 yards to 3 inches for a kick-in birdie.

On 18, assuming he needed eagle to have a real shot, he pushed his drive slightly right and found himself 283 yards out. He hit a 3-wood and caught just enough of it to sneak onto the front section of the green. His long eagle try slid by and left him a short birdie putt, which he tapped in. While he walked off the green convinced he had come up short, the closing birdie was exactly what he needed to secure a narrow victory over his playing partner Weiss.

Weiss was generous in his assessment of the champion. "Sean really grinded all day," he said. "Made a bomb on 16 for par, hit it to an inch on 17 from a terrible lie, and just put it together. A very deserving champion."

For O'Donnell, a newcomer to Carolinas golf who moved to Pinehurst from Arizona after falling in love with the region during a golf trip, the win was a dream start to his CGA career.

Before we wrap, no story of last weekend’s tournament would be complete without a note about the host venue, which received glowing reviews from all involved. The Mike Koprowski and Kyle Franz design played firm and fast all week, and the CGA made the most of the course’s unique characteristics, utilizing challenging hole locations, shifting tees daily, and using multiple greens across different rounds - a feature unique to the property's flexible routing.

"Every single day, the golf course played so different," said Weiss, who has played the course more than 10 times. "You and I could go play Broomsedge 100 times and never play the same golf course. There's so much imagination in that, and I think that brings out the best golfers in tournament play - you've got to play different shots."

O'Donnell was equally effusive. "The golf course agronomy was 10 out of 10," he said. "The setup was incredibly challenging with a lot of very difficult hole locations. It was a lot of fun. Just the fact that a course like Broomsedge hosted the event shows what the CGA means around here."

One of the more interesting storylines heading into the week was whether pure distance would reign on a course with barely any rough that wasn't playing particularly long, but it didn't quite work out that way. Weiss pointed out that Broomsedge punishes players who treat it like a bomber's paradise.

"There are multiple holes where if you're on the wrong side of the fairway, you have no chance to get it close," he said. "I believe Broomsedge is a second-shot golf course. The guys who were just trying to bomb it everywhere got themselves into some really tricky positions - where a great shot was going to be 30 feet away from the pin - instead of laying back with a full shot and a little more spin."

Congratulations to Sean, Jon, and everyone from Broomsedge and the CGA who made this event possible! View the final leaderboard here.

PRESENTED BY TWILIGHT GOLF CLUB

TGC is a CGA member club that supports equitable access to golf in North Carolina. With an active chapter in Charlotte, it’s a great way to meet other passionate golfers in town and play some competitive golf in a casual setting. Annual dues are $60 per year giving members access to:

Want to get involved? Visit the website for more details.

STORIES TO TRACK

69 (-2) Gets Through at Solina Golf Club U.S. Open Local Qualifier: Frankie Harries of Boca Raton, Florida was medalist at 66 (-5), while 4 others advanced via a 7 for 4 playoff. Solina Golf Club continues to be a hotbed for qualifiers and competitive golf at all levels - shoutout to the Bryan Bros!

Britt, Porter Prevail in Wild Playoff at Carolinas Senior Four-Ball: Talk about things you just don’t see every day! 6 teams tied for the lead at -14 after 3 rounds of action at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls. Sherrill Britt’s birdie on the second playoff hole to lock up the trophy for he and Lee Porter.

U.S. Mid-Am Qualifying Spots Go Fast: Registration opened at 9 AM Wednesday morning for this year’s championship at The Lido at Sand Valley. To nobody’s surprise, most of the qualifying locations were picked through by 9:15 AM. All of the Carolinas locations are completely booked up (both field and waitlist).

Charlotte City Amateur Announces Qualifier Dates: Qualifying will again take place at Pine Island Country Club on June 3 and June 16. Registration opens on May 4 and spots will go fast. Handicap cutoff is 6.4.

First Tee - Greater Charlotte Young Professionals Hosting Happy Hour at During Truist Championship: The event will take place May 7 from 5-7 PM at Charlotte Country Club. $40 to register, with proceeds benefitting our local First Tee chapter.

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