JD McNeill and Jerry Richardson Jr. hoist North Carolina Four-Ball title
MEBANE, NC (October 2, 2016) -- JD McNeill of Raleigh,
N.C. and Jerry Richardson, Jr. of Cary, N.C. were in the
final pairing of the 2015 North Carolina Four-Ball
Championship, but came up short and went home with
a third-place finish. In Sunday’s final round of the 2016
championship at Mill Creek Golf Club, the pair found
themselves in the same pairing, staring down the recent
North Carolina Amateur champion Nicholas Lyerly and
his partner Justin Emmons. However, after finishing 54-
holes at 23-under-par and coming out on top of a four-
hole playoff, McNeill and Richardson will go home this
year with a trophy.
McNeill and Richardson started the final round one
stroke behind Lyerly and Emmons after both sides
posted impressive rounds of 10-under-par 62 on
Saturday. Both teams started the final round a little
slow, but McNeill and Richardson were the first to put a
birdie on the card at the par-5 2nd, which moved them
into a tie for the lead. Their next birdie came at the par-
5 6th when McNeill hit it close in two and buried a short
birdie putt to move to the top of the leaderboard. After
Richardson’s birdie at the 7th, they stepped onto the
eighth tee with a two-stroke lead. Birdies by Lyerly on
No. 8 and No. 9 matched against McNeill and
Richardson’s pars on those holes meant the pairs were
tied at the top heading into the inward nine.
The two sides battled on the second nine. Lyerly
and Emmons struggled at the par-3 13th and were
forced to record a bogey while McNeill and Richardson
easily made par. At the drivable par-4 14th hole,
Richardson two-putted for birdie to move them to 23-
under-par. Lyerly, whose drive was a mere five feet
from the hole, sunk his eagle putt and propelled his side
to 22-under-par and one back of McNeill and
Richardson. A birdie at the par-5 16th took Lyerly and
Emmons to 23-under and the two sides finished with
pars on Nos. 17 and 18 to guarantee a playoff.
A lot of pars and four playoff holes later, McNeill
and Richardson hoisted the North Carolina Four-Ball
trophies. Richardson stuck his 103-yard approach on
the fourth playoff hole to three feet and made the short
birdie putt to clinch their first Carolinas Golf Association
championship as a team. After watching so many of his
putts roll over the lip, Richardson said “it was good to
just finally hit one close and not have to worry about
making a putt.”
After being so close in 2015, McNeill and
Richardson believed they had a good chance to come
back and win this year, but knew that Lyerly and
Emmons would be a challenge. “Those guys play every
day and it’s tough for us to get out here and compete
on a regular basis...it’s just fun to come out. They’re
great players and it looks like they’ve got a great road
ahead of them, but we had to come out and represent
the older guys out here.” The North Carolina Four-Ball is
their first Carolinas Golf Association championship as a
team and Richardson’s fourth Carolinas Golf Association
championship victory.
View results for North Carolina Four-Ball
ABOUT THE North Carolina Four-Ball
Open to any male amateur golfer 13 or older. Must
be
a
resident of North Carolina and a
member of a CGA member club. Format is 54 holes
of
four-ball stroke play with a cut to the low 30 scores
and ties.
View Complete Tournament Information