Carolinas - Virginias Team Matches: Final Results
WEST END, NC (Oct. 15, 2008) — The Carolinas Golf Association will be shooting for its fourth straight victory when the 63rd Carolinas-Virginias Team Matches are played at the Country Club of Virginia's James River Course in Richmond, VA, Oct. 17-18.
The Team Matches are a Ryder Cup-like event featuring a 24-man team of top regular and senior amateur players from North and South Carolina against their counterparts from the Virginia and West Virginia. The matches, conducted jointly by the Carolinas Golf Association and the Virginia State Golf Association, consist of modified alternate shot, four-ball match play, and singles competitions with one point at stake in each match.
The Carolinas leads 45-16-1 all-time in the series, including a stretch from 1971-87 during which the Carolinas team reeled off 17 straight victories.
In recent years, the teams have been much more competitive, with the Virginias winning three straight times from 2002-2004 until the 2005 team, led by playing captain Paul Simson of Raleigh, prevailed by a seven-point margin. Their 32-16 victory last year at Old Town Club in Winston-Salem, NC was the third in a row for the Carolinas side.
Simson, although eligible age-wise to compete as a senior for the third straight year, will be back as a member of the "regular" Carolinas team, which will be headed by non-playing captain T. Arnold Edwards of Charlotte.
VSGA points leader Roger Newsom of Virginia Beach and seven-time VSGA golfer of the year Keith Decker (Martinsville) headline the 24 golfers who will represent the Virginias team in Richmond. The top-ranked amateur in the commonwealth in ’08, Newsom won this summer’s SunTrust State Open of Virginia as well as the VSGA Four-Ball Championship and the Portsmouth City Amateur Championship.
He was also a finalist at this summer’s VSGA Amateur Championship. Decker, meanwhile, won the W. Townes Lea and Chatmoss invitationals, was the runner-up at the VSGA Four-Ball Championship and competed in the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst Resort.
VSGA past president Harry Lea of Danville, VA will lead the Virginias team for a second straight year.
--Courtesy CGA
View results for Captain's Putter Matches
ABOUT THE Captain's Putter Matches
The Captain’s Putter is an annual set of matches
pitting top golfers from North
Carolina and South Carolina (Carolinas Golf
Association) against top players
from Virginia and West Virginia (Virginia State Golf
Association and West
Virginia State Golf Association). Rosters contain 14
regular, 8 senior (age 55+)
and 2 super senior (65+) players. The matches
consist of two days of
competition, with opening round four-ball and
foursome matches, followed by
final day singles matches. A victory in each match
scores one point in the
Ryder Cup-style format, and if a match goes 18
holes without a decision, one-half point is awarded to
each side.
View Complete Tournament Information