Morton holds lead to Win 95th BB&T Carolinas Open
(Greensboro, NC) – Play is complete and a champion has been crowned at the 95th BB&T Carolinas Open. The weather and course conditions could not have been more perfect for the competitive play in today’s final round.
Rick Morton held his lead from the second round through today, playing consistent and strong as tough competition battled to pass him on the leaderboard. Shooting a 2-under 70 today, Morton finished at the top with a three-day total of 205 (-11). After finishing second in this event for years, he took a sigh of relief to hold the trophy in the winner’s circle. Morton attributes his success to his new and improved putting. “I switched to the claw putting grip about a month ago and my putting has improved tremendously.” With only 23 putts in the second round, it seems that sure has helped him reach the top level of his game. With a short par putt on the 18th hole to win, Morton reflects: “It was only a foot and a half, but I was nervy over that last putt!” The nerves didn’t show as he sunk his putt, leading to his victory.
Finishing as the Low Amateur for the event and in the T-2 position, Stephen Carroll, the rising junior at East Carolina University, fought hard in his round today. Carroll shot 68 in today’s round to finish one shot back from Morton at 10-under 206 for his 54 holes. With Carroll is PGA Professional Rohan Allwood who also shot 68 to finish 10-under.
Three players finished T-6 at 8-under, three shots back from the lead. Addison Manning, the rising junior at Guilford College, played hard in his second and third round, shooting 67-68 to push him into this position. With him is Spencer Oxendine (a) and Chris Haarlow, PGA, both shooting 69 in today’s round to secure their position towards the top of the leaderboard.
Only one skin was won in the PGA Professional contest during this first round. Randy Chunn birdied hole 8 to take home $590. Three skins were won in the PGA Professional contest during the second round. Josh May made an eagle on the par-5 13th hole; Charles Frost made a birdie on the par-3 3rd hole; and Billy Anderson had a hole-in-one on the par-3 5th hole!
Thanks to True Temper, there was one lucky winner of the closest-to-the-hole competition on hole #2. Scott Campbell hit it to 3’6”; great shot, Scott! Some other highlights from the day include three eagles from the entire field, all on hole 18. Nice eagles by Carter Cook (a), Dawson Daniels (a), and John Massei (a).
There was some excitement on the par-3 5th hole in the second round as Billy Anderson, Director of Golf at Eagle Point Golf Club, made a hole-in-one! Great shot, Billy!
A huge thank you to Bud Taylor, PGA, Director of Golf at Greensboro Country Club, and his entire team for helping make this event such a success. We also thank the Superintendent, Brooks Turner and his team for maintaining such an outstanding track for the players. “This golf course is a wonderful course. I think it’s one of the best in the Carolinas. Thanks for having us!” said Champion, Rick Morton. There were numerous positive comments and we thank this wonderful host!
The 95th Carolinas Open Presented by BB&T is an official Bob Boyd CPGA Player of the Year Award Presented by OMEGA points event. Additionally, PGA Professionals’ scores count toward the CPGA Johnny Palmer Trophy Presented by True Temper.
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Presenting Partner – BB&T
Building on a tradition of excellence in community banking that stretches back to 1872, BB&T continues to offer clients a complete range of financial services including banking, lending, insurance, trust, and wealth management solutions. We invite you to learn more about us, our company, and our philosophy.
Supporting Partner – Daly Seven Hotels
Since the humble beginning of the first Innkeeper property, the company has established a history and reputation for successful development and management of hotel properties. In 1988, the company further expanded its hotel portfolio by adding franchised properties representing Marriott, Hilton and InterContinental Hote group brands. This growth currently includes over 35 hotels in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Daly Seven continues to seek opportunities to expand its portfolio, and currently has several properties under development and are under contract to purchase additional existing properties.
Supporting Partner – Under Armour
UnderArmour Golf provides men and women’s apparel. The technology behind Under Armour’s diverse product assortment for men, women and youth is complex, but the program for reaping the benefits is simple: wear HeatGear® when it’s hot, ColdGear® when it’s cold, and AllSeasonGear® between the extremes.
Under Armour’s mission is to make all athletes better through passion, design and the relentless pursuit of innovation.
https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/sports/golf
Supporting Partner – True Temper
The leading manufacturer of golf shafts in the world, True Temper Sports is consistently the number one golf shaft on all professional tours globally.
True Temper will award the champion and the winner of the closest the pin contest a custom set of shafts.
Supporting Partner – Tagmarshal
Having improved 7 million rounds of golf, adding data and research value to major associations and powered by learnings and insights from some of the world’s top golf operations, Tagmarshal turns your pace into an asset. Easy to use and loved by players, course staff and committees in 9 countries including USA, Canada, UK and Europe. Tagmarshal is an Irish company with a US set-up in Atlanta GA.
The technology provides golf courses with the tools to actively pursue consistent and high quality player experiences via better on-course field flow, excellent pace of play, optimized set-ups and easier management. Improve efficiencies, save costs and increase revenue with actionable data and intuitive technology.
Greensboro Country Club – Farm Course
Fortunate to have a Donald Ross designed Irving Park course started in 1911 and a Donald Steel redesign for the Farm Course, Greensboro Country Club offers a unique golfing experience for the accomplished golfer and the novice. With Irving Park presenting a narrow corridor of fairways and Ross green complexes and the Farm Course a bigger course lengthening to over 7300 yards, our members enjoy a variety in challenges for their golf games. A beautiful practice area with expansive hitting areas assures manicured turf for the diligent linksters. Short game area and practice putting green are available for full game improvement.
About Carolinas PGA
Since its inception in 1923, the Carolinas PGA Section has been committed to nurturing and improving the quality of the game for the thousands of golfers using its member facilities. Now the largest of the PGA’s forty-one sections, the Carolinas PGA Section of the Professional Golfers’ Association boasts over 2,000 professional members and represents more than 550 golf facilities within North and South Carolina as well as portions of southern Virginia.
PGA professionals are responsible for conducting a variety of golf-related functions which include human resource management, golf shop merchandising, golf instruction, tournament operations, junior golf programs, growth of the game initiatives, golf club repair, administering the rules, public relations and much more. For more information, contact Sally Morgan, PGA, Director of Marketing at 336-398-2675 or smorgan@pgahq.com.