Walters Wins Inaugural CPGA Women’s Championship on Second Playoff Hole
(Southern Pines, NC) – 13 women competed at the Inaugural CPGA Women’s Championship at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, NC, but in the end, only one could be crowned the champion. Throughout the 36 hole tournament, all of these women put up great performances, but Bentwinds Golf and Country Club Professional Evelyn Walters, PGA eventually secured the title on the second playoff hole.
After the first day of competition, the top of the leaderboard was crowded, and it would remain that way until the very end, as no woman could pull away from the rest of the field. Walters was one of the co-leaders at 18 holes, and played a solid round on day two, but fantastic second rounds by Briana Niemann, PGA of Kiawah Island Club – Cassique and Kennedy Ramsey of River Run Country Club created a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at the end of regulation.
The three women remained deadlocked after the first playoff hole, but a par on the second playoff hole by Walters gave her the championship.
A few strokes behind the leaders, Mary Thomas, PGA of Bermuda Run Country Club and Abby Byrd, PGA of Bald Head Island Club finished the tournament tied for fourth place.
We want to send a big thank you to all of the fantastic women who made this event possible, as well as the Pine Needles staff and our supporting partners, which you can read more about below.
Closest-to-the-Pin Contest:
CORKCICLE COOLER
Mary Thomas – No. 13 at 7’ 10”
Supporting Partners
CORKCICLE
Corkcicle’s Canteens, Tumblers, Stemless Wine Cups, Mugs, and Tumbler Straws are completely reusable, so you can feel good about making them part of your every day.
Yamaha
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Maui Jim
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About Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club
Pine Needles’ award-winning golf course is the first in the nation to be awarded four U.S. Women’s Open Championships. Named the #4 golf course in the state by Golfweek, the course was designed by the legendary Donald Ross in 1927, and it was meticulously restored by Kyle Franz in 2017. Today, the course spans more than 7,000 yards with each rolling hill and fairway bunker reimagined to reflect the challenges Ross envisioned nearly a century ago.
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 700 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 Jess Hanson, Director of Marketing, at 336-398-2675 or jhanson@pgahq.com.