Four Takes on the 2025 CGA Schedule

Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

If you’re looking for TGL reactions, you’ve come to the wrong place! This week’s 2DP is all about outdoor golf - feels like a strange detail to need to specify.

A combination of the post-holiday return-to-work, bad weather, and watching golf at Kapalua has me looking forward to the warmer months ahead. This week’s newsletter aims to help all you tournament golf dreamers get fired up for the season, as we’re diving deep on the recently released 2025 Carolinas Golf Association calendar. Let’s get to it.

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Breaking Down the 2025 CGA Tournament Schedule

The Carolinas Golf Association schedule is live! For those unfamiliar, the CGA is the regional golf association for North/South Carolina and organizes many of the region’s biggest amateur championships. Here are my four quick reactions to the recent release (Men’s here, Women’s here):

Men’s Mid-Am Venues Steal the Show

I’ve checked the archive and it’s confirmed - this is the best pair of Mid-Am venues in recent history. Both the 2025 Carolinas Mid-Amateur and North Carolina Mid-Amateur Championships will be held on recently renovated courses with Donald Ross roots.

The Carolinas Mid-Amateur will be held in April at Waynesville Inn & Golf Club, a course situated about 30 miles from Asheville. Waynesville has a jumbled architectural history (with some original Ross holes and others added later), but a Bobby Weed renovation completed in 2023 has this mountain resort back on the map.

Southern Pines Golf Club will host September’s North Carolina Mid-Amateur. This long-neglected, brilliantly routed Ross course in the Pinehurst area was acquired by the Pine Needles/Mid Pines ownership group in 2020 and underwent a transformative Kyle Franz restoration in 2021.

Both courses are publicly accessible, so if you don’t meet the handicap cutoff or miss out on qualifying, get your calendar out and plan a trip - both are well worth a visit. It’s a great day to be a Mid-Am!

Carolinas Am Host Selection Misses the Mark

Up until ~48 hours ago, the host site for the Carolinas Amateur was marked “TBA,” which had me worried. It was odd to see the biggest tournament on the calendar as one of a few without a confirmed host site.

This is the CGA’s flagship event, and recent history seemed to indicate a renewed commitment to taking the tournament to our region’s best courses. Recent hosts of this event include Pine Needles, Charlotte Country Club, and Biltmore Forest, while CCNC and Country Club of Charleston are both slated for future dates.

The announcement of Pinehurst No. 7 as this year’s venue won’t elicit the same level of excitement from potential participants. It’s pure speculation, but I wonder if the late announcement is a sign organizers were struggling to find a host site up to the task. While there is appeal to playing in Pinehurst, the truth is this Rees Jones design might not crack the top 50 in a ranking of North Carolina courses.

Generations Collide at Women’s Championships

It’s cool to see concurrent events at the same course on the Women’s side (this year’s North Carolina Women’s Amateur, Senior, and Super Senior are scheduled for this format). This isn’t new for 2024, but I love the concept of bringing together players of all ages. Simply watching more experienced players hit balls on the range, prepare for their round, or interact with playing partners can be an invaluable learning experience for the younger generation.

This reminds me of the recent Sandbelt Invitational in Australia, where an elite, eclectic field (men and women, professionals and amateurs, seniors, juniors, and everything in between) competes over some of the country’s best courses. Great model to follow and kudos to the CGA for this approach.

CGA Gets Creative with USGA Host Sites

With the CGA schedule comes the first wave of USGA qualifying information. There are some new and exciting names on the docket for 2025, including Solina Golf Club (ownership group includes YouTube/Pro Golf stars George and Wesley Bryan), Eagle Point Golf Club (home of the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship and one of the best locker rooms in the state), and Woodlake Country Club (recently reopened after a Kris Spence renovation). Looking forward to seeing how these venues hold up for qualifying.

MORE CGA

CGA news and notes will be a staple of Two Down Press content in 2025. Stay tuned for:

• Recommendations for those looking to start playing CGA events.

• Notes on the CGA One-Day schedule.

• Reminders about registration deadlines.

• Reactions to CGA Championship results.

• A CGA-focused Q&A!

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