Bringing back Bright’s Creek Golf Results

The Amateur Players Tour-Upstate Chapter had a last minute venue change in light of some unscheduled work being done to the original course. A quick phone call and we secured Bright’s Creek Golf Club for a second time this year.

While we know our members take care of the courses we play and make an effort to fill in an extra divot, repair an extra pitch mark on the green and thank members for allowing us to play their course, new clubs to the schedule don’t know how our members make this type of effort. When the private courses and their members learn this about the Amateur Players Tour, being able to secure these great courses becomes easier.

The course is in excellent condition from tee to green. Although Bright’s Creek had it’s mid-summer green maintenance take place, the greens rolled as true as they did about a month ago.

In order to accommodate the course, we scheduled two days of tee times. Division 4 and 5 would play on Saturday while Divisions 1, 2 and 3 would play on Sunday. This did allow a greater number of players to enter than would be typical.

Saturday, July 24th, saw Divisions 4 and 5 take to the course.

Division 5 saw three players set the tone for the day. Derek Kemp, Danny Sullivan and Stephen Herbert played well on this challenging track. Derek Kemp (51-48-99) would make up some ground on his second nine but a wayward tee shot on 17 would diminish Derek’s chances as he finished third just outside the money line. Danny Sullivan (50-48-98) saving a shot on 9 from the deeper rough didn’t appear to be that significant at the time. That shot was more important than he realized as it allowed Danny to take solo second by a shot. Stephen Herbert (48-45-93) having finished second the week before would not be denied this week. Having set the pace after the opening 9, Stephen played the more difficult inward 9 with a respectable 45 to secure the win by 5 strokes.

Division 4 saw the top 4 all break 90 on an otherwise difficult day. Steve Daniels (46-43-89) kept himself near the top of the leaderboard all day until a 5 hole stretch late on the back 9 knocked him out of any chances he may have had. Steve finished solo 4th on the day. Jimmy Sullivan (47-41-88) made a charge on the back 9 to put some pressure on the leader. The seventeenth hole would show it’s teeth again as Jimmy was unable to navigate the hole and finished solo third. Joe Lee (45-41-86) found himself 4 back at the turn. Joe made a run on the back nine but dropped back on the final two holes to finish second. Sam Carpenter (41-41-82) would set the pace early and kept his momentum going on the back nine. Sam was able to navigate the difficult 17th and 18th finishing holes to secure a 4 shot victory.

Sunday, July 25th saw Divisions 1, 2 and 3 test their skill at Bright’s Creek.

Division 3 Saw two players separate themselves from the field, while two more players played chase all day with the leaders. Mat Miller (41-43-84) would keep the leaders in his sights most of the day. Putting together a solid front nine, would stumble off the 17th and 18th holes to finish solo fourth. Dan Ahlers (41-42-83) played fairly steady most of the day. A few doubles would set him back as he tried to keep pace with the leaders. Dan would settle for third with his three birdies to offset at least one of those doubles. Doug Dietz (41-37-78) would be the early clubhouse leader. Doug would double the difficult opening hole but settled into the round nicely. After making the turn, Doug found a little something in his game as he dropped a single shot with 8 pars on the back nine. Leaderboard watching and play hole updates were plentiful as Doug would keep everyone up to date in the scoring area. Doug would finish solo second by a single shot. John Andersen (38-39-77) played steady all day. John would drop 6 shots on the day offset by a single birdie, par was the goal the goal of the day. John secured his victory by a single shot and navigated the tough finishing holes without issue.

Division 2 would see a lot of movement throughout the day as the leaderboard shuffled often. Marc Jans van Rensburg (40-39-79), a.k.a. JvR, kept pace with the leaders after the outward nine. Needing a little magic on the back nine wasn’t able to get a few putts to fall and settled for fourth. Bobby Ream (39-39-78) played a solid front nine to put himself in position for the win. Bobby’s back nine was a little more exciting as he erased his double on 13 with birdies in 10 and 16 to finish in third. Tom Cone (36-41-77) set the pace on the front nine with a bogie offset by a birdie on seven. Tom kept the pace going on the back until the difficult 17th and 18th holes derailed his chances. Tom’s efforts were still good for a solo second. Wesley Jones (37-39-76) kept his good play going at Bright’s Creek. Wesley found himself one shot back after the front nine. With his driver working well, Wesley navigated the back nine better than most of the field to claim his third victory of the year.

Division 1 saw the leaderboard hold steady all day as the players settled into the round. Paying out the top three spots, positioned themselves for victory. After the front nine, four shots separated those five players. When the dust settled, Tom Chambers (36-41-77), Wally Love (38-39-77) and Jody Clary (40-37-77) would all tie for third. Using the USGA tie breaker, Jody Clary would claim third on the scorecard playoff. Daniel Jackson (38-36-74) couldn’t get a putt to fall for most of the day until the 12th hole. As Daniel reached the 18th hole and a quick check of the leaderboard, Daniel figured he needed to birdie to stand a chance. The 18th hole would prove difficult yet again as Daniel bogied the hole to finish two over. Scott Roberts (36-38-74) played his typical steady golf on the front nine. The back nine proved to be a bit more challenging for the multi-time winner as he bogied 3 out the last four holes stepping on to the 18th tee. Knowing he needed a birdie to tie Daniel, Scott welcomed the challenge and birdied the 18th to force a playoff.

Both Daniel and Scott headed off to the first hole to settle the tie. Both players hit decent third shots into the green. Scott would miss his birdie attempt and settle for par. Daniel had an opening. He was due as he hadn’t been able to get the ball to fall in the hole all day. And that quickly, his 20 foot birdie attempt dropped to secure the win.

Thank you to all our members and guests, representing six different APT Chapters, for joining us at Bright’s Creek Country Club!

Thank you Bright’s Creek, their members and their staff for welcoming the Amateur Players Tour and helping us make this event a success while showcasing the course.

Tournament Reports

Pace of Play Report (average): 
Saturday
4 hours and 33 minutes (-7 minutes)

Sunday  
4 hours and 43 minutes (+3 minutes)

Skins and Pins Report:

Closest to Pin:

Saturday: 19 out of 21 players - Pot $95

Sunday: 48 out of 52 players - Pot $240

Saturday Flight Skins Division 4/5

20 out of 21 players – Pot  $500
Scott Bryant #3 (birdie)  $84
Joe Lee #16 (birdie)  $84
Wayne-O Bishop #6 (birdie)  $84
Jimmy Sullivan #13 (birdie)  $84
Daniel Cash #7 (birdie)  $84
Ellis Williams III #5 (par)  $84

Sunday Flight Skins Division 1/2/3

50 out of 52 players - Pot $1,250
AJ Jackson #18 (Eagle)  $208
Travis Powell #4 (birdie)  $208
Mike Oliverio #17 (birdie)  $208
Bobby Ream #10 (birdie)  $208
Dan Ahlers #9 (birdie)  $208
Jason Breedlove #14 (birdie)  $208

Upcoming Tournaments

Charlotte Chapter:

July 31 (Saturday): Warrior Golf Club – Double Tee
Registration

August 7 (Saturday): Cabarrus Country Club
Registration

August 16 (Monday): TPC Piper Glen
Registration

Upstate Chapter:

August 14 (Saturday): Woodfin Ridge Golf Club
Registration

Carolina Triad Chapter:

August 30 (Monday): The Club at 12 Oaks
Registration

With the summer travel season upon us, be sure to review the entire schedule. With the player of the Year points battles heating up, there is still plenty of time to make a run up the standings.
National Schedule | Amateur Players Tour (bluegolf.com)