Team Carolinas
(VSGA Photo)

Buoyed by a dominating performance in Saturday singles, the Carolinas squad rallied from a three-point deficit to defeat the Virginias team 25½-22½ at Kinloch Golf Club and retain the Captain’s Putter.

The Captain’s Putter Matches pit top amateurs from the Virginia State Golf Association and West Virginia Golf Association against top amateurs from the Carolinas Golf Association, representing both North and South Carolina. The Carolinas won back-to-back Captain’s Putters for the first time since 2009-10 and won on Virginias soil for the first time since winning at Bayville Golf Club in Virginia Beach in 2010.

“The Virginias had gotten the best of us the last several years, so it’s rewarding to get a win on their turf,” Carolinas regular Joe Jaspers said. The Virginias had won four straight years before the Carolinas snapped that streak with a win in 2015. Jaspers beat Keith Decker 3 and 2 Saturday. “It came down to the wire. It was rewarding to come back and pull out a win.”

The Carolinas earned 15 points in 24 singles matches, finishing with 14 wins and two halves. In 14 regulars matches, the Carolinas earned 8½ points. The Carolinas took home 4½ points in six senior singles matches, and the Carolinas swept the two super senior matches.

The youngest player in the field, 17-year-old Nicholas Lyerly of Salisbury, N.C., picked up one of those wins, topping Sam O’Dell of Hurricane, W. Va., 2 and 1 in a tightly contested match. Earlier this year, Lyerly became the youngest player ever to win the North Carolina Amateur.

Lyerly, a high-school senior who will play college golf at UNC Greensboro, went 1-1-1 this weekend.

“First of all, it was a great experience, something new,” Lyerly said. “It was really exciting to represent the Carolinas. I just wanted to at least pick up a couple of points for them, so that way, they wouldn’t regret picking me.”

Singles matches winners for the Virginias regulars were Jeffrey Long (Evergreen CC), who defeated Austin Zoller 2 and 1; Vincent Nadeau (Spring Creek GC), who beat Tyler Lucas 2 and 1; Pat Carter (Huntington, W. Va.), who bested David Gies II 3 and 2; Jon Hurst (Fredericksburg CC), who topped Paul Tucker 2 and 1; and Scott Shingler (Evergreen CC), who handled Matthew Crenshaw 6 and 4.

Adam Horton (Elizabeth Manor G&CC) earned a half point against Parker Dudley.

For the Virginias seniors, the winners were Harold Payne (Hurricane, W. Va.), who beat Jim Pearson 1 up; James Gallagher (Tidewater Amateur Golf Tour), a 2-and-1 winner over Walter Todd; and Matt Sughrue (1757 GC), who beat Steve Liebler 2 and 1. Leon Roday (Kinloch GC) earned a half point against Preston Edmondson.

View results for Captain's Putter Matches