Davis Womble (Carolinas Golf Association Photo)
Davis Womble of Winston-Salem, N.C., wins the 44th Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship at the Country Club of Salisbury in Salisbury, N.C. Womble shot rounds of 66-64-71 to finish 12-under and won in the third playoff hole against Matt Schall of Matthews, N.C. to get his name added to this memorial trophy for a second time.
Womble started the tournament strong in Round 1 with a bogey-free scorecard. He had two birdies on his first nine and started his second nine with a streak of three birdies in a row on holes No. 1, 2, and 3 to finish with a round of 5-under 66 for the day.
This put him just two strokes back from Round 1 leader Jacques Wilson of Charleston, S.C., at 7-under.
In Round two, Womble came in with another bogey-free round, this time with an eagle included. He started his round with three birdies on holes No. 1, 2, and 3 again. With two more birdies and an eagle on hole 15, he carded an impressive round of 7-under, 64.
Womble headed into the Final Round at 12-under with a four-stroke lead over Wilson and Jake McGlone of Charlotte, N.C., sitting T2 at 8-under.
“I hit it fantastic," Womble said. "I kept it in play. I decided to play pretty conservatively this week just because the course was playing really fast, so I wanted to give myself a lot of 100-125-yard shots into the green. So I kept it in play pretty much on every hole, and when I was out of play, I got it in front of me. I gave myself a lot of good looks for birdie.”
In Saturday's Final Round, Womble began strong again, making three birdies within his first four holes. He made the turn at 15-under, still having not made a bogey in 45 holes of play. Womble had the lead by six strokes at one point in the Final Round, but Schall came into the picture towards the end of the back nine.
Schall was in the second to last group on Saturday, starting the Final Round at 6-under, six strokes back from Womble. However, Schall had an incredible round of 65 on Saturday, so with the combination of a few bogeys from Womble and a few birdies from Schall, there was a playoff after they both finished at a three-day total of 12-under.
Womble and Schall tied the first two playoff holes, but on the third playoff hole, Womble made an up-and-down to save par and win the tournament.
When asked how he felt before and during the playoffs, Womble shared, “I did my best not to get too down on myself after the finish. I honestly didn’t exactly know where I was at. I didn’t really hit any bad shots; I just got in some tricky spots and didn’t execute coming down the stretch.
"Going into the playoff, I was able to go right out and stay pretty warm. I hit some okay shots. Matt hit some really good shots and good putts that just didn’t go in. And then on the third playoff hole, he was just the first to get it out of position and unfortunately wasn’t able to get it up and down, and I was able to get the win.”
Womble won the Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship in 2022, so he is now a two-time Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship winner and a 6x CGA champion.
“It’s cool to win again. I made it a lot more interesting today. I went into a playoff against my teammate Cyrus Stewart a couple of years ago and took a playoff again today, so I wish it could be a little more stress-free, but I’m still happy to get it done,” Womble said regarding how it feels to win this tournament for a second time.
“It’s always cool to win a CGA event. It really just notifies me that I’m playing well going into the year and getting a little competitive juice flowing early in the year is always a good thing.”
Behind Schall who finished in second place, Dan Walters of Winston-Salem, N.C. finished in third place with a three-day total of 203, 10-under.
View results for Carolinas Mid-Amateur
ABOUT THE
Carolinas Mid-Amateur
The Carolinas Mid-Amateur Championship format is
54 holes of
stroke play. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the low
60 scores and
ties. Entry is open to any male golfer who has
reached his 30th
birthday, is a legal resident of North or South
Carolina, is a
member in good standing of a club which is a
member of the
Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) and has a current
USGA Handicap
Index® at a member club that does not exceed 7.4.
View Complete Tournament Information