Former James Kenan High School head football coach Ken Avent Jr. is the reigning Senior Division champion in the Wayne County Golf Amateur. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
A former All-American at Barton College, Jonathan Burke is the two-time defending Open Division player in the Wayne County Golf Amateur. He is seeks his eighth title when play begins Friday at Walnut Creek Country Club. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Slow and steady wins the race.
The adage holds significant reverence during the highly-competitive Wayne County Golf Amateur, which celebrates its silver (25th) anniversary this weekend.
“What an event that those guys came up with who were on the first WCGA committee and what a great way to grow golf in Wayne County,” said Jeremy Joyner, current WCGA president. “People who have played in other tournaments in the state want to know how they can get into our tournament because there is envy of how well our tournament has done every year.
“We are looking forward to another great WCGA.”
Play begins Friday morning at picturesque Walnut Creek Country Club.
The first foursome of Jim Alford, Roland Gurley, Howard Tyndall and John Zambelli tee off at 7:50 a.m. They’ve combined to win 15 amateur titles since 2011.
Zambelli leads the way with nine.
Tyndall is the lone golfer to emerge as an amateur champ in three divisions – Senior, Super Senior and Masters.
“What a pairing,” Joyner said. “You’ve got a lot of quality golfers in the Masters division. It’s going to be a good three days of competition for them this weekend.”
Round two is Saturday at Goldsboro Golf Course, while the final round is Sunday at Southern Wayne Country Club.
Back to defend their 2022 crowns are Jonathan Burke (Open), Ken Avent Jr. (Senior), Dave Davis (Super Senior) and Roland Gurley (Masters). Burke and Gurley each seek a “three-peat” – which has never been done in either of their divisions.
Burke is eyeing his eighth championship.
Though the former All-American at Barton says his “competitive edge” has diminished, he’s “just excited to be able to play” and knows three consistent rounds of golf are paramount on each course.
“It’s obviously an honor to have been able to play and win it that many times,” said Burke, who is the current club champion at SWCC. “When I was younger, it meant a lot more to you than it does now. When you get married, have kids, life changes.
“Walnut Creek is definitely tricky, can sneak up and bite you. If I don’t play my best, I’ve still got 36 holes to make up some ground on the other two courses where I like to play. If I’m in good shape going into Sunday, I would feel pretty confident about that.”
All three layouts offer unique challenges.
Walnut Creek has rolling greens that require precision on the greens. Tighyt, tree-lined fairways at GGC can become unforgiving if accuracy off the tee becomes a struggle. Players need a solid iron game to tame SWCC.
Joyner said a tournament-record 91 competitors make up the Open division.
“We’ve got a lot Open participants, which is the lifeblood [of the WCGA] and for the second year in a row, we have a full field of 144 golfers,” Joyner said. “The courses in rotation are really good courses and I think people enjoy playing them. We’ve gotten through COVID, golf is on the upswing and it’s definitely helping our tournament grow.
“The amateur is going in the right direction.”
Due to low interest, WCGA organizers cancelled the women’s division for this year and hope to generate more interest for the 2024 event.
Karsyn Roberts won the 2022 title.
“Hopefully, we can get that going again next year,” said Parker King, WCGA vice president. “I’m disappointed because I really want our women golfers to be a part of this. There are some really good players out there. We have talked to some of the ladies and will work with them to see what we can do to bring it back next year.”
