The Jacksonville pair of Steve Carter and Andy Purnell led the field of 48 teams after posting a 64 on the North/South Course in the first round. Carter and Purnell came out strong in the final round on the New Course making eight birdies on the front nine for a 28. With birdies on 13 and 14, Carter, the 2004 Mid-Amateur Champion, eagled the par 5, 17th hole and finished off with another birdie on the 18th hole for a 31 on the back nine. Carter says, “Today was a very good day, we had fun and remained focused on making birdies. After the 14th hole, our goal was to break 60 and we managed to do it.” Their final round score of 59 has only been accomplished once before by Randy Briggs and Daniel Owen in the 1996 Four-Ball Championship at World Woods. With a tournament total of 123, Carter and Purnell crushed the tournament record of 128 set back in 1999 by Joe Alfieri and Doug LaCrosse, also at Grand Cypress. “It feels wonderful,” says Carter. “Anytime you break a record, it’s a great feeling.” Carter and Purnell, the 2003 Match Play Champion and 2003 Player-of-the Year, paired up in 2003 to win the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball North Championship and now will go down in the record books with this victory.
Florida Junior Tour (FJT) members Chappell Brown and Robbie Wight, both from West Palm Beach, shot a 63 in the final round to jump into second place after being tied with six other teams for third place with a first round score of 67. Brown, 18, the current FJT boys 16-18 age division points leader, and Wight, 18, finished with a two-day total of 130.
This year’s Mid-Amateur Four-Ball South Champions, Brian Johnson, of Coral Springs, and Scott Brassard, from Hollywood, took third place recording a 67-64—131. After nine qualifying events across the state, teams advanced to compete on the Jack Nicklaus designed North/South Course and New Course in the Championship. The Championship also featured exempt teams who earned exempt status through different categories. In the Championship, participants play 36 holes of four-ball stroke play in the two-day event. In four-ball stroke play, two competitors play as partners, each playing his own ball. The lower score of the partners is the score for the hole.
