Cameron Young took control while Alex Smalley dropped from contention at the Cadillac Championship, but Smalley remains in position to make a Signature leap on the PGA TOUR.
With his strong performance this weekend in South Florida, Smalley likely will qualify for next weekend’s Truist Championship, a Signature Event offering a $20 million purse to a field of about 80 players.
Otherwise, the Duke graduate who lives in Jamestown, would be one of 132 players competing for $4 million at the Myrtle Beach Classic.
Smalley shot 73 Saturday at Doral to drop from a tie for second into a tie for eighth, eight strokes behind Young. Thanks to a strong finish last week in the two-man Zurich Championship, Smalley held the No. 4 position in the Aon Swing 5, which takes the top five players in the last five non-Signature events.
Young shot 70 Saturday to improve to 15-under-par 201 through 54 holes.
Though Young, a former Wake Forest standout, has a six-stroke lead entering Sunday’s final round, he’ll play with Scottie Scheffler, the closest competitor, in the final group at 9:42 a.m. Tee times were moved up due to a forecast of inclement weather.
UNC Greensboro golfer Kelvin Hernandez won medalist honors for the second straight year Thursday at the Southern Conference Championship at Solina Golf Club, a course owned by YouTube stars Wes and George Bryan near Columbia, South Carolina.
Hernandez shot 9-under-par 204 for 54 holes. The Spartans shot 9-over to finish fourth in the team standings, 14 strokes behind champion Chattanooga.
With the victory, Hernandez will move on to the NCAA Regionals, probably at Bermuda Run Country Club.
The Triad boasted two names at the top of the leaderboard with Jordan Spieth on Thursday after the first round of the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship at Doral’s Blue Monster.
Cameron Young, a former Wake Forest standout, shot 64 on the Blue Monster to take a one-stroke lead over Alex Smalley, a Duke graduate who lives in Jamestown and plays out of Sedgefield Country Club. Spieth is tied with Smalley, who tied for second playing with Hayden Springer at the Zurich Classic.
Several of the Tour’s elite in are in the field in South Florida for the $20-million Signature event.
North Carolina women’s golf programs were given their assignments Tuesday for the six NCAA regionals on May 11-13.
UNC, N.C. State and High Point will play at Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, where the Tar Heels are the No. 2 seed behind Texas. Wake Forest will serve as No. 2 seed behind Florida State at Tallahassee. Duke is the No. 2 seed at the University of Michigan.
The top five teams in each of the 12-team regionals will advance to the NCAA Championship May 22-27 at Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
Zoe Duval of Appalachian State, Victoria Levy of UNC Wilmington and Carolina Patterson of UNC Asheville were among the six individuals selected to play at Finley. Virginia Tech, with Mebane’s Emily Mathews, and Western Kentucky, with Greensboro freshman Leah Edwards, will play at the University of Louisville.
Virginia pulled out a victory over North Carolina Monday to advance to the final of the ACC Match Play Championship at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club near Panama City, Florida. The Cavaliers triumphed over Stanford 3-1 in the afternoon for the championship
The third-ranked Cavaliers finished a few holes of a close contest with the eighth-ranked Tar Heels, winning 3-2 in a semifinal suspended by darkness Sunday. Andrew Riley and Carson Bertagnole won matches for UNC. Stanford had won the stroke play portion of the tournament.
Anthony Baker and Steve Kidd shot rounds of 61 Saturday and 66 Sunday to win the 2026 Spring Two-Ball Tournament at Lexington Golf Club at 15-under-par 127.
Michael Swaringen and Ryan Burke finished second at 131 followed by Jamie Gilley/Brant Stovall; Cade Cranfield/Brady McIntyre; and Derek Lipe/William Little at 135.
The field attracted 94 players on 47 two-player teams.
(This is the second of a new weekly feature on TriadGolf.com. Each weekend, editor/publisher John Brasier will share his experience that week playing at a Triad course open to the public.)
Lexington Golf Club isn’t the longest or most difficult golf course in the Triad. But it might be the most loved.
Built in 1938 by former Carolinas PGA president Dugan Aycock, the municipal course is the center of golf activity in Lexington and beyond. The property, part of a nice tree-filled neighborhood not far from the center of downtown Lexington, attracts not only players from Davidson County, but draws from as far away as Charlotte and Greensboro.
This past weekend, Lexington played host to a best-ball tournament. Later in the year, the calendar always includes the Davidson County Championship and the Barbecue Festival Tournament, which fills up far in advance.
Measuring only 6,116 yards from the tips, Lexington is deceptively challenging, but can be enjoyed by all levels of players. The hilly terrain (blind shots and fairways that seem generous, but often have sharp slopes heading toward woods) as well as challenging, undulating greens defend par against big hitters. Missed greens often leave difficult chips to putting surfaces perched atop a hill bank.
Shots rolling through the green on the par-3 16th face either a difficult chip or a penalty.
Not too long for beginners, Lexington is an ideal layout for low-handicap seniors and other good players who lack the distance to tackle 7,000 yards.
The course is typically kept in mint condition. The routing, fairways and greens complexes are championship caliber. Bring a range finder, marked sprinkler heads are hard to find.
It’s not always possible to get a morning weekday time or a weekend time at Lexington — and with good reason.
This was only my second round at Lexington, but I’ve covered some tournaments there. Playing April 25 in the midst of a drought, I found well-grassed Bermuda fairways — they should be dark green in a few weeks) with the Champion Bermuda greens surfaces, new last year, smooth and in mint condition. If there was a rough spot on the course, it was covered by new sod brought in to fix it.
The course’s bunkers, often cut into mounds, were meticulously edged. Late on Saturday, I didn’t see a single footprint in the sand — as I mentioned earlier, the regulars love their course.
The cost for Saturday afternoon was $33, including cart. The early times on weekends are $41, including cart. Take $15 off if you choose to walk (several players do). Greens fees are $19 and $24 (add $15 for cart) on weekdays. The all-day senior rate, including cart on weekdays is $28.
Though an everyman’s facility, patrons often fill a separate room with chairs and a TV in the brick pro shop. The atmosphere is friendly, homey and clean, but non-pretentious. On my unannounced arrival, I found golf pro Dylan Dawson washing returned carts.
Soft drinks and sports drinks in 24-ounce bottles sell for $2.50. Needing a few balls, I paid $4 per ball ($48 per dozen) for three new Pro VIs with logos. That’s a good deal considering a dozen new Pro V1s retail for $58.
Playing as a single, my Saturday afternoon round, coming after the first round of the course’s Spring 2 Ball tournament, took only 3 hours, 15 minutes. There were players on the course, but the pace was comfortable. My timing was good. The threat of a storm teased throughout the back nine, perhaps speeding play and discouraging a few potential afternoon players.
The rolling terrain makes it important to land the ball in the correct portion of the fairways.
Playing the 5,661-yard white tees (I should have played blue), Lexington got the best of me. Though there was plenty of grass, the hard ground was difficult to navigate for a stranger. On the second hole, a 295-yard dogleg left with a creek in front of green, I hit a nice draw with a 4-iron that I watched roll all the way through the fairway into the creek.
It was that kind of day. I should have kept hitting irons off the tees, though my best drive made it to the front fringe on No. 13, a 316-yard hole. Some of the pin positions were especially tough, possibly due to the best-ball tournament.
My favorite holes were No. 9, a 393-yard uphill par-4 with the flag, but not the green visible on the approach; and Nos. 11 and 16, two downhill par-3s measuring 218 and 182 yards, respectively.
Driving home, rain started to fall. Maybe the fairways will be softer this week.
I’m telling myself that I caught Lexington on a tough day. At least, I hope I did. But I’m looking forward to returning with improved swing and course management. I can understand the love felt by the regulars.
North Carolina is on the verge of advancing to the final round of the ACC Men’s Championship
The Tar Heels trailed Virginia 3-2 with a handful of holes left when play was suspended by darkness about 8 p.m. CDT Sunday at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club near Panama City, Florida. None of the matches have been completed. Four of the five matches are either tied or within a single hole.
The semifinals, delayed by weather problems during the afternoon, will continue Monday morning followed by by the championship match.
Meanwhile, Stanford, which dominated the 54-hole, stroke-play section of the tournament, was tied with Florida State. The Seminoles have a 2-1 lead in matches completed, but Stanford has the lead in one of the two still underway, and another is tied.
UNC beat Clemson 3-2 in Sunday’s quarterfinals. Virginia defeated Louisville 3.5-1.5. Stanford triumphed over Duke 4-1 and Florida State knocked off Georgia Tech 3-2.
With a little help from his brother, another Wake Forest golfer has full-time status on the PGA Tour.
Alex Fitzpatrick teamed with older brother Matt Fitzpatrick to win the Zurich Classic Sunday and the two-year exemption that comes with it. Tied for the lead with only the par-5 18th hole to play, Matt hit a long bunker shot within tap-in distance for a winning birdie.
Despite struggling after leading by four shots entering the back nine with shots that hit trees and cart paths, and another that embedded in the bunker of a fairway bunker, the Irish brothers won with a birdie putt on the 72nd hole for a 31-under-par total at TPC Louisiana.
The Fitzpatricks shot 1-under 71 in Sunday’s alternate-shot format. Their wild back nine included a double-bogey at No. 12 after an errant tee shot and an attempted recovery shot that bounced backward after hitting a tree. Players played best-ball on Thursday and Saturday
Though it was the second straight PGA Tour for Matt, the 2022 U.S. Open winner, who prevailed in a playoff last week at the Heritage Classic against Rory McIlroy. Alex, 27, had won on the DP World Tour is his last start.
The Fitzpatricks edged Jamestown resident Alex Smalley and his partner Hayden Springer as well as Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura, the teams that tied for second place.
At the Zurich Classic, 62 isn’t always good enough. And that was the case Saturday for Jamestown’s Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer, who fell four shots behind brothers Alex and Matt Fitzpatrick, who shot 57 in best-ball Saturday at the PGA Tour’s TPC Louisiana.
The Fitzpatricks are 30 under par for the tournament entering Sunday’s final round of alternate shot. Smalley and Springer are tied for second with Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat.
