Team Carolinas Reclaims Captain's Putter
Event: 80th Captain’s Putter Matches
Host Site: Quixote Club, Sumter, SC
Playing Dates: October 17-18, 2025
Social Media: @CGAgolf1909
Related: Championship Website | Scoring | History | Photos
By Damon Bennett, CGA Intern
SUMTER, S.C. (October 18, 2025) – Teams representing the Carolinas and Virginias met at Quixote Club in Sumter, S.C. to decide the 80th Captain’s Putter Matches on Friday and Saturday.
Each team had 24 members: 14 amateurs, eight seniors, and two super seniors. The competition consisted of Four-Ball matches Friday morning, Foursomes Friday afternoon, and Singles matches on Saturday.
In Four-Ball, Team Virginias got off to a quick start. Virginias led eight matches through nine holes, and Team Carolinas struggled to recover.
Virginias’ Owen Elliott and Noah Mullens won four holes on the front nine against Carolinas’ Stephen Lavenets and Jackson Spires to hold a 2-up lead heading into the back nine.
Lavenets and Spires made a comeback on the back nine, winning three holes to capture the match 1 Up.
Virginias’ Nick Brediger and Ryan Rettburg were 3-Up on Jacob Golliday and Nic Brown of Carolinas before Golliday and Brown won four out of five holes to take a 1-up lead heading into No. 18. Brediger and Rettburg captured the final hole to steal a half point.
Sam Beach and Christian Brand of Virginias led their entire match with Chad Wilfong and Peter Bowie after winning four holes on the front nine. They won 5 & 4.
Andrew Crowley and Nick Rakes also took an early lead after two holes and never looked back, defeating Carolinas’ Michael Sims and Austin Langdale 2 & 1.
Zach Edmondson and Harrison Rhoades defeated Scott Shingler and Justin Young to capture Carolinas’ second point 5 & 4.
Lee Porter and Paul Simson also led their entire match following a tie on the first hole and won 4 & 3 over Scott Bemberis and Cam Young. This would be the only point captured by Carolinas seniors in Four-Ball.
Carolinas struggled to take advantage of host course in Four-Ball, and Team Virginias led 8-4 after the first session.
In afternoon Foursomes, Team Carolinas tried to flip the script.
Lavenets and Spires fell behind early, but were unable to repeat their comeback victory against Crowley and Rakes, and Team Virginias captured the first point of the afternoon.
Edmondson and Rhoades again found success and rose to 2-0 after defeating Elliott and Mullens 4 & 3.
Carolinas’ Sam Jackson and Zachary Herold captured the largest lead of the afternoon to defeat Virginias’ Brediger and Rettburg 7 & 5.
Buck Brittain and Pat Carter won their second match for Virginias, joined by super seniors Tim Sughrue and Tim Kelley and seniors Beach and Brand with two points through two rounds.
After only capturing one point in the morning, Team Carolinas’ seniors grabbed three of four possible points in the afternoon and helped pull into an even tie with Team Virginias 12-12.
On Saturday, an epic showdown was waiting to unfold.
Brown and Bowie dominated, winning their matches 6 & 5 and 5 & 4 over Justin Young and Shingler, respectively.
Drew Brockwell, Elliott and Cam Roam all captured early points for Virginias after defeating Golliday, Herold and Rhoades respectively.
Chandler Mulkey started with a victory on the first hole against Virginias’ Crowley, but it became a back-and-forth match before Mulkey won the final two holes to steal a half point for Carolinas when they needed every point they could get.
Jim Person and Steve Fox each captured their first point for Carolinas over the Virginias super seniors, and Paul Simson and Lee Porter were the only Carolinas players to capture all three points in the matches.
As the matches went on, it was as close as it could get. Team Virginias needed 12 points to retain, and Team Carolinas needed 12.5 to win the Captain’s Putter for the fourth time in five years.
It all came down to the final three matches still on the course: Edmondson vs. Brand, Wilfong vs. Rakes, and Connor Doyal vs. Mullens. Team Virginias needed to sweep all three matches to win the title, and Virginias led two of them.
Wilfong was leading his match 3-Up through 12 holes, but his lead dwindled to 1-up after No. 14. If he held onto his lead for two more holes, he could seal the victory for Team Carolinas.
On No. 15, Wilfong recorded a par and Rakes recovered a bogey, which gave Wilfong a two-hole lead with three to play.
On the par-4 16th hole, Wilfong reached the green in two and Rakes was just short. Rakes hit first, and chipped in from in front of the green for birdie. The pressure was on Wilfong; if he made the putt, he was guaranteed at least a half point in the match, and victory would be sealed for Team Carolinas.
From about 8 feet, Wilfong settled over the ball as his teammates watched from the next tee box. The greens were fast, so his putt didn’t need a lot of effort behind it. Wilfong’s putt never left the line, and fell into the cup to secure the home course victory for Team Carolinas.
Wilfong went on to win the match, and Team Carolinas defeated Team Virginias 25-23.
The 81st Captain’s Putter Matches will be hosted by Team Virginias in 2026.
The Carolinas Golf Association would like to thank Head Golf Professional Paul Woodberry, Superintendent and Director of Operations Chuck Green, Director of Food and Beverage Garrett Hypes and all the staff at Forest Oaks Country Club for helping host a fantastic championship atmosphere.