Pictured above: Left, Akshay Bhatia with the trophy after winning the 2013 North Carolina Junior Boys’ 13-and-Under Championship. Right, Doc Redman following his victory at the 2013 Carolinas Junior Boys’ Championship. Both former CGA champions found the winner’s circle on tour this past weekend.

 

This past weekend served as another reminder that the road to success on golf’s biggest stages often begins much earlier, on courses across the Carolinas competing in Carolinas Golf Association championships.

Two former CGA champions, Doc Redman and Akshay Bhatia, both found the winner’s circle on the professional stage, continuing a pattern that has played out for decades as rising players sharpen their competitive edge through amateur golf in the Carolinas.

Redman, the 2013 Carolinas Junior Amateur champion, captured his first career professional and Korn Ferry Tour title at the Chile Classic, delivering a dominant performance to secure the victory. The Raleigh native closed with a 4-under 67 to finish at 19-under-par, winning by five strokes and capping off one of the strongest weeks of his professional career.

More than a decade ago, Redman was already showing the determination and resilience that have defined his game. At the 2013 Carolinas Junior Championship at Willow Creek at High Point Country Club, he rallied from four shots back in the final round to claim a one-shot victory. It was the type of comeback performance that would later become familiar to golf fans as Redman continued to rise through the amateur ranks and eventually onto the professional stage.

Bhatia’s journey through junior golf in the Carolinas began even earlier. In 2013, the Wake Forest native won the North Carolina Junior Boys’ 13-and-Under Championship at Asheboro City Golf Course. Just 11 years old at the time, Bhatia displayed the creativity and composure that would quickly make him one of the most exciting young players in the game.

Those early signs of promise have since developed into a rapidly growing professional résumé. This weekend, Bhatia captured his third PGA TOUR victory with a dramatic win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, continuing his ascent among the game’s emerging stars.

While their professional achievements continue to grow, both Redman and Bhatia share a common thread with many of today’s top players. Their journeys passed through CGA championships, where young competitors test themselves against some of the strongest amateur fields in the region while gaining the experience needed to compete at higher levels of the game.

For the CGA, stories like these represent something larger than a single victory. They reflect the role that amateur golf in the Carolinas continues to play in shaping the next generation of champions.

From junior championships to national amateur events and beyond, the Carolinas have long served as a proving ground for players with dreams of competing at the highest level.

And as Redman and Bhatia showed again this weekend, those early chapters can lead to some remarkable destinations.