Stewart Wins 32nd NC Mid-Amateur on the 7th Playoff Hole
Event: 32nd North Carolina Mid-Amateur Championship
Host Site: Southern Pines Golf Course, Southern Pines, N.C.
Playing Dates: September 4-6, 2025
Social Media: @CGAgolf1909
Related: Championship Website | Scoring | History | Photos
LOCATION – Southern Pines, N.C.
Cyrus Stewart took home the crystal in an electric finish after a seven-hole playoff match at the N.C. Mid-Amateur Championship against Zach Edmondson.
The final round of the 32nd N.C. Mid-Amateur Championship, contested at Southern Pines Golf Course, was a good one. A close run most of the day with many of the top players making moves, however it was just two that tied for first at -8 after all three rounds.
The newest name to be etched into the P.J. Boatwright Jr. Memorial Trophy is Cyrus Stewart of Raleigh, NC, “I’m very proud of this one. This is the one I’ve wanted to win so I am glad I got it done.”
Going 70-72-63 to post a final score of 205, not only put him tied for first with Zach Edmondson (Morrisville, NC) but meant he tied the 1946 course record with Sam Snead with his final round score of 63. Stewarts’ final round was almost a bogey-free one, he bogeyed No. 4 but made up for it with birdies on Nos. 5, 8, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 18, and an eagle on No. 11. Stewart said, “I feel like I hit the ball as well as I did the first two days but I made a slight adjustment in putting and they started going in… I hit the ball really well these last few days and I’m so glad they just started dropping” and “three great rounds of pairings… everyone I played with was just fantastic.”
Edmondson, who finished first after Round 2 with a total score of -7, didn’t let up easy against Stewart’s outstanding final round. He drained a putt from the back of the green on No. 18 to force the playoff against Stewart. He said, “I feel like a playoff turns into a match play mentally… I feel like he [Edmondson] gave me a few chances to grab it and I didn’t.”
The pair headed down to No. 18 for the start of the playoff where Edmondson put his drive in the fairway while Stewart’s ball was jammed into a thick but short bush about 30 yards right of the fairway. Both made par to move into a second playoff hole, this was played on the first hole. Both made birdie. So, they moved onto No. 18 again (3rd hole), and then No. 1 again (4th hole), and then No. 18 (5th hole), then No. 17 (where a short downpour commenced), and then finally on the 7th playoff hole they headed back to No. 18. This was the hole made the difference. Edmondson putt first and missed the birdie putt and that was all the motivation Stewart needed to sink his putt as he had been putting first most of the playoff holes. “If I were to lose this one, it would’ve been the seventh solo runner-up in the past four years so there was part of me inside that was like ‘Come on. Let’s get it done!’ and once I had that last putt, I was trying to make it everything,” Stewart said.
The solo third-place finisher is Logan Harrell of Mooresville, NC with a score of 71-69-67 (207). Harrell is one of the North Carolinians who will be playing in the U.S. Mid-Amateur next week at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. For the complete list of Carolinians and U.S. Mid-Am championship information click here.
Before the championship began, we talked to Blair Miller, the Clubhouse Manager at Southern Pines where he said, “we’ve hosted some pretty neat events here before and we’re excited to be hosting the NC Mid-Am this week.” Regarding the course and its Kyle Franz restoration in 2021 Miller said, “One of Donald Ross’ earlier 18-hole completions… [that] we acquired back in 2020… the restoration was similar to Kyle Franz’ work at Mid Pines and Pine Needles… the goal was really just to bring some of features that Ross intended and had slipped away over the years, really just bring them back to life.” One of the most prominent features they brought back is the Lost Hole, a short par three ‘bridge’ that features a modern grass green as well as a historic sand green. Players can opt to play this hole after completing the fourth hole and before teeing off on the fifth. Miller said that the Lost Hole “was intended as more of a bridge for late afternoon walkers to create a cool nine-hole loop,” they’d play Nos. 1-4, the Lost Hole, and then play Nos. 15-18.” While we’re not including the Lost Hole in the championship layout this week, you can watch our Lost Hole video on Instagram to get a glimpse into Donald Ross’ original design.
WATCH:
Final Round Livestream: No. 18 w/ Edmondson; Playoff & Award Ceremony
Pictured above: Kelly Miller winning the first Carolinas Mid-Amateur at Pine Needles in 1994.
We dug into our archives for this picture of Mrs. Peggy Kirk Bell, owner of Pine Needles at the time, presenting her son-in-law, Kelly Miller, the current owner of Pine Needles/Mid Pines and SPGC, with the first NC Mid-Amateur trophy in 1994 at Pine Needles.
The Carolinas Golf Association would like to thank the whole staff of Southern Pines Golf Course for hosting this week and providing a fantastic championship atmosphere. We would also like to thank the CGA rules officials for their work this week in helping the event go smoothly for everyone.