By CRAIG DISTL

SOUTHERN PINES – The Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course at National Golf Club has received the honor to host the first qualifying stage of the 2001 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.

National is one of only 12 first-round sites selected, and will roll out the red carpet for approximately 80 players hoping to advance through qualifying and earn their PGA Tour card. The 72-hole event is set for Oct. 23-26 on National’s 7,122-yard layout, which is considered among the toughest courses in North Carolina.

Director of golf Tom Parsons has worked with the PGA for the last three years to bring Tour qualifying to National, and he said the challenge provided by Nicklaus’ rolling fairways and undulating greens was a key factor in landing the event.

"They were looking for a site where there wouldn’t be an abundance of under-par scores, a course that was difficult and demanding," Parsons said. "I think they’re going to get it."

Parsons said the PGA Tour was also looking for a well-maintained course that provides a "fair test of golf."

"The way the course will be set up, it will be pretty straightforward," Parsons said. "But this course lends itself to par being a good score from the back tees. Everybody here, including the membership, is excited. We all are curious to see how they’re going to play it."

It’s yet to be determined how many will advance from National to the second qualifying stage in November, which is followed by the finals (Nov. 26- Dec. 3). However, Parsons said it’s likely that a few of those that converge on National will end up among the 35 that earn exempt status on the PGA Tour next year.

"Last year of the 35 that qualified for full exempt status, 16 of them had to go through the first stage and weren’t exempt into the second or final stages," said Parsons. "You may see some of the players who come through here on Tour next year."

Parsons invites the public to come out and watch the golf tournament. He hopes to bring even bigger events to National in the future.

"We’re interested in building toward hosting stage two, or possibly an event like the U.S. Amateur in the future," he said. "We want to expose what we have here, which we feel is one of the best golf courses in the Southeast."

By DARRELL TUEBNER

The Carolinas Junior Championship pre-tournament hype was that the tournament record of 204 would be broken, shattered. The course was too short. The course was too easy. The 6,130 yards of Greensboro Country Club in Greensboro wouldn't be a stern test. They were wrong.

Weston Way's five under par 208 won the 52nd Junior Championship of the Carolinas Golf Association, bettering Kevin Kisner of Aiken, S.C., by a shot.

Way, a 15-year-old from Liberty who plays out of Forest Oaks Country Club, began the week with the lead after a five-under-par 66 that included a double-bogey on the tenth hole. Matthew McIntyre of Garland was one back at 67, with six players at 68 and pre-tournament favorite Kisner at 70.

A reversal in the second round saw Kisner fire 66 to Way's 70 and the six-under par total of 136 would be the lead heading into the final round.

Way started out badly, with a three-putt on the opening hole and a bogey on the third. He trailed Kisner by three after hole number seven.

"He hit number seven in two and made birdie," Way recalled, "It was pretty impressive."

The next hole, the par-5, reachable eighth hole was parred by both players. "It was impossible to birdie, with the hole location where it was, all the way back left."

Way owned the ninth, however. "I birdied it every day and never had more than about two feet."

A bogey by Kisner on the short eleventh got the margin back to one. Way fired an iron to three feet on 12 and looked to get back to even. However, his miss left him one back with six to play.

The 260-yard 13th hole would help. "I hit a perfect tee shot, about three yards short of the green, right under the hole. It was an easy birdie."

Way's up-and-down got him even after Kisner found the front bunker and could do no better than par on the tricky 13th green.

Fourteen was even more interesting. Kisner, who won the Carolinas Junior 11 and under, 12-13 and 14-15 divisions in his career (and would add the 16-17 before the day was over), hit his tee shot into the left fairway bunker and his second into the right trees. His third shot went over the green and ended up with a bogey. Way drove it well but had to scramble for a par – good enough for the first lead he managed all day.

Bogeys for both on 15, pars on 16 and bogeys for both on 17 saw Way at five under and Kisner at four standing on the 18th tee. By now, Charles Chapman of Mt. Croghan, S.C and John Ebert of Charlotte were both in at three-under 210 and looked to have a chance if Way and Kisner kept going backward.

Way, with the honor on 18, hit it fat.

"One hundred and eighty yards (his tee shot) is generous. I barely got it to the fairway," he said.

Kisner drove it well. Way steeled himself and hit it on the green despite the duffed drive. Kisner hit his approach to eight feet.

Way putted first and ran it four feet by the hole. Kisner, who needed the putt to tie, narrowly missed, leaving Way with a four-footer to claim the M.K. Jeffords Trophy. "My hands were shaking, but I made it."

Way's win was the first in this championship for a North Carolina player since Scott Newton of High Point in 1992. He joins Leonard Thompson, Chip Beck, Jack Lewis, David Thore, and Dillard Pruitt, among others in Carolinas Junior champion fraternity.

"I'm still exited about it. I saw Troy Haynes (1978 champion) at Forest Oaks Country Club last weekend and we talked about it."

Way, who will enter ninth grade this fall at Eastern Randolph High, earned two CGA exemptions for 2001, the Carolinas Amateur and the North Carolina Amateur.

Jerry Richardson of Burlington finished third in the 16-17 division, behind Kisner and Chapman. Richardson's two under par 211 left him solo fifth in the overall championship.