By STEVE WILLIAMS

Keith Decker and Terry Mills each won tournament titles on consecutive weekends in June, joining the list of players who have qualified for the 2002 Triad Golf Today Tournament of Champions.

Other qualifiers with recent victories include Greg Earnhardt, Tony Concutelli, Mike Williams, Randy Shoffner, Trip Gentry, Matt Parker and Elvis Phelps.

Decker captured the Kenridge Cup Invitational at Farmington, Va. the first week in June and came back the next week to win on home turf at Chatmoss in Martinsville.

Mills picked up his first win of the year at Lynwood in Martinsville June 2-3 and followed a week later with a convincing victory at Hemlock in Walnut Cove.

Earlier this year, Richard Shackleford, Jason Harris, Gary Zachary, Marc Cox, R.J. Weaver and Chris Clark won tourneys to earn their invitations to next year’s event at Greensboro National.

The T of C field is limited to winners of open amateur events and to club champs from all the clubs in the Triad Golf Today circulation area.

Keith Decker, 41, added to his trophy case with his fourth win in the Kenridge Cup in Farmington June 1-3.

He shot 70-66-68 and edged Faber Jamerson of Appomattox by one shot in what was a two-man race. Decker and Jamerson were the only players under par.

It was the second straight Kenridge title for Decker, who also won in 1990 and 1997.

The following weekend, Decker claimed his 12th Chatmoss Invitational championship, scoring a come-from behind decision over Frank Richardson.

Decker shot 72-71 for a one-under-par 143 while Richardson grabbed the first-day lead with a 68 but slipped to a 77 Sunday and settled for a tie for second at 145 with Curtis Niblett (71-74) and Billy Shelton (71-74).

Terry Mills of Mayodan had gone a couple of years without a tournament title before winning at the Lynwood Invitational June 2-3 and following seven days later with a six-shot victory in the Lawsonville Ruritan Amateur at Hemlock.

At the 36th annual Lynwood Invitational, Mills, 47, claimed a share of the first-round lead with a four-under-par 68 Saturday and came back with a 72 Sunday despite a triple bogey on the ninth hole. He finished with a one-shot margin of victory.

Jimmy Wright of Roanoke, who shared the first-day lead, took advantage of Mills’ mistake at the ninth to take a one-stroke lead at the turn. But it was Wright who found trouble on the back nine while Mills played steady. Wright bogeyed three of the final four holes and finished at 73 for a 141 total.

Sixteen-year-old Jonathan Childress of Martinsville claimed third place at 143 (69-74).

Melvin Dodson and Keith Perdue tied for fourth at 147. Dodson shot 71-76 and Perdue 72-75.

At Hemlock, Mills rode a red-hot putter to his sixth career Lawsonville Ruritan championship. It was at that tournament in 1973 where Mills picked up his first-ever win. This year’s Ruritan title marked his 43rd overall.

Mills fired eight birdies in an opening round 64 and claimed a two-shot margin over Walnut Cove’s Scotty Mounce. He continued his red-hot play Sunday with eight more birdies as he shot 65 to finish at 11 under for the tourney.

UNC-Wilmington golfer Derek Brown, the tournament’s defending champion, shot 69-66 and shared second place with Mounce who shot 66-69.

GREENSBORO – Trip Gentry of Greensboro made his first-ever appearance in the J.M. Bryan Amateur one to remember.

Gentry, 46, edged Dirk Fennie of Greensboro on the third hole of sudden death June 3 to return to the winners’ circle in amateur golf for the first time since 1992, when he won the now defunct Greensboro City Am.

Playing at Bryan Park’s Champions Course the first and third rounds and the Players Course the second round, Gentry posted scores of 72-70-75 to finish in a tie with Fennie, who shot 74-71-72.

Fennie, playing in a group ahead of Gentry, drilled a 20-footer for birdie on the final hole of regulation to force the playoff. After both players parred the first two holes of sudden death, Gentry got the title with a birdie on the par-five third hole. Fennie had a chance to continue the playoff but missed a short birdie putt.

It was the third straight second-place finish in the event for Fennie. He lost to Larry Boswell in a playoff in 1999 and was runner-up to Karl Mitchell a year ago.

Gentry had to be relieved that the playoff didn’t extend to the par-three seventh hole. He suffered triple bogey and double bogey on that hole in regulation play but played the rest of the tournament in four under par.

Matt Stewart missed the playoff by one shot, shooting 69-73-76 for third place.

ASHEBORO – Tony Concutelli has had some close calls in his six previous Asheboro City Amateur championships. Title number seven was a run-away.

Concutelli fired a final-round four-under-par 68 June 3 at Pinewood Country Club and pulled away to an eight-shot victory. It wasn’t his biggest margin however. He once won the event by 13 shots.

He put an exclamation point on the 2001 crown with an improbable birdie at the 17th hole. He holed a fast, sharp breaking, downhill put from about 35 feet. It was the second of three straight birdies as he closed in style.

Concutelli also won last year and had earlier City Am titles in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1995 and 1998. He also lost one year in a playoff to Gary Pugh.

The tournament was shortened to 45 holes due to Friday’s rain. Play was also conducted at Asheboro Country Club (18 holes) and Asheboro Municipal (nine holes). Concutelli shot 70 and 35 in the previous rounds.

Charlie Parks made a big move up the leaderboard with a 71 in the final round and he took a share of second place with Garland Yates at 181.

Randy Shoffner used an excellent touch on and around the greens to key his victory in the Alamance County Amateur June 1-3.

The Burlington resident shot 72 at Indian Valley, 71 at Mill Creek and 74 at The Challenge to ease away with a five-shot victory over Randy Ector, who had a card of 71-75-76.

Shoffer began the final round tied with Dave Robinson and Robinson actually took the lead early with a hot start on The Challenge’s front nine.

But he struggled on the back nine and a triple bogey at the par-4 16th ended his chances. He finished with an 80 and a share of third place at 223 with Joey Small (71-77-75) and Mike Roshelli (72-74-77).

Shoffner saved par several times in the final with adept chipping and he also holed enough birdie putts to keep the lead.

RINGGOLD, Va. – Elvis Phelps of Danville fired rounds of 69 and 71 and won the annual Pepsi Invitational at Ringgold Golf Club June 2-3.

Phelps had a working margin playing the back nine and it was good he did as he missed tap-ins at 16 and 17 to cut the final margin back to two shots over Tyrone Robertson.

He left a two-foot birdie putt short at 16 and then missed a shorter putt for par at 17 when he was trying to avoid stepping in a playing partner’s line. He closed with a birdie, however, sinking a two-footer at the par-5 18 th to get back to four-under for the tournament.

Robertson posted a pair of 71s to claim second place. David Graham of South Boston, playing in his first tournament since regaining his amateur status, took third place at 144 (70-74).

Defending champion Lin Gammon of Danville was part of a five-way tie for fourth at 145.

HIGH POINT – Matt Parker, a 17-year-old rising senior at High Point Wesleyan where he led his team to a second place finish in the NCISAA State Tournament May 15, captured his first title against an open amateur field May 27 when he won the High Point Golf Association Memorial.

Firing rounds of 66 and 70 on the par-72 Blair Park Golf Club course, Parker blitzed the field with a four-shot victory.

The title came three weeks after he lost in a sudden death playoff in the Bud Kivett Memorial, also in High Point.

This time Parker set the pace with the first-round 66 and then pulled away on the back nine in a Sunday round that included seven birdies, more than enough to offset five bogeys.

John McKinnon of High Point opened with a 67 and stayed within in a shot early in the second round but couldn’t keep up with Parker’s birdie barrage. The youngster capped off the championship by two-putting from 15 feet for a birdie on the 18th hole.

McKinnon finished with a 73 in the second round and claimed second at 140. Scotty Odell placed third at 142 (69-73).

REIDSVILLE – Mike Williams, an employee at Wolf Creek Golf Club, fired an opening-round eight-under-par 62 and rolled to victory in the inaugural Max Thore Memorial Tournament May 19-20 on his home course.

Williams, who had eight birdies and an eagle in Saturday’s first-round, couldn’t keep up the pace in the second round but still emerged with a three-shot victory over Greensboro’s Joe Weaver (66-70). Kim Mansfield of High Point was third at 138 (66-72) and Scott Trent of Reidsville was fourth at 140 (69-71).

Williams, a three-time club champion at Wolf Creek, turned the front nine in the opening round with a five-under-30, highlighted by an eagle on the par-four seventh hole. He added birdies at 11,12, 16 and 18 coming while shooting a 32.

Weaver, four shots back when the second round began, made a run early in the second round, before a double bogey stopped his momentum. Williams remained steady, turning the front in one under and maintaining that score until a couple of late bogeys cut into his working margin.

DANVILLE – Robert Nussey of Richmond finished at even-par 140, good enough for a three-shot victory in the 48th annual W. Townes Lea Invitational May 19-20 at Danville Golf Club.

Nussey claimed a one-shot lead with a first-round 68 and built the margin despite going two-over-par in the second round.

Chris Logan of Winston-Salem, who opened with a 72, posted the best score of the day in Sunday’s second round, a one-over-71, and he finished tied for second at 143 with Hank Klein of Richmond, who shot 69-74.

Nussey struggled with a couple of bogeys early in the second round and actually fell out of the lead but his competitors couldn’t keep the heat on as Nussey played the final 14 holes even par.

Logan had his chances but he missed a good birdie chance at 15 and bogeyed the 17th.