Carolina Blonde Tour and Harris Teeter Sr. Tour
Set for Season of Fun and Competition 

By STEVE WILLIAMS

Real golf, real competition.

That phrase could size up the PGA Tour, but those guys are too good.

Add “for all skill levels” and what you’ve got are the Carolina Blonde Amateur Tour and the Harris Teeter Senior Amateur Tour, a couple of highly organized competitions that offer golfers off all ages and handicaps a chance to compete against their peers.

“This is first-class, quality golf for amateurs of all skill levels,” says Bruce Hallenbeck, director of the tours in the Raleigh, Fayetteville-Pinehurst and Triad markets. “Whether a guy shoots a 65 or a 95, there is a competitive place for him.”

Both tours are for amateur golfers with handicaps from zero to 20. The Harris Teeter Senior Tour is for ages 50 and over.

The Carolina Blonde Tour was founded with a single division in Charlotte in 1995. It has grown throughout the Southeast to the point where this year there will be 19 separate divisions in five states.

In addition to the Raleigh, Fayetteville-Pinehurst and Triad areas, markets scheduled to host tours this year are: Asheville, Atlanta, Charleston, Charlotte, Columbia, Gastonia/Shelby, Greenville/Spartanburg, Hickory, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach/Wilmington, New Bern/Greenville, Orlando, Rock Hill, Savannah, Tampa and Virginia Beach/Williamsburg.

This is the fifth year that Mooresville-based Carolina Blonde beer is the title sponsor for the regular tour. Harris Teeter is in its first year as sponsor of the senior tour, which is growing but hasn’t spread to all 19 markets yet.

Tour membership is expected to top the 5,000 plateau this year on just the Carolina Blonde Tour, and the Raleigh market has been one of the fastest growing of all.

“The response this year in Raleigh has been phenomenal,” Hallenbeck says. “Because of the preseason interest being shown by Raleigh golfers, I feel this is truly the breakthrough year for that tour. Charlotte has always been the biggest and most successful market, but from a population and demographics standpoint, there’s no reason why Raleigh cannot equal or surpass it.”

There are 30 tournaments on the schedule for the regulars and 30 more for the seniors this year. Sometimes all three divisions (Raleigh, Fayetteville-Pinehurst and Triad) play at the same site, other times only one or two of the tours are scheduled. Tour members can play in any event in any market, however.

There are four divisions of competition in each event: The championship flight for 0-5 handicappers, A Flight for 6-10 handicappers, B flight for 11-15 handicappers and C flight for 16 and up. A player can move up or down in flights based on tournament finishes.

All tournaments are 18 holes. The seniors play on Thursdays and the regulars play on Saturdays. There are rare exceptions.

There is a $70 joining fee for the regulars and $60 for seniors. Each event carries an entry fee, which ranges from $60 to $75, depending on the venue. The entry fee covers all the golf fees, including range balls, and prizes. The top three finishers in each flight win gift certificates from Carolina Custom Golf and there are always closest to the pin and long drive prizes in each flight. If there’s a full field of 25 in each flight, prizes are $250 for first place, $150 for second and $100 for third.

The Harris Teeter Senior Tour’s average entry fee is $50 and gift certificates are $200 for first, $120 for second and $80 for third (based on full fields).

While the prizes are nice, most players are out there for the competition and a chance to play quality courses.

“The C flighters are just so excited to be in a big-time tournament environment,” Hallenbeck says. “It’s something they haven’t been exposed to. Quite frankly, if you’re a scratch golfer, a lot of people want you to play in their tournaments. But if you’ve got a 10-plus handicap, not many seek those golfers out like we do.”

It’s real golf, USGA rules and all. Play it down, hole all putts, stroke and distance, everything.

There are two rules exceptions, both in the interest of keeping a good pace of play. There is a triple bogey limit on each hole and two-stroke penalties for an entire foursome for slow play.

“We don’t have marshals and officials out there with every group, so we may have to penalize the entire group if they get a hole and a half behind and don’t catch up,” Hallenbeck says.

“They police themselves,” he adds. “If I do have to throw the hammer down, they usually thank me later. We want to keep our tournaments from being five-hour slugfests.”

All players accumulate points in each event, and points standings are important because the top 10 in each flight from each of 19 markets qualify for the year-ending tournament championship at Myrtle Beach.

Points standings and tournament results will be posted on the Tour’s web site (www.carolinablondetour.com) as well as in Triangle Golf Today.

Some of the top courses in the Triangle, Sandhills and Triad are used for the events. Players tee from markers designed for their skill levels.

Action is set to begin March 3 at the Legacy, one of only two Sunday dates for the Carolina Blonde Tour. The Harris Teeter Tour invades the Legacy four days later for its season opener.