University of North Carolina Athletics
Rams Club Mini-Tour Update: Younce Leads Team To Victory
June 16, 2005 | General
June 16, 2005
Coming into the first event of The Rams Club 2005 Mini-Tour, Jay Younce was nursing a sore back. Unable to play the previous weekend, he appeared tentative on the early holes of the round of the first event of the year at the terrific Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course at Rock Barn Golf and Spa. The significant heat of the day may have helped loosen his back, and after finally getting some help from his erratic teammates, Younce led the team to eight birdies in one ten hole stretch. The team score of 10-under par 62 was two shots better than two teams with rounds of 64.
Younce was joined by his regular playing partner Sammy Williams, Tom Hicks, and John Cherry. Finishing second in a card playoff was the team of Chris Jones, Preston Triplett, Johnny Lynn, and Mike Slomianyj. Jones father was a late scratch due to an injury that occurred from a parachuting incident. The team of Charles and Chuck Underwood, Bob Galloway, and Bridget Jones finished third.
Rock Barn was the site of a 2003 Rams Club Mini-Tour event, and the course has only gotten better with age. The courteous and professional golf staff, led by Jeff Isenhour, and the delicious post-tournament meal combined to make it a great day of pleasure for the 51 participants. Rock Barn is the host of the Champions Tour Greater Hickory Classic, which will be held on October 3-9, 2005.
Several individuals had successful debuts, including Monica Steed, who won the ladies long drive. Mark Maye, former Carolina quarterback, showed he could hit the golf ball as far as he could throw the pigskin, launching a 310 yard drive late in his round to win the men's prize. Mark's wife, Aimee, won the proximity prize on the 17th hole. Defending champion Younce took over the individual point lead with a proximity winner on the par three third hole, his 17th hole of the day, nudging defending TPC champion Julian Knott by a couple of feet. The win also gave Younce the first spot in the drawing for the Tiger Woods Tag Heuer limited timepiece, provided by Carlyle and Co., sponsors of the Carlyle Cup. Colonel Hal Clark, driving all the way from Newport, nearly had a hole-in-one on the 15th to win that prize. Veteran Joe Lee won the proximity prize on the ninth hole.
The "Super Team" competition had two great scores of 61, with the group headed by Steed, Clark, and local stars Charlie Reed and Jeff Gniadek edging the Maye team and Jeff Klein with a card playoff victory. Finishing one shot back at 62 was the team of David Wolfe, John and Jason Francois, and Mike Ferguson.
While there were many great shots, one unnamed Rams Club staff member opened with four straight shanks, and Hicks dug a trench with his three wood on a 20 yard popup, bringing back fond memories of the Kim Andrews "fluff" drive at Mountain Air.
Younce takes the early point lead over his teammates, heading into the second tournament at TPC at Wakefield Plantation on June 27th. Tee time will be at 12:30 PM on the challenging layout that hosted the Rex Hospital Open, a Nationwide Tour event, in May. Space is still available in all of the remaining tournaments. Registration is available online at www.ramsclub.com.
