Area golfers will be in the field next week for the Adelphia North Carolina Open at the Kannapolis Country Club.
Mocksville’s Jeff Lankford will be one of the favorites in a club pro-dominated field of 156 that includes six golfers who have won the championship between 1990 and 2000.
The host Kannapolis club will be well represented with general manager Jeff Austin, pro Alan Cress and assistant pro Jeremy Hurst in the field along with amateur club members John Tuttle and Gary Hancock (Kannapolis residents) and Brian Westveer and Ed Donlin (Concord residents) all playing. Thirty-six amateurs are in the field.
Another Kannapolis resident,Jason Hurst, will also be playing. He’s Jeremy’s twin and an assistant pro at Crescent Golf Club.
The Warrior Golf Club will be represented by co-owner Todd Johnson of China Grove.
Also in the field will be Salisbury native Jeff Biggers, of Winston-Salem; Mocksville’s David Whitaker; Concord’s Lance Reid and David Ross, Ken Guilford, Randy Joyner, Julian White, Jim Harris and Keith Harris; Albemarle’s Gus Ulrich and Mark Andrew; Mooresville’s Steve Harwell and Brian Glasco; Lexington’s Gig Hilton and J.J. Fashimpaur;and Lance Waggener of Statesville.
The 54-hole medal play tournament runs Tuesday through Thursday with tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. A pro-am is also set for Monday.
Mocksville’s Lankford, a teaching pro at Hickory Hill Country Club, has played especially well the last two years, collecting $20,000 for winning the National PGA Club Pro Championship’s Eastern Regional last October and $21,775 for a tie for 29th place in the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic in April. That was the biggest paycheck of his career.
“I’ve been playing well,” said the former Davie County High School and N.C. State University golfer. “I feel like, when I tee it up, I’ve got a good chance to win.”
Lankford, after graduating from N.C. State in 1986, gave the PGA Tour a try in 1988.
“I didn’t play well at all that year and didn’t keep my card. I tried for three or four more years after that, but never got back,” he said.
Lankford got out of golf for several years, then took a position as club pro at Twin Cedars in Mocksville. He stayed there about five years.
Lankford says playing better the last couple of years isn’t the result of physical changes.
“I think your mental game and course management usually gets better the older you get. I haven’t necessarily improved from tee to green. I’m a lot more patient than I’ve been in the past,” he pointed out.
There is no charge for spectators next week. Fans looking for a threesome to follow in Tuesday’s opening round couldn’t go wrong with the 12:40 p.m. pairing of Lankford, Ulrich and Wilmington’s Bob Boyd.
Lankford won the N.C. Open in 1993. Ulrich, teaching pro at Tillery Tradition in Mount Gilead, triumphed in both 1996 and 1998. Boyd, club pro at Pine Valley, is the defending champion. He also won in 1995.
“That can encourage each of us to play better,” said Ulrich, Lankford’s teammate for three years at N.C. State. “Jeff’s a great player, and Bob’s a great player. If we can all get going and play some good golf, we can feed off each other, and hopefully all of us will play well.”
Ulrich and Boyd each have the opportunity to match Jack Lewis Jr.’s tournament record of three titles (1979-80 and 1984). as do Charlotte’s Chris Tucker (1990-91) and Jacksonville’s Rick Morton (1988 and 1997).
“I’m really excited about it,” said Ulrich. “I’m looking forward to getting down there and making a good showing. I’d like to make it my third.”
With Adelphia as the title sponsor, the tournament will have its biggest purse, approximately $50,000, in its 37-year history. First place will be worth about $6,000.
“It’s one of our biggest of the year,” said Lankford, speaking for the state’s club pros. “The Carolinas Open a few weeks back is probably our biggest. The North Carolina Open ranks right up there with it.”
Lankford won the Carolinas Open in 1997-98 and finished third recently, missing a sudden-death playoff by one stroke.
Lankford and Ulrich played the par-72 Kannapolis course a couple of months ago, and Lankford played again Thursday.
“I like it,” said Lankford. “It’s kind of an old-style course. It’s typical of older courses in that it kind of takes the driver out of your hand on a lot of holes. You’ve got to be really careful where you place the ball on the greens, the way the greens are shaped and the way they fall off on certain sides. It makes up for the lack of length (between 6,700 and 6,900 yards).”
Ulrich said, “The greens seem to be super. I don’t remember it to be that long, but it looked like there was a pretty good demand on driving your golf ball and keeping it in the fairway. It will be a good challenge. The greens are pretty tricky.”
Kannapolis has hosted its share of major events the last several years, including the first stage of the PGA Qualifying School Tournament three straight years.
Contact Ed Dupree at 704-797-4258 or edupree@salisburypost.com
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