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Dates: Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17
Format: Team Virginias features players from the Virginia State Golf Association and West Virginia Golf Association. Team Carolinas features players from the Carolinas Golf Association -- North and South Carolina. Each team has 14 regulars, eight seniors, and two super seniors. Friday consists of morning four-ball matches and afternoon foursomes (alternate shot) matches. Saturday consists of 24 singles matches. One point is available per match. A match is tied if it ends tied after 18 holes, and both teams receive a half point. Because the Carolinas won the 2025 competition, it needs 24 points to retain the Putter. Team Virginias must finish with at least 24.5 points to regain the Putter.
Defending champion: Team Carolinas
Host site: Cedar Point Club
Day 2: Late rally brings Captain's Putter back north
(Peter Bowie, right, and Cam Roam shake hands after their match ended in a tie, giving the Virginias the clinching half point. Credit: Nate Wise/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
SUFFOLK -- With the rain coming down in sideways sheets, Cam Roam decided to toss his soaked, dripping hat to the ground on the 18th green at Cedar Point on Saturday morning. He didn't need any more distractions as he lined up for a putt that would potentially decide the 81st Captain's Putter Matches. With about 30 feet downhill to go on a sticky, drenched green, he lined it up and sent it toward the hole, where it stopped inside of two feet. His opponent, the Carolinas' Peter Bowie, conceded the par, and when his own 15-foot comebacker missed, the gathered Virginias team celebrated, and no amount of rain and driving wind could stop it.
The Virginias defeated the Carolinas 24 1/2-23 1/2 to bring the Captain's Putter back north, marking the Virginias' second straight home win in the event. It also marked the second time since 2020 that Roam, from Huntington, West Virginia, had clinched the winning margin with the entire team gathered around watching. He also earned the crucial margin in the Virginias' win by the same score at The Greenbrier in West Virginia in 2020.
"I'm kind of driven by these events a little more," Roam said. "I like those moments at the end. ... It's cool. I'm glad we got the win, and I like being the last guy out there. It motivates me."
The weather forecast on Saturday necessitated a change in format for the singles matches, which went from 18-hole matches to 9-hole sprints. The morning started dark and drizzly, and as the end approached, the wind kicked up, the rain blew sideways, and the greens became saturated.
"It wasn't really even golf, unfortunately," Roam said. "I've got two inches of water in my shoes, just like everybody else right now. It was some backyard stuff.
"A couple of guys were talking about it yesterday, how bad it was going to be. But it's only one-on-one. You're not playing 70 guys. There's no bad end of the draw. You're playing one guy. All you have to do is be better than that guy. It's just the approach you have to have before the round."
Players gathered in Cedar Point's locker room after finishing early matches, drying out and intently following the remaining matches on the course through live scoring. Several matches started going the Virginias' way, with Will Collins, Drew Brockwell, Sam Beach, Scott Shingler, and Justin Young clinching matches late. That left a simple scenario for the two matches remaining on the course: Roam vs. Bowie and the Virginias' Jordan Utley vs. the Carolinas' States Fort.
The Virginias needed to gain at least a win and a tie from those two matches, otherwise the Putter would remain in the Carolinas' possession.
Utley's match was first to come to the final hole. Starting on No. 1, Utley and Fort were tied going into the par-3 9th, a 238-yard monster made even more daunting due to the wind. Fort hit first, his ball careening right into a penalty area where it became embedded. His only relief, however, would have been to go back to the tee to hit again, since the ball crossed into the penalty area immediately and never crossed back into the general area.
Utley then pulled a 2-hybrid and smoked the ball straight and long into the center of the green. When Fort failed to get up and down for par, Utley won with a conceded par to win 1-up and earn the crucial full point.
"The goal going into today, knowing it was only nine holes, was to get done as fast as possible," Utley said. "That clearly wasn't the case. I didn't want to have to hit that 240 shot on 9 as a meaningful shot. And here I am on that hole with a meaningful shot. The first couple shots I hit there this week, I basically topped it off the tee. It was so bad. I just couldn't get comfortable. But I said, you know what, you've got to sack up and hit one for the team, and lo and behold I did. I took a 2-hybrid and smashed it, and the wind took it, and I couldn't hit a better shot to end the week."
That left the outcome down to Roam and Bowie. Both were in the right rough off the tee, but Bowie was first to hit. His approach went long, settling just over the green, and his comeback chip went long as well, setting up Roam's clinching two-putt.
The margin between the teams was razor thin. After both partner sessions were tied 6-6, every point counted on Saturday. The Virginias also got wins from Noah Mullens, Christian Brand, Mikeal Johnston, Pat Carter and Steve Serrao. The Carolinas' Jon Weiss, Wade Boteler, Elliott Grayson, Connor Doyal, Michael Sims, Daniel Neveu, John O'Brien, Rick Cloninger, Lenny Nash, and Lee Porter all recorded victories.
Roam and the West Virginia contingent again came up huge for Team Virginias, winners of the Captain's Putter for the second time in three years.
"We feel like we're the underdog, not only in this event, but in everything we do in life," Roam said. "We're a much smaller population. So we feel like when we get an opportunity here, all of us have to step up. The Virginia guys have always been supportive. We play them every year, and you want to make it a rivalry, but it's not, because they're such good people. It's so cool to team up. They're so supportive, and they have been for years and years."
Day 1: A stalemate, with weather looming...
(Steve Serrao and Scott Shingler were one of two Virginias sides to win two points on Friday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
SUFFOLK -- How small are the margins in team competitions? A couple of inches were the difference between a Carolinas lead and a tied match after the first day of the 81st Captain's Putter Matches on Friday at Cedar Point Club.
Down 1 heading to the final hole in a foursomes match, the Virginias' Dave Williams Jr. drained a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 9 to earn a half-point for he and Buck Brittain. Moments later on the same hole, the Virginias' Kevin Dillard (chip) and Jeffrey Klatt (putt) executed a crucial up-and-down for par to earn another half-point from 1-down against the Carolinas' Rick Cloninger and Eddie Hargett. Those half-points helped the Virginias forge a 12-all tie after partner play, with chilly, rainy and windy weather forecasted for Saturday's singles session.
As of now, the plan is to play the full slate of 18-hole singles matches, though the forecast uncertainty leaves all options on the table for changing the format, including shortening matches, if necessary. The first matches are scheduled for 8 a.m. off Nos. 1 and 10.
Each session -- morning four-balls and afternoon foursomes -- ended in a 6-6 tie. Two sides from each team earned the full two points on Friday -- the Virginias' Brandon Ramsuer and Justin Young, and playing captains Steve Serrao and Scott Shingler. The Carolinas' Jon Weiss and Elliott Grayson and Zach Edmondson and Jackson Spires also notched two points.
Should the matches remain tied after Saturday's singles, the Carolinas will retain the Captain's Putter. Team Virginias needs to earn at least 12 1/2 points on Saturday to regain the Putter.
NOTABLE
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The Carolinas have won three times on Virginia soil since 2016. The Virginias won at home in 2024 (Bayville GC) and 2020 (The Greenbrier Resort).
- The last time the Captain's Putter was shortened due to weather was in 2008, when an entire day was washed out due to rain and players played simultaneous singles and four-ball matches at the Country Club of Virginia's James River Course. It's also the only time since the current 48-point format came into play in 2002 that the full 48 points were not issued at a Captain's Putter match.
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The three sides featuring exclusively West Virginians all won their four-ball matches in the morning, with Noah Mullens and Chris Williams, Davey Jude and Cam Roam, and Pat Carter and Ian Patrick all securing victories.
- The super seniors split their matches, with the Virginias' Mikeal Johnston and Bob Bailey winning in four-ball, and the Carolinas' Paul Simson and Jim Pearson winning in alternate shot.
QUOTABLE
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"That's what this event stands for. Him and I came out and had a ton of fun. We boosted each other up and had a great time. And we also played with great people. It was just a great day. It was awesome." -- Carolinas' Jon Weiss, speaking of his matches with partner Elliott Grayson.
- "I think we had a pretty good strategy. He took the even holes, I took the odds, and it worked out pretty good in our favor. I think that was a good decision. We just ham and egged it. We had some tough holes, but that's going to happen in alternate shot. That's the name of this game. We just hung in there. On 12, (Weiss) said that this was more like a boxing match in the afternoon. Rather than this morning, where there were lots of birdies. This was more like a boxing match, tough afternoon. We played some really good opponents." -- Carolinas' Elliott Grayson
- "It's a partner tournament. You're out here to have fun and play with good people. If you make it too competitive, you might put pressure on your partner. Him and I took the tack of, hey, we're here to have fun. We've been selected for this great event on this great golf course, with a great clubhouse and a great staff. We just wanted to come out and have a bunch of fun, and that's what we did. I would highly doubt anybody made more birdies than us today, and I can tell you this, there are probably not many teams that smiled as much as we did today. That's what it's about. It's competitive, but it's more about fellowship." -- Weiss
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"I think normally, we're both pretty steady and pretty consistent. The way we won alternate shot might not have been the way we would have written it up. Some crazy things happened on our first nine holes. JY ended up on his knees on the first hole of the day under a cedar tree. And we ended up winning that hole. When it was all over, that probably wasn't how we scripted it, but we found a way to get it done." -- Virginias' Brandon Ramsuer
- "For me, I think it's been a while since I won a four-ball to get a point. I told Brandon that to get a point this morning felt big. It felt good. We were down and we came back to win the match. Any time you can win a point for your team, it just means a lot." -- Virginias' Justin Young
- "We both love playing in the team events. We were even talking, let's try to finish our match and go out and watch the other guys. We probably thought that sooner than we should have. But yeah, that's what it's all about." -- Ramsuer
- "We're tied, so if we don't play, by default, it would go to them. So we want to find a way to play." -- Ramsuer
- "We knew we were a good team on paper. He came out and birdied the first hole we played. We came out firing, got into a good rhythm in the first round, just making birdies." -- Virginias' Steve Serrao, speaking of he and partner Scott Shingler
- "On paper, you can have a good team. But once you're out there teeing it up and hitting shots, anything can happen in match play." -- Shingler
- "Our games complement each other. We're both pretty steady, we can both hit the ball pretty far. Our short games are solid. It's just a matter of execute the shots out there under the gun. Especially with these teams. Everyone from the Carolinas can play some very solid golf. You never know who you're going to run into in match play, who is going to get hot when. It's just great to have a good partner. He had my back, and I had his back, it was great." -- Shingler
- "Every point matters. At least the last few years, it seems like it comes down to a point or two, or a half-point. Every half-point is critical." -- Shingler
- "I have a car full of gear, I'll figure something out." -- Serrao on playing in the rain
- "Rain doesn't bother me that much. It's the cold. If I can stay warm, I'll be OK." -- Shingler
Pre-event coverage