Rose among deep field in Wayne County Men's Amateur

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on July 11, 2013 1:47 PM

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rhanchett@newsargus.com

Clark Rose sank the final putt at the 2012 Wayne County Men's Amateur golf tournament to seal his first victory in the event.

Rose will hit the first tee shot when the 2013 tournament opens on Friday morning at Goldsboro Municipal Golf Club. Rose will be paired with Jonathan Sutton, Hayden Gardner and Eric Williams for the first two rounds.

The defending champion is the early favorite in a very deep field.

Three-time champion Lionel Sutton is back in search of his fourth trophy, which would tie him with Jonathan Burke for most WCMA open division victories. Dane Jones, Bradley Jones and Jeremy Joyner are also back after top-five finishes in the tournament a year ago.

Michael Sauls, Doug Jones, Chris Bitzenhofer and Shannon Sweet are four additional players who will likely be in the hunt late in the going.

"I think the open field is a very strong field this year," tournament committee member Parker King said. "There are easily 12 guys that could go out and put up three low numbers and be in contention on the final day."

Tony Barrow returns to defend his senior division title. Tim Rose, the 2011 champion, will also be back in action as will 2009 title holder Perry Balltzglier.

The super-senior division will feature defending champ John Zambelli, who has won the tournament twice as a senior and twice as a super-senior. Former winners Howard Tyndall and Charlie Waters will be in the field as will always-dangerous Chuck Kimble.

"Overall I think the 140 players that we have in the tournament this year are as good top-to-bottom as we have ever had," King said. "Hopefully we get some cooperation from Mother Nature and we get to see how it all shakes out on Sunday."

Goldsboro Municipal Golf Course will host day one of the event. Southern Wayne Country Club will be the site of Saturday's round and Lane Tree Golf Club will set the stage for the final round on Sunday.

Highway 55 Burgers, Shakes and Fries is the title sponsor of the 2013 Wayne County Mens Amateur.