Connor Carter sinks the final putt to win the Asheboro City Amateur on Sunday. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO — Connor Carter became the youngest champion of the Asheboro City Amateur by winning the 2025 tournament during the weekend.
Carter celebrated his 20th birthday Saturday and a day later became the event’s champion.
“I didn’t want to put pressure on about it,” he said. “I definitely thought being the youngest was something I wanted to do.”
His 2-under-par 211 was good enough for a five-stroke victory on Asheboro’s Sam Davidson of Asheboro, a former Division I college golfer.
Carter shot 70 at Asheboro Country Club on Friday, 71 at Asheboro Municipal Golf Course on Saturday and then produced a 2-under 70 on the final day at Pinewood Country Club, which is his home course.
Carter said he had seen the list of past winners and figured it would be a notable achievement to be added to that group.
“It’s always a goal to have my name on there,” he said.
Carter, a 2023 Eastern Randolph graduate, recently finished his sophomore season on the Catawba College men’s golf team.
In high school, Carter was a state runner-up twice (2022 and 2023) in Class 1A. Until the past week, he hadn’t won a tournament since a couple of youth-level events two years ago prior to entering college.
He was in the Asheboro City Amateur for the third time, finishing in fifth place last year.
“I try to prepare myself like it’s a tournament in college,” Carter said.
Carter said it took him time to adjust to damp greens in Friday morning’s round and that Saturday’s winds caused some difficult conditions. Arriving at Pinewood Country Club for the final round was ideal for Carter, who has worked there for several years.
“I got a new putter two or three weeks ago,” he said. “Mentally, I regained my putting stroke. The greens were rolling pretty fast.”
Carter said he’ll likely enter some Carolinas Golf Association competitions in the coming weeks.
Davidson, who was the runner-up for the third time in four years, had rounds of 75, 75 and 66.
Jacob Clodfelter was third at 217 (75, 72, 70), while Liberty’s Steve Kidd, the runner-up last year, was next at 218 (68, 73, 77). Fifth place went to David Elliott with 219 (70, 75, 74).
Flight winners were Garrett Law (first flight, 229), Jack Chambers (second flight, 243), Ryan Hill (third flight, 272) and Ricci D’Angelo (super senior, 231). There were 95 total entrants.
