By CINDY CROSBY
cindyc4@yahoo.com
Local Mark Tomedolskey captured the inaugural Carolinas Professional Golf Association (CPGA) South Carolina Senior Open held July 20-21 at Reserve Golf Club in Pawleys Island.
Tomedolskey earned the title after besting Derek Sanders, who led round one shooting 66 (-6), in a playoff by way of a birdie on the first hole in round two. Tomedolskey posted scores of 71 (-1) and 67 (-5) for a 36-hole total of 138 (-6) to win the championship.
In addition, Tomedolskey tied at the No. 2 spot for Most Par Breakers with 9 birdies.
To compete in the Carolina Senior Open participants must be aged 50 and over as of July 20, 2020, reside in North or South Carolina, and have a handicap index limit of 10.0.
The Carolinas PGA was established in 1923 and is the largest of the PGA’s 41 sections with almost 2,000 professional members across North and South Carolina and a small portion of Virginia.
Playing golf since he was five years old, Tomedolskey played collegiately at Shorter University in Rome, Ga.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” said Tomedolskey, who is the current director of golf at Cherokee Plantation. “To have your name first on the trophy in an inaugural PGA event, especially one with this much talent and competition, is awesome. Any time you can win a major in the Carolinas, it is a great thing because there are lots of great players spread out in this area. As golfers, we get into the game because we want to play — I enjoy competing and will do it until I can’t do it anymore.”
Tomedolskey’s championship in the South Carolina Senior Open qualifies him to advance to the Carolinas Senior PGA Professional Championship to be held August 10-11 in Pinehurst, N.C.
A top-20 finish in the August event would advance Tomedolskey to the Nationals.
