Congratulations to the 2025 Golfweek Amateur Tour National Champions!

Left to Right: Chris Centala - Tampa, FL - A Flight
Paul Hines - Central North Carolina - B Flight
Jeff Wong - Hilton Head-Savannah - Champ Flight
Ricardo Almeida - El Paso, TX/ Las Cruces, NM - C Flight
Zak Thompson - Washington, DC Metro - D Flight

 

Over 700 players from 46 Local Tours competed in the 2025 Golfweek National Championship!

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – This year’s tournament marked the 31st anniversary of the Golfweek Amateur Tour. In all, over 700 players competed in the three-day event with members from each one of our 46 Local Tours represented.

In the Championship Flight, Jeff Wong won his third National Championship leading wire-to-wire. Wong opened the tournament on Friday at Oyster Reef with a three under par round of 69 to take a two-shot lead over several players. Saturday at Hampton Hall, Wong posted an even par round of 72 to take a four-shot lead over Brian Quackenbush. David Schmidt, Kyle Moffett and Wallace Nelson all shot 71 posting one under par for the low rounds on day two. The final day was hosted by the Country Club of Hilton Head on Sunday. Wong carried his four-shot lead and never looked back. Brian Quackenbush started in second but couldn’t make up any ground on Wong and finished in solo second. Jeff Wong, now a three-time National Champion, played solidly all day and posted the low round of the day along with last year’s winner Bryce Benson. Both players shot two under par rounds of 70. David Wachter finished third and David Schmidt was fourth. A log jam of players tied fifth with last year’s National Champion Bryce Benson leading the way on the card playoff followed by Kyle Moffett, Alex Hoffman and Wallace Nelson.

Jeff Wong, Hilton Head-Savannah (69-72-70—211)
Brian Quackenbush, Augusta, GA (71-73-71—215)
David Wachter, Indianapolis, IN (72-73-78—223)
David Schmidt, Charlotte, NC (74-71-80—225)
Bryce Benson, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (77-79-70—226)

In the A Flight, Chris Centala played well all weekend and saved his best round for Sunday to win by three shots. The win by Centala gave the Tampa Tour back-to-back National Champions in the A Flight! Doug Cristina led after two rounds by three shots but was overtaken in the final round to finish second at 232. Jimmy Norton and three other players were all tied third with scores of 234. Norton shot the low round on Sunday at 2 under par 70 followed by Bob Sheahan, Bryan Garcia and Danny Sweetman in the scorecard playoff.

Chris Centala, Tampa, FL (76-79-74—229)
Doug Christina, Mississippi (77-75-80—232)
Jimmy Norton, Jacksonville, FL (82-82-70—234)
Bob Sheahan, Eastern, NC (82-77-75—234)
Bryan Garcia, California (81-78-75—234)
Danny Sweetman, Charlotte, NC (80-78-76—234)

In the B Flight, Paul Hines came from way back with a final round of 76 for the one-shot victory. Hines captured his first-ever National Championship for the Central, NC Tour by beating out John Lederer from Richmond by just one shot. Dallas Tyler finished two back in third place followed by Jeremi Hodge and Bob Santee. Santee won the battle for fifth on the card playoff over Paul Chaplin and Dalton Hudson.

Paul Hines, Central, NC (82-87-76—245)
John Lederer, Richmond, VA (76-89-81—246)
Dallas Tyler, Cincinnati/Dayton (81-85-81—247)
Jeremi Hodge, Augusta, GA (86-85-77—248)
Bob Santee, Augusta, GA (82-85-83—250)
Paul Chaplin, Chicago (82-81-87—250)

The C Flight saw Ricardo Almeida take home his first-ever National Championship and the El Paso/Las Cruces first claim to the winner’s circle with a three-day score of 251. In second place was Brandon Wynn followed by Wade Cole and Tim Sayles. Brian Gregor and Tom Fitzsimmons rounded out the top six spots.

Ricardo Almedia, El Paso/Las Cruces, NM (86-77-88—251)
Brandon Wynn, Charlotte, NC (95-81-83—259)
Wade Cole, Indianapolis, IN (89-87-86—262)
Tim Sayles, Tidewater, VA (89-88-86—263)
Brian Gregor, Hilton Head-Savannah (87-90-86—263)
Tom Fitzsimmons, Tidewater, VA (91-90-85—266)

In D Flight, Zac Thompson beat Tony James by six shots to become the National Champion with a three-day score of 262. Sunday was just a four-horse race to where James finished second for the second year in a row. Anton Borovets was third followed by Robert Benavides fourth and Steven House beating out Bradley Leak and Hal Lare on the card playoff for fifth place.

Zac Thompson, Washington, DC Metro (84-86-92—262)
Tony James, Augusta, GA (87-92-89—268)
Anton Borovets, Atlanta, GA (95-90-84—269)
Robert Benavides, Cincinnati/Dayton (85-91-94—270)
Stephen House, Richmond, VA (92-95-90—277)

Charlotte, NC took the Team Cup title with a three-day total of 2501 stokes. The win ended the three-year Team Cup winning streak of the Cincinnati/Dayton tour. Tidewater, VA took second place with 2521 shots followed by Cincinnati/Dayton at 2542. Rounding out the top five teams were Augusta, GA with 2548 and North Central Florida at 2587 totals.

Turning to the PGA Superstore 2 Man Team Challenge, be sure to congratulate the following teams for winning their flight with the three-day totals listed below:

Champ Flight: Wallace Nelson (Arizona) and Bryce Benson (Dallas-Fort Worth, TX) 452
A Flight: Ronnie Averett (Mississippi) and Doug Cristina (Mississippi) 475
B Flight: Allen Hagen (Charlotte, NC) and Michael Anderson (Cincinnati/Dayton) 508
C Flight: John Calderon (El Paso/Las Cruces, NM) and Ricardo Almeida (El Paso/Las Cruces, NM) 527
D Flight: Jim Siders (Columbus, OH) and Robert Benavides (Cincinnati/Dayton, OH) 549

This season marked the twentieth year Hilton Head Island hosted our National Championships. Our 1288 competitors (704 Golfweek Amateur Tour/484 Senior Amateur Tour) collectively played on nine courses: Country Club of Hilton Head, Oyster Reef GC, Golden Bear, Robert Cupp at Palmetto Hall, Hampton Hall, Robber Row in Port Royal and Robert Trent Jones, Fazio and Arthur Hills courses at Palmetto Dunes.