Bass hopes to beat field, rain at RCGC

LUMBERTON — Since starting a family, Ryan Bass doesn’t get the chance to play golf as often as he used to.

But when he does, he still makes the most of it.

Bass headlines the field at the 44th annual Robeson County Golf Championship sponsored by Dial Insurance, looking to extend his stretch of solid play in the tournament in recent years, winning in four of the last five years and finishing second in the other.

“I always look forward to it,” Bass said. “This is one of the few chances I get to play in an individual-style event. I don’t get very many of those, and now that I have a family now I don’t get to play as much golf as I want to, so I definitely look forward to this event, and getting to play pretty much with all my buddies; I pretty much know everybody that plays in it. I always look forward to it, it’s always a good event to play in.”

Bass won the Championship Division title last year with a five-stroke victory over Jamie Locklear. Other division winners in 2023 included Ryan Hundley in the Regular Division, Lonail Locklear in the Senior Division, Larry Lynn Locklear in the Super Senior Division and Toni Blackwell in the Ladies Division.

The 54-hole Championship Division will be played over three days beginning on Friday. All other divisions are 36 holes over two days; the Super Senior Division will play Friday and Saturday, while the Regular, Senior and Ladies divisions will play Saturday and Sunday.

There were 84 players registered to play in the championship as of late Wednesday, Pinecrest head pro Dwight Gane said.

“Weather permitting, I’m looking forward to a great, great golf tournament,” Gane said. “I love the county tournament. It’s real golf.”

Weather forecasts suggest that rain could play a role in the tournament weekend, with a 60- to 70% chance of rain locally each day from Friday through Sunday.

“It’ll definitely affect it, but the thing about it is everybody has to play in the same conditions,” Bass said. “You might get lucky and play in the morning one day and avoid the rain, but all in all I think everybody’s going to pretty much have to play in the same conditions.”

Last week’s rain allowed the course’s rough to grow and become more lush, Gane said, making it “a little bit thicker than some years.” That comes after a drought through much of the summer that has also affected course conditions.

“Our greens may be slightly slower because with the drought and with the high temperatures, we’ve babied them a little more, we’ve put more water on them, weren’t quite as aggressive in trying to get speed,” Gane said. “But the fairways are excellent; they’re by far the best they’ve been in some time.”

“I noticed the rough was a little bit higher than normal, which that’s about normal for a county tournament, I know (Pinecrest superintendent Chris Jackson) normally tries to get the rough a little higher,” Bass said. “But everybody’s going to play the same course, the same conditions, so everybody’s going to be battling the same things out there.”

Gane guessed the winning score could be in the range of 3- to 4-under-par. Bass was the only player to finish under par last year, taking the title at 4 under.

Bass became the third player in tournament history with five wins or more with last year’s title. His first came in 2013 before a pair of back-to-back wins, in 2019-20 and 2022-23; he has finished in the top two in each of the last six years.

Gane suggested Bass, 2018 tournament champion Greg Powell and Mike Chuchacz, who won the club championship at Fairmont last weekend, should be among the tournament favorites. Jamie Locklear, Jeff Wishart, four-time champion Scott Benton and 2011 victor Ian Locklear rounded out the top five behind Bass last year.

“As far as my game goes, I really haven’t played a whole lot, so I really can’t say if it’s good or bad. I played one day last week and it was OK, but really no expectations, just trying to go out there and figure it out the best I can,” Bass said. “I know Pinecrest pretty well, I’ve played it for 15, 16 years now. I grew up playing there, so I kind of know where to hit it, where to miss it. I’ve been very fortunate to finish in the top two (so often), that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Friday’s tee times will be released Thursday morning. Scores and tee times will be available at robesonian.com throughout the championship.