Pinehurst, North Carolina-For the past two Championships the Southern Golf Association has been cursed with bad weather but blessed with excellent Golf Course Superintendents, and this year at the Country Club of North Carolina was no exception. The last two rounds suffered delays caused by heavy rains, both at night and in the early morning, but play was completed each day due to the close attention paid by Bernie Greene and his staff in keeping the course playable. Bernie's close association with the "Man Upstairs" was never more evident than at the close of play when he recommended to SGA President Key to hold the prize presentation indoors. Without this good advice, we would have been thoroughly soaked as a severe thundershower hit just as the presentation started in the cozy confines of the Country Club of North Carolina Clubhouse.

Rafael Alarcon proved to be the best of the highly qualified group of players that entered the 73rd Southern Golf Association Championship, returning scores of 73-70-70-70-283 to win by one stroke over Jay Sigel, British Amateur Champion, and Bob Tway, a talented youngster from Marietta, Georgia, who is the roommate and teammate of Alarcon at Oklahoma State.

It was an exciting finish and could have gone either way as Alarcon, Sigel and Tway all had makeable eagle putts on the par 5 finishing hole. No eagle was made, although all three players did made birdies, and the title belonged to Alarcon by the thin margin of one stroke.

The final day started with Tway holding a four-stroke advantage after his sparkling round of 36-30-66 on the third day of play. However this lead was short lived and at the end of the first nine, of the lost round, Tway and John McGough, the North and South Amateur Champion from Greenville, Miss., were tied for the lead and Alarcon was one shot back while Sigel was two shots back. Alarcon took over the lead on the 16th hole and continued to hold his one-stroke advantage through the 72nd hole.

Alarcon, the two-time Mexican Amateur Champion from Guadalajara, confided that this was his biggest win in golf.

Finishing in 4th place was Wayne DeFrancesco of McLean, Virginia who plays his college golf at LSU. Frank Fuhrer, a North Carolina junior from Chapel Hill, took the 5th spot with an even par score of 288.

McGough, the Mississippi native playing for the University of North Carolina, had a chance at the title and held the lead until he lost strokes to par on the 14th and 15th holes. He also had trouble on the final hole when his strong tee shot found the water and in an attempt to hit it from the hazard, he was unsuccessful - had to then take a penalty and eventually finished in a tie for 6th spot with Bob Wolcott.

The surprise medalist was 18 year old Bob Wolcott from Dickson, Tennessee, who posted a 36-hole total of 67-71-138, which is six strokes under par. Surprise because of his tender years although he has had much experience as a fine Junior golfer. He finished in a tie for second in the 1978 SGA Junior Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Bob Jones Trophy was won by North Carolina, with a 36 hole team score of 565, based on the performances of Frank Fuhrer, Chapel Hill (141); Scott Hoch, Raleigh (141); Dole Morey, High Point (141) and Bill Buttner, Chapel Hill (142).