A.J. Hagwood wins Charlotte Amateur Championship at 17 under
A.J. Hagwood used a 53 in round two to build the cushion he needed, then held off two challengers by a stroke at Nevin Park.
A.J. Hagwood did the damage in the middle of the tournament and finished the job by the slimmest of margins, winning MA1 at the Charlotte Amateur Championship by one stroke at 17 under par. The Matthews, North Carolina amateur posted rounds of 61, 53 and 58 for a 172 total at the Matt Keatts Memorial Disc Golf Course at Nevin Park, a PDGA-listed 18-hole, par-65 layout that stretched 7,993 feet for the event.
The defining round was Saturday’s second round, when Hagwood ripped off a 53 and turned a close race into a lead he could protect. By the end, Zachary Bivens of Gastonia and Evan Mattison of Charlotte were tied for second at 16 under, while Roberto Aguilar finished fourth at 11 under. That three-way pressure never let the MA1 chase go soft, but Hagwood’s early separation mattered: the tournament was decided by the score he posted before the final round, not by a late surge on Sunday.
The Charlotte Amateur Championship ran June 12-14 in Charlotte as an Amateur A-Tier presented by Innova Champion Discs, with 135 players listed when results were posted and official ratings still pending. Disc Golf Scene said the event used 10-minute tee-time intervals and released the caddy book on Monday, June 8. The competition footprint stretched across the Charlotte disc golf map, with event listings showing play at Nevin Park, Bradford Park, Kilborne TPC, The Scrapyard DGC, Idlewild Road Park, Eastway Park and Renaissance Park.
Hagwood’s win also lands with some context. His PDGA player page lists him as a 946-rated amateur from Matthews as of May 12, with 35 career events and four career wins. That makes this more than a one-off local pop. He is starting to look like a serious name in the Charlotte amateur scene, especially in a market that keeps turning out deep fields and tight finishes.
The rest of the leaderboard showed that depth everywhere. Scott Hooks led MA50 at 18 under, with Tim Harrell two strokes back. Justin Black topped MA40 at 10 under, Nicholas Mentas led MA2 at 13 under and James Collins sat atop MA3 at even par in the round-three live standings. A year ago, Charlotte Amateur drew 238 players and ended with Jacob Stoner and Zeb Kaylor tied at 173 in MA1. Hagwood won a smaller field this time, but he did it on a lower winning score and under far sharper pressure, which is usually the better sign.
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