Is it time for the Moore County Golf Championship to make a format change?

I think so, and, naturally, I’ll tell you why.

Did you know that the Moore County Amateur Match Play Championship finals were held last Sunday?

Don’t feel bad. Neither did anyone else, apparently, other than Wynn Solle and Steve Lassiter.

Of course, you can read about it after the fact in today’s edition of The Pilot. But wouldn’t you have liked the option of seeing upclose and personal your county championship being decided?

For the second year in a row, Solle and Lassiter went head-to-head for the title. It was great drama a year ago at Little River Golf Club when Solle won on the 20th hole.

The drama was just as intense Sunday when Solle, nursing a badly-burned right hand, took advantage of Lassiter’s driving problems to record a 5 and 4 win on Woodlake Country Club’s demanding Maples Course.

Who was there to view it and appreciate the marvelous golf demonstrated by these two warriors? I was there, with my camera and my wife. That was one more person than watched it last year.

Is the interest in a county championship that jaded? Or is it just that the format is outmoded and under-publicized? Why, in a county where golf is the most used four-letter word, does a championship of such note go unnoticed?

As we all know, golf isn’t just a game in Moore County, it’s a way of life. With 43 – and counting – golf courses in a county that hosted the U.S. By God Open only two months ago the sport is the top industry.

So why, when the two best golfers in the county tee it up for the title on a Sunday afternoon doesn’t anyone seem to care?

Because no one cares enough to show up, should we ignore it? I think not. These two men won four match play matches to make it to the finals. They played their hearts out and, for them, Sunday was a really big deal. That no one else seemed to care shouldn’t lessen their accomplishment.

In fact, there is no blame to be placed for the lack of interest. How could there be interest? The championship was stretched out over a couple of months and no one knew when the individual matches were being played.

Meanwhile, over in neighboring Cumberland County, another championship was being held. There were almost 200 players involved, utilizing two golf courses for three days of stroke play. The gallery for Sunday’s final foursome numbered in the hundreds.

The difference had to be the format. I love match play; nothing is more dramatic. But the way Moore County holds its championship is never going to draw flies. The guys battling for the title deserve more.

Lassiter, a teacher and girls basketball coach at West Pines Middle School, isn’t sure he’d like to see the format changed, though.

"I like the match play idea because I think it gives more people a chance to win," Lassiter said. "In stroke play, I think there would only be a few players with a chance."

Solle, despite his back-to-back wins, disagreed.

"It ran so long this year," he said. "It went three weeks longer than it should have. It would be nice to do it over a weekend and, if they did, I think they’d get a better field."

In honesty, what the championship needs is a sponsor. It wouldn’t take a lot of money, just someone to put things together. Something to give it an identity. Frankly — and this may get me in hot water with a guy named David Woronoff — I think The Pilot would be well-served to get involved.

What would be wrong with a stroke play tournament of either 36 or 54 holes, with the top 24 qualifying for a match play championship in the spring? The championship would be played on a weekend with appropriate media attention. If spectators wanted to take in the final round, they’d know when and where it was taking place.

And, with all respect to Steve Lassiter, there is no truer defining of a champion than stroke play.