The Sandies, an eight-woman team made up of golfers from the Sandhills, claimed second place in the Executive Women’s Golf Association’s Champions Cup held in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The players, who totaled 7.5 points, were Andrea Hodel, Jamie McDevitt, Karen Smith, Dawn Roberts, Ronda Powell, Laura Dorner, Nina Renaud and Amy Massey.

A team from Orlando won the event with 9.5 points. A field of 16 teams from across the country was competing. Four semifinal tournaments were held to determine the final field.

The championship included four singles and four four-ball matches.

Eligibility was open to all members of the EWGA, the national organization of current and aspiring business and professional women who play golf. Those in the field must have a verifiable USGA handicap index and be members in good standing.

Sr. Four-Ball: William Dawson of Pinehurst and Jim Bradley of Leland combined to shoot 73 and win flight B of the Carolinas Golf Association Senior Four-Ball event held at Cape Fear Country Club in Wilmington. They won in a card playoff after tying with two other teams in regulation.

Flash Gordon of Vass and Joseph Boyd of Spring Lake tied for 11th with 79.

Jody Huneycutt and Mark Andrew of Albemarle won flight A with 67, also in a card playoff.

Jim Stirling and Rick Sears of Wilmington won the super senior title with 68.

Net Amateur: The Carolinas Golf Association’s Carolinas Net Amateur Championship is being played this weekend at Myrtlewood Golf Club in Myrtle Beach. The format is 36 holes of stroke play.

There are four divisions: men, senior men (55 and older), women, and senior women (50 and older).

The par-72 layout will play at approximately 6,300 yards for the men, 6,000 yards for the senior men, and 5,300 yards for both women’s divisions.

The PineHills course is the first and only design along the Grand Strand by award-winning architect Arthur Hills. It was formerly known as The Pines, but renamed PineHills in 1993, when Hills redesigned it. The PineHills course is routed along the same path as its predecessor, but Hills’ skillful use of mounding and strategically placed water hazards give the course a completely different feel.

Golf Charities: GOLF 20/20, the collaboration of leading organizations representing all segments of the United States golf industry, has announced the game’s charitable impact of $3.9 billion in 2011.

According to a study conducted by the National Golf Foundation, golf as a fundraising vehicle includes an estimated 12,000 golf facilities (75 percent of U.S. total), 143,000 events, 12 million participants and $26,300 average per function.

“Regardless of the economic climate, golf is a key driver of charitable giving in the U.S.,” said Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation, administrator of GOLF 20/20. “As a major focus of the golf industry, working with organizers of philanthropic events helps improve millions of lies.”

Beneficiaries include health, youth, education, environmental and cultural groups nationally, regionally and locally.

More than 85 percent of organizations conducting golf events find them important because, in addition to raising significant funds, they are easy to organize and provide exposure and networking opportunities among supporters.

The charitable impact findings are based on qualitative calls and data collection from a coast-to-coast sampling of public and private golf facilities, and nonprofit organizations producing golf events.

Donations, including those from professional tournaments, are a significant part of the golf industry, which is comparable in size to the motion picture and video industries.

GOLF 20/20 is a unique collaboration of all segments of the golf industry, from associations and manufacturers to golf course owners/operators and the media.

It was launched in 2000 and is designed to unite and activate the industry around key strategic initiatives that increase participation and retention, involvement and interest in the game.