Oxendine becomes first Lumbee to play on PGA Tour

ARDEN — Spencer Oxendine became the first member of the Lumbee Tribe to play in a PGA Tour event this week after qualifying for the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville.

Oxendine, a Fayetteville native, narrowly missed the cut, finishing one stroke behind the cut line, after rounds of 71 and 69.

Oxendine shot 6-under-par 64 in Monday’s open qualifier at the Country Club of Asheville, becoming one of four players to earn a spot in the Biltmore Championship Asheville field.

In Thursday’s opening round, starting on the 10th, Oxendine shot 2-over 38 on his first nine holes and dropped to 3 over with a bogey at the par-3 second hole. But he made birdies at holes No. 5, 8 and 9 to get back to even par and finish with a round of 71.

He also started slow in Friday’s second round, with bogeys on holes No. 2 and 6, falling five strokes off the projected cut line. But he rebounded with birdies on four of the next five holes, No. 7, 8, 10 and 11, to get within one stroke of the cut line, which is the top 65 players and ties. Oxendine then made par on each of the final seven holes, finishing with a round of 2-under 69 in a tie for 74th.

Oxendine played high school golf at Jack Britt and collegiately at N.C. State before turning professional. He was an alternate for the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 and has played on the mini-tour circuit since completing his college career.

Oxendine’s pairing for the first two rounds included Alexander Tosti, who made headlines on Thursday as his caddie walked off the course mid-round; a fan was brought inside the ropes to caddie the rest of the round for the Argentinian.

Neal Shipley leads the Biltmore Championship Asheville at 15 under par after rounds of 65 and 62; he is one stroke ahead of Ben Kohles. Ricky Castillo and Max Greyserman are tied for third at 11 under, with Eric Cole fifth at 10 under. Jacob Bridgeman, who will be part of the U.S. team at next week’s Presidents Cup, is tied for sixth at 9 under; Hickory native J.T. Poston is tied for 10th at 8 under.

The event is Asheville’s first PGA Tour event since 1942.