Local juniors shine at Goldsboro Municipal

By Sam Atkins
Published in Sports on June 3, 2004 1:56 PM

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Junior golfers from across Wayne County could not have asked for better weather to enjoy the game that inspires both competition and camaraderie.

The largest field ever of 45 golfers participated in the Wayne County Junior Amateur Golf Championship held Wednesday at Goldsboro Municipal Golf Course. This was the tournament's fourth year and first year at this course. The host course rotates form year to year among the area golf courses.

Boys and girls from ages eight to 18 played standard stroke play following all the United States Golf Association rules.

Tyler Huetter, 8, finished his round around 10 a.m. and continued to work on improving his game on the putting green. He won the 8-9 year old boys division by shooting a 41.

"It was probably my best game ever," he said.

Huetter has only been playing golf for a couple of years and practices in the back yard with his older brother, Eric, who also played in the tournament. This was Tyler's first golf tournament ever and said it was fairly cold in the morning when he teed off at 8:16 a.m. It warmed up about the third hole and he had an enjoyable time.

"My dad just told me to play for fun," he said.

Blake Rausey won the 12-13 boys age division. There was a two-person playoff for second and third place between Taylor Gardner and Jay Kornegay. They both shot a 96 and Gardner won the playoff on the third hole.

Ryan Campbell tied for the lowest score of the day with a 73. He was victorious in the 14-15 boys age division. It was his second year playing in the tournament and he shot an 87 last year. He said the golf course has improved tremendously over the years and there were many aspects that he was impressed with.

"The greens are rolling really true," he said.

There was some extremely tough competition in the 16-18 boys group that resulted in two playoffs. Jonathan Burke, 17, won the division with a 73. He said he had three bogies on the first nine to shoot a 38 and followed that up with a one-under 35 on the second nine.

Shane Ogburn and Ryan Dunn were in a playoff for second and third place and Dunn was victorious with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Kevin Brandley and Miles Perry were in a playoff for fourth place and Perry won on the third playoff hole with a birdie.

Defending Champion Ernie Campbell, 17, who shot a 79 last year, was five over par on the first nine and said he needed to improve several parts of his game heading towards the back nine, especially driving the ball off the tee.

He hoped to get it back to even par and finish with a 72, but ended up shooting an 80.

Jack Crain, director, said it was the best year yet thanks to the good participation and great weather. He said that everyone who signed up to play showed up. The festivities began Tuesday night as all the competitors were treated to a golf clinic by the staff at Goldsboro Municipal.

"The skill level has gone up this year," he said.

Last year's event was held in early July and having it earlier this year worked well because it was less humid and more people were able to play because more people usually go on vacation the week of July 4.

Afterwards, the competitors were treated to lunch before the award presentation. Next year's event will be at Lanetree Golf Course.

Wayne County

Junior Amateur Tournament

at Goldsboro Municipal

Golf Course

Girls (13-18 year olds):

Morgan Lane - 111 (third place)

Kristen Freeman - 88 (first place)

Kelli Forbis - 90 (second place)

Boys (8-9 year olds):

Drake Shaw - 64

Tyler Kornegay - 63 (third place)

Nicholas Adams - 44 (second place)

Tyler Huetter - 41 (first place)

Boys (12-13 year olds):

Jay Kornegay - 96 (third place)

Davis Taylor - 113

Blake Rausey - 94 (first place)

Taylor Gardner - 96 (second place)

Jordan Williams - 120

Boys (14-15 year olds):

Kyle Hamm - 79

Eric Williams - 88

Doogie Niemond - 102

Joey Wagner - 83

Bradley Hill - 81

Rich Holder - 87

Nick Barrow - 82

Eric Huetter - 87

Will Vinson - 78 (fourth place)

Ryan Campbell - 73 (first place)

Matthew Davis - 75 (second place)

Clark Rose - 84

Hayden Gardner - 89

Andrew Radford - 88

Kevin Herring - 77 (third place)

Scotty Boyette - 80

Boys (16-18 year olds):

Ryan Walderman - 94

Jonathan Greene - 76

Jonathan Burke - 73 (first place)

Dustin Smith - 76

Ernie Campbell - 80

Brandon Campbell - 78

Chad Smith - 84

Redding Pittman - 87

Garrett Smith - 86

Shane Ogburn - 74 (second place)

Kevin Brandley - 75

Jami Crampton - 88

Brandon Payson - 82

Ryan Dunn - 74 (third place)

Robert Garris - 76

Miles Perry - 75 (fourth place)

Morgan Hill - 83