Wayne County Golf Championships: Adams is medalist; Saints take team title

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 27, 2013 1:47 PM

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An extremely challenging course on a cold, blustery spring day caused plenty of frustration for competitors during the 2013 Wayne County Golf Championships.

Some holes played a club or two shorter.

Putts teasingly rolled wide of the cup on the fast greens.

A few tee shots landed in the water.

Just seven golfers manufactured an 18-hole round of 82 or lower, including Rosewood junior Nick Adams, who emerged the county champion with a 6-over par 77 on the Southern Wayne Country Club layout.

"Nick had a really tough day on the course today, his maturity impressed me," Rosewood head coach Daniel Baynes said. "All of the golfers did. Some holes played short and others really long, and then there were the crosswinds.

"Nick had very few pars ... tough to get in a rhythm. But he was a grinder on a not-so-perfect day. This win will be one to remember because of how hard he struggled to get it -- a great job of not getting down on himself and not slipping at the end."

Adams finished runner-up in 2011 and 2012.

Southern Wayne senior Kyle Best, who entered the day as the two-time reigning individual champion, shared second-place honors with teammate Timmy Stroud. Each shot an 8-over 79 and helped lead the Saints to their second team title in the past three years.

Teammates Jon Langston and Julian Mitchell completed the four-player total of 348 with rounds of 92 and 96, respectively. Austin Smith and Chad Davis also participated.

"The course played extremely tough," SW head coach Jeremy Joyner said. "I am very proud of my kids for hanging in there and battling. There is a lot that can be said for that. Though we won the county championship, which was one of our team goals at the beginning of the year, we now have to focus on getting for a chance to win the (Eastern Carolina) conference championship."

Dylan Mitchell and Battle Burnette carded rounds of 81 and 82, respectively, and guided Charles B. Aycock to a runner-up finish in the team competition. The Golden Falcons' 352 team score included a 91 from Mitchell Langston and 98 from Matt Ivey.

Andrew Thorne and Hunter Dean also played for CBA.

Rosewood, the 2012 county team champion, ended up a distant third at 380. Andrew Henn (96), Dylan Champion (102) and Taylor Britt (105) accounted for the Eagles' team score.

Goldsboro, led by Carlen Thomas' eighth-place effort of 87, took fourth overall with a 384. The Cougars' other scorers included Matt Hall (90), Luke McAlduff (98) and Ian Taylor (109).

Eastern Wayne's Ty Schmeltzer placed fourth individually with an 80 and the Warriors captured fifth in team play at 396. Willis Underwood (92), Jacob Sauls (107) and Tommy Sheppard (117) rounded out the team scoring.

"The boys are working hard and trying to eliminate the big numbers," first-year Eastern Wayne head coach Tony Parrish said. "Golf is a game of misses. Whoever misses it in the right place shoots the best score ... go out and compete with the golf course and grind out a score."

Kyle Stone logged a third-place effort of 79 for Spring Creek, which took sixth at 415. He was joined by teammates Justin Price (107), Nathan Tanner (113), Max Reyes (116) and Dwayne Brown (116).