Southern Wayne "three-peats" as ECC golf champion

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

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Three-peat complete.

Southern Wayne concluded its late-season surge with a season-low team score of 318 and captured its third consecutive Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference men's golf championship at Goldsboro Municipal Golf Club on Tuesday afternoon.

The Saints, along with South Johnston and Cleveland, each qualified as a team for the N.C. High School Athletic Association eastern regionals at Jacksonville Country Club next Monday.

Charles B. Aycock's Battle Burnette and Dylan Mitchell each qualified as an individual.

Southern Wayne defeated regular-season runner-up Cleveland by 36 strokes and third-place South Johnston by 44 strokes.

"I am very proud of my team," SW head coach Jeremy Joyner said. "We had to earn it and after an early stumble, we have played very well as a team especially since Easter break. We finally broke 320, which is something I have been waiting to see."

Senior Kyle Best led the Saints' title charge with a 74. Julian Mitchell provided an 80. Timmy Stroud and Jonathan Barrow polished off the team's four-player total with identical 18-hole rounds of 82.

Austin Smith and senior Chad Davis also participated.

"We are peaking at the right time and I feel if we stay focused, we will have a good chance to make the states, but we have still got to keep working hard," Joyner said.

Mitchell paced the Golden Falcons' cause with a 77, while Burnette chipped in an 85. Matt Ivey and Mitchell Langston each turned in an 89 in sunny, but cool and breezy conditions.

Aycock fired a 340 team total for the second time in conference play this season. The Golden Falcons finished fourth in the final team standings with 2,413 strokes.

"I think a lot of it has been the guys have settled in," first-year CBA head coach David Elmore said of his team's solid play during the last month. "Maybe it has to do with the weather. At the beginning of the season, it was cold and wet with the wind blowing all the time.

"The last five matches, we've had decent weather."

Eastern Wayne ended up sixth at 356.

Ty Schmeltzer collected an 82, followed by Willis Underwood with an 84. Andrew Lockerby and Tommy Sheppard scored 94 and 116, respectively.

"(Our) best team score on the season," first-year EW head coach Tony Parrish said. "Each time we went out, we got better. (The) players learned how grind out a score and keep playing.

"The future looks bright for next year."