Taelor Rubin captures Twin States Junior title
BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. – Taelor Rubin of Raleigh led wire-to-wire and claimed her first Carolinas Golf Association junior title when she won the 44th Twin State Junior Girls Championship.
Rubin, a rising senior at Cary Academy, fired a 2-under-par 70 and grabbed a one-shot lead in the opening round at The Windermere Club on July 27. She followed with a 73 on the 5,955-yard course to hold off Collins Bradshaw of Columbia by three shots.
“I was pretty nervous today but I played very steady,” Rubin said after claiming one of the CGA’s top events for junior girls. “I have never won any tournament before, never mind a one of the biggest girls’ championships in the Carolinas. I feel amazing.”
Rubin has already committed to the University of Mississippi.
Bradshaw, ranked second among girls in South Carolina, is a rising junior has won two major junior events in her home state this year.
The field included a strong field of 78 players from both Carolinas.
Junior Carolinas Boys Championship
ELGIN • July 27-29 – Wilson Day of Raleigh shot 70-67-73 and tied for sixth in the 61st Carolinas Junior Championship at the Members Club at Woodcreek Farms.
Day’s 210 total was just a shot out of second place but was five off the pace of Davis Womble of High Point, who fired a second-round 64 on his way to the title.
Alex Ehlert of Raleigh added a tie for 12th with 72-70-71.
Junior Boys 13-Under Championship
ASHEBORO • July 12-13 – Eric Bae of Cary parred the third hole of a sudden death playoff to turn back Harrison Rhoades of Raleigh to claim first place in the N.C. Junior Boys 13-Under Championship at Asheboro Municipal Golf Club.
Bae (70-71) and Rhoades (69-72) both finished at 141, three better than third-place finisher Sean Chang of Aberdeen (74-71).
In the playoff, Bae and Rhoades matched pars on the first two holes before Bae ended it with a par on the third hole.
Preyer Fountain of Raleigh won the first flight with 76-72 which was fifth overall.
Big “I” Classic
SOUTHERN PINES • July 10-11 – Steady golf over two days at Pine Needles gave Casey Ward of Chapel Hill the State Big “I” Junior Classic Championship.
Ward shot 70 both days and ended a shot better than Lori Beth Adams of Burlington (67-74), Kayla Sciupider of Etowah (67-74) and Mattie Tobey of Denver (69-72).
Ward got up and down for crucial pars at the 16th and 18th holes to emerge with the victory. At No. 18, she found the bunker with her second shot but was able to get the sand save.
The victory qualified Ward for the national Big “I” championship, set July 27-30 at Olde York Country Club in Chesterfield, N.J., and Ward shot 84-77 and missed the 36-hole cut.
In the 14-under division, Durham’s Alaina Yeatts rolled to a seven-shot victory with a pair of 73s.
In the Boys Big I at Mid Pines, Michael Hocker of Chapel Hill had the best finish for a Triangle player as he shot 75-68 and tied for eighth.
Future Masters
DOTHAN, Ala. • June 27-29 — Carter Jenkins of Raleigh fired 70-71-71 and tied for seventh in the 61st annual Future Masters at Dothan Country Club.
Playing in the age 13-14 group, Jenkins finished10 shots off the pace of Robby Shelton of Wilmer, Ala.
In the 11-12 age group, James Sugg of Pinehurst shot 75-74-76 to finish 16th.
In the 10-under division, A.J. Beechler of Pinehurst tied for first with 73 (37-36).
AJGA
AUGUSTA, Ga. • July 7-9 — Alex Ehlert of Raleigh and Todd Eckstein of Durham claimed a top-10 finishes in the Charles Howell III Junior Championship.
Ehlert posted 76-71-70 and birdied two of his last three holes at West Lake Country Club to tie for seventh, finish six shots off the pace.
Eckstein tied for ninth with 74-68-76.
Grant Houser of Holly Springs tied for 18th among the 103 players with 69-75-76.
ROME, Ga. • June 29-July 1 — Reeves Zaytoun of Raleigh shot 69-75-72 and tied for 10th in the Burgett H. Mooney Rome Classic at Coosa Country Club.
Zaytoun finished 10 shots off the pace.
Andrew Fowler of Cary tied for 22nd with 75–75-71.
COLUMBIA • June 22-24 — Patrick Sawrey of Smithfield finished sixth in the Palmetto Junior Classic at Columbia Country Club.
Sawrey’s 78-71-73 finished six shots out of the lead.
Kendrick Vinar of Chapel Hill tied for 10th with 73-75-75.
Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Tour
POWELLS POINT • July 17-18 – Sara Spicer of Bahama shot 79-75 and won the Futures Division at Bash at the Beach at Kilmarlic Golf Club.
Spicer also claimed first place in a one-day event at Foxfire West on July 9 while her sister, Jessica Spicer, captured honors in the one-day event at Rock Barn on June 18.
In the Bell Division, Jessica Kittelberger of Raleigh shot 83-79 and finished third in he Bash at the Beach.
