By MARC PRUITT
TYGA State Championship
BUIES CREEK, Oct. 12-13 ● Eric Bae of Cary fired a 9-under 63 in the final round to capture the TYGA State Championship by eight shots at Keith Hills Country Club.
Bae, a sophomore at Raleigh Athens Drive, finished with a two day total of 11-under par 133.
Bae, who fired a 2-under 70 in the opening round, entered the final round three shots behind first-round leader Henry Shimp. Bae began his final round on the back nine with a bogey on the par-4 10th hole, then birdied four of his next five holes to get to 5-under for the tournament.
After making pars on his next five holes, Bae made birdies at six of his last seven holes, including four straight at Nos. 6, 7, 8, and 9 to run away from the field.
Raleigh-area players swept the top three spots, with John Landers III finishing second (3-under) and Stephen Franken (2-under) finishing third.
In the girls championship, Catherine Ashworth of Fuquay-Varina was the runner-up with a two-over total of 146, four shots back of champion Madison Moosa of Charlotte.
UNC Tarheel State Junior Championship
CHAPEL HILL, Oct. 19-20 ● Raleigh’s Preyer Fountain was the only player in the high-school field to put together back-to-back rounds under par to capture the Junior/Senior boys championship at Finley GC.
Fountain, a junior at Broughton, fired rounds of 67-70 (7-under) two win by six shots over Charlie May of Topsfield, Mass.
In the middle school division, Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest captured medalist honors with a two day total of 4-under 138, winning by four strokes over Andrew Wilmoth of Raleigh.
Bhatia finished with 11 birdies over his two rounds, the most birdies by any competitor in any of the four divisions of the event.
The middle school competitors were playing from tees nearly 1,000 yards shorter than any of their high-school counterparts.
North Carolina Middle School Championship
BADIN, September 27-28 ● Haeley Wotonsky of Wake Forest was the girls medalist, and Raleigh Ravenscroft won the team title at the 12th N.C. Middle School Championships at Badin Inn GC.
It was the second straight title for Wotonsky, who fired rounds of 72-78 to finish with a two-day total of 10-over par 150, three shots clear of Clinton’s Amy Wooten.
Ravenscroft, which also won the team title in 2010, overcame a two-shot deficit after the first round to edge out Greensboro’s North State Academy – the defending champions – by three shots to secure the team championship.
Ravenscroft’s team members were Camryn Fletcher, Chase Tickle, Britt Stroud and Quinn Riley.
VantageSouth Bank Junior Open
GREENSBORO, Oct. 5-6 ● Eric Bae of Cary captured first place in the Freshman/Sophomore division with a two-day total of 3-under 139 at Grandover Resort West, but lost in a playoff to Aberdeen’s Josh Stockwell – the medalist in the Junior/Senior boys division– for the overall championship.
Stockwell, who birdied two of his final three holes in the final round, made a birdie on the second hole of sudden death to edge out Bae, who settled for a par.
Bae’s 4-under 68 in the final round was the second-lowest round of the tournament.
Preyer Fountain finished three shots back of Stockwell and Bae and fired the low round of the event – a 5-under 67 – during the final round.
Robert Trent Jones Junior Open
SANFORD, Oct. 19-20 ● Raleigh’s Ryan Gerard won the overall high-school championship and the Freshman/Sophomore division, Raleigh’s Cole Ray won the Junior/Senior Division, and Chris Kim of Cary won the middle-school division at Carolina Trace CC.
Gerard finished with an even par total of 144 after rounds of 70-74 to beat Ray by 10 shots.
Ray held off Winston-Salem’s Lee Davis by one shot in the Junior-Senior division after consecutive rounds of 77.
Kim had rounds of 78-77 to win by five shots over Carson Castelli of Greensboro.
Precision Junior Championship
BROWNS SUMMIT, Oct. 26-27 ● Chris Kim of Cary outlasted Grayson Wotnosky of Holly Springs by nine shots to capture medalist honors in the 12-14 boys division of the 11th Precision Junior Championship at Bryan Park Players course.
Kim shot 71-75 to finish at 2-over 146. His opening round of 71 was the only under-par round shot by a competitor in his division.
Kim was 2-under par for the tournament when he made the turn in the second round, but had four bogeys and a double bogey over his final nine holes.
In the boys 8-11 year old division, Zach Roberts of Holly Springs posted 79-74 for a 9-over total of 153, winning by three shots over Landon Barnes of Pilot Mountain.
