Williams wins Rose Junior Classic

Published in Sports on July 14, 2004 1:55 PM

• Print
• Email

It wasn't the 67 that he was aiming for, but Blake Williams' 73 on Tuesday was good enough to land him in a sudden death playoff with Corey Summer, who came back from a two-stroke deficit to tie Williams at one-under par after the second round.

On the first hole of the playoff, Williams watched as Summer's tee shot bounced into the left-side bunker on the par three 9th. Knowing that Summer would have a tough up and down, his thought going into his tee shot was simple.

"Two putt."

Based on the shot, however, many spectators probably thought that he would only need one. The ball trailed to the right early, and looked at first as if it might find the water, only to land on the edge of the green 15 feet from the pin.

Summer failed to get up and down out of the trap. Williams two-putted for par and the win in the 6th annual Goldsboro Builders/Clarence Rose Junior Golf Classic.

"The pin positions were a little tougher today," he said, noting that he didn't play quite as well as he had on Monday. "I had a little more heat on me with the guys that I was playing with."

Williams played through the heat, and took his third consecutive Carolinas Golf Association title.

On the girls' side, Christin Harrison of Wilson followed her first round 94 with an 88 on Tuesday to take the girls' 14-15 and overall titles. Future Mount Olive College golfer Kristen Freeman came in second overall and won the girls' 16-18 division by six strokes over Ivy Witherington.

A playoff was needed in the boys' 14-15-year-old division between Lee Bedford of Cary defeated Mark McMillen. Both players finished at one-over par in regulation play. Colby Murphy of Snow Hill tied for third at two-over with Adam Stephenson.

Logan Harrell of Huntersville won the boys' 12-13 division with back-to-back rounds of 73. James Ellis came in second, while Ben Heisey placed third. Tatum Briele of New Bern won the girls' 12-13 group by following her first round of 92 with an 81 on Tuesday.

The 8-9 and 10-11-year-old divisions, each of which played nine holes per day, were competitive as well.

Andrew Decker of Greenville won the boys' 10-11 title with a combined score of 73, while Mallory Warrick of Wilson won in the girls' 10-11 group with a combined score of 94. Cody McGowan of Winterville took the boys' 8-9 division, posting a combined score of 73.

Goldsboro Builders President and tournament director David Perry was pleased with the way that the event played out.

"It's getting more competitive every year," he said. "The strength of the whole field is improving. Clarence (Rose) did a great job. Jack (Snyder, PGA Master Professional at Walnut Creek) did a great job. I think it went really well."

Perry also sees some opportunities for changes in next year's tournament, but doesn't want to give away too much just yet.

"I think we're going to make some changes. I can't tell you what those are right now, but we're going to try to do some things to make it a little more fun."

He hinted that one of the changes might include posting scoreboards along the course, so that the players will know where they stand heading down the stretch.

With the tournament becoming as competitive and exciting as it has, and with several nationally ranked players in this year's field, changes such as this would allow the event to continue to grow into one of the premiere stops on the Carolinas Golf Association's junior schedule.