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Pinecrest at NCHSAA 4A State Championships

The Patriots were hoping to improve on their eighth place standing after the first day of the NCHSAA 4A State championships. With a collective score of 294, it looks like Pinecrest should move up the leaderboard. Photos by Philip Taylor.

BY CHARLIE BERGMANN

Special to The Pilot

The Pinecrest boys certainly didn’t expect to finish the first day of the State 4A Golf Championships at Pinehurst No. 6 trailing the leader by 20 shots.

Led by senior Dylan Harris with a 2-under par 69, the Patriots shaved 11 strokes off Monday’s team score, jumping from a tie for eighth place to sixth in the 36-hole tournament won by Leesville Road.

Harris’ round included eight birdies mixed in with a pair of double bogeys. The senior finished in a tie for 11th place individually with a 77-69-146 total.

“It was a good improvement from yesterday,” Harris said with several of his teammates still out on the course. “I had hopes — I wanted to go low. I had four birdies and two doubles on the front and knew I needed to do something on the back nine to hopefully give our team a chance to have a good finish.”

Harris’ capped his round and high school career with an approach shot to within about two feet on the closing hole for a birdie. Both junior Alex Meade with a 73, and freshman Josh Stockwell with a 75, put on their best performances of the year on high school golf’s biggest stage.

Also for the Patriots, Zachary Martin and Nick Thompson both had final day 77’s and Sam Kosich had a 79. Tuesday’s team score of 294 (based on the team’s four lowest scores) was the fourth best team total of the second day. It brought them back to within six shots of third place in the field of 12 teams.

First day leader, Leesville Road, captured the team title after rounds of 285-292-577. Charlotte Myers Park was the runner-up with scores of 290-291-581.

The individual championship came down to a playoff between freshman Ben Griffin, of East Chapel Hill, (69-68-137) and senior Andrew Decker, of J.H. Rose, (68-69-137). Griffin won it on the second extra hole, chipping in to save par on the 18th hole.

Meade, the Patriots’ No. 5 golfer, finished in a tie for 21st place among the 84 golfers in the field after rounds of 76-73-149. Stockwell, the Pats’ No. 6, made an eight on his first hole of the tournament on the way to an 82. He then made a double bogey on the same hole on Tuesday.

“I guess it was when I made birdie on the second hole,” he said in explaining the turnaround. “I made a pretty good putt and that got me going. I was just trying to make par on every hole.”

Coach Sandy Sackmann was pleased with her team’s comeback on the same course the Patriots won the state title in 2008. Jack Fields shot a 67 in the final round that year as they overcame a nine-stroke Green Hope lead.

“They had a wonderful season,” Sackmann said of her Southeastern Conference and East Regional champion squad that has only one senior. “They got good experience and they’ll be ready to go next year.”

Team scores: Leesville Road 285-292-577; Myers Park 290-291-581; Ardrey Kell 300-293-593; Wakefield 294-301-595; Green Hope 298-298-596; Pinecrest 305-294-599; Clayton 304-298-602; Alexander Central 304-299-603; Grimsley 308-307-615; West Forsyth 311-304-615; Davie County 305-323-628; Hoggard 317-329-646.

Pinecrest scores: Dylan Harris 77-69-146; Alex Meade 76-73-149; Zachary Martin 75-77-152; Nick Thompson 78-77-155; Sam Kosich 77-79-156; Josh Stockwell 82-75-157.

Contact Charlie Bergmann at cbergmann@nc.rr.com.