EAST CHAPEL HILL’S GRIFFIN ROLLS TO VICTORY IN NCHSAA 4-A GOLF;PINECREST WINS TEAM TITLE IN PLAYOFF OVER MYERS PARK
PINEHURST— Ben Griffin of East Chapel Hill fired a five-under 67 to roll to a convincing victory on Tuesday in the individual portion of the 77th annual North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A men’s golf championships at Pinehurst number eight.
Griffin, who tied for 10th in last year’s tournament and won it all in 2011, entered the final day three shots ahead for the field and wound up with a great 36-hole total of 135, nine under par. It was the best-ever 36-hole score in the separate 4-A tournament and the third lowest total ever in an NCHSAA championship since World War II.
There was a playoff for the runner-up spot, with Trey Guy of Fayetteville Terry Sanford beating defending champion Stephen Saleeby of Raleigh Broughton with a birdie on the first playoff hole to take second. Both Guy and Saleeby had 144 totals in regulation, with Guy firing a four-under par 68 on Tuesday.
There was also a playoff for fourth, with Phillip Oweida from Charlotte Myers Park knocking in an eagle on the first playoff hole to win over Seth Gandy of Cornelius Hough. Both golfers had 36-hole totals of 145.
The championship was contested on a par-72 layout set at 6,698 yards for the NCHSAA event.
Southern Pines Pinecrest and Myers Park finished in a deadlock for the team championship and had to go to a playoff as well. A birdie by Zack Martin of Pinecrest on the first playoff hole was the difference as the two teams finished with identical 36-hole scores of 591. Pinecrest had a team total of 19 on the playoff hole and Myers Park had all pars for a total of 20.
Hough was third at 597 and defending team champion Raleigh Broughton was fourth at 598.
A Wake County school had won the men’s 4-A team golf title 18 times in the last 27 years, including the last four in a row. Pinecrest was the last non-Wake County school to win, taking the title in 2008.
Prior to 1986, all NCHSAA schools competed for a single title in an open tournament. Play went to three classifications in 1986 and then to four classes beginning with the 1998 tournaments.
A total of 84 golfers began play in the two-day tournament.
COMPLETE RESULTS MAY BE FOUND AT CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS MEN’S GOLF
