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O'Neal claims High Point Junior overall title

greer smith, the high point enterprise, n.c.
·4 min read

Jul. 15—HIGH POINT — A hot start and a lot of consistency paid off for Nathan O'Neal in the final round of the High Point Junior Open at Oak Hollow on Thursday.

Tied for third after a first-round 69 at Blair Park, O'Neal played the first five holes in 4-under, ran off a string of pars then finished birdie-bogey for a 68 and a 7-under 137 total that edged first-round leader John McCoy by a stroke.

"I got off to a good start, from there I had a lead on the people I was playing against," said O'Neal, a rising senior at Beddingfield High in Wilson. "I had a lot of putts from 15 feet. I was two-putting a lot, making sure I made par and really didn't have a bad hole."

O'Neal's hot start included a birdie on No. 1, then going eagle-birdie on a pair of par-5s (2 and 5) after getting into both of those greens in two. The early run gave him the lead at 7-under and he never surrendered it, although he was tied with McCoy and High Point's Ethan Wooten after 14 holes. All played in a final group that also included Calvin Hawkins of Lexington.

McCoy and Wooten then faltered, bogeying the par-5 15th as a result of trouble chipping out of a bunker after getting relief from water. O'Neal nearly reached the 17th green with his tee shot, made birdie for 8-under while McCoy and Wooten both made bogey, putting O'Neal ahead by three.

That took some of the pressure off when he hit his tee shot on 18 far enough to the right of the fairway that he was blocked by trees from reaching the green. O'Neal pitched out, got on the green in three and settled for bogey while McCoy made birdie from about 20 feet and cut the final margin to one.

O'Neal said he played in the High Point Open to get in a two-day tournament before competing in next week's Dogwood Boys State Junior at Holly Ridge in Archdale.

"It sets me up well since I shot 69-68," O'Neal said. "I had two solid rounds. The course next week is more open but it's longer. And the greens I'm more familiar with because I play on Bermuda all the time."

McCoy, who shot 67 in the first round, fell back early then tied O'Neal twice — after the second of consecutive birdie putts on 8 and 9, and when he birdied 14 and offset a bogey on 11.

McCoy, who turned 15 on Tuesday and will be an incoming freshman at Salisbury High, shot 71 and a 138 total, which was good for second overall.

Ethan Wooten of High Point, Freddy Ortmann of Greensboro and Nathan O'Neal's twin brother Drew tied for third overall at 139 and tied for second behind Nathan O'Neal in boys 16-18.

McCoy finished first in boys 14-15 by two strokes over Hank Johnson of Newland, who tied Tanner Cadieux of Greensboro for sixth overall.

Wooten, a rising senior at Wesleyan Christian who was in second place after 68 at Blair Park, also closed with a 1-under 71.

Wooten started birdie-birdie and was even with Nathan O'Neal at 6-under after two holes. He then dropped a shot behind with a three-putt bogey on No. 3. He birdied No. 5, made bogey on No. 10 after missing the green with his third shot, made a short birdie putt on 12 and followed with a birdie putt on 14 that put him at 7-under.

"I hit the wall really well but missing a couple of short putts on 17 and 6 got me," Wooten said. "I thought I had a chance the whole way. But, missing that shot putt on 17, I knew I had to birdie 18 to have a chance, and I almost did."

Calvin Hawkins, who also shot 69 at Blair Park, had trouble making putts and settled for a 1-over 73 and tied for eighth overall. Cole Rouse of Kernersville (72-75) and Lincoln Newton of Wallburg (71-76) were among those who tied for 21st at 147. Christian Muthomi of Kernersville carded an even-par 72 and tied for 37th at 151. Hunt Jardina of High Point (78-80) tied for 60th at 158. Michael Skeen of High Point (85-79) tied for 75th at 164, and Jace Harris of High Point shot 82-88 for 170 and tied for 85th.

Graden Lomax of China Grove fashioned a final round 77 and came from behind to edge Kevin Zhang of Clemmons for the boys 12-13 championship by a stroke. Zhang shot 79.

Boonyanant Rujiranan of Pinehurst added a 75 to a first-round 75 for a 148 total and a 18-shot victory over Lily Jordan of Chapel Hill in the girls division. Madison Dial of High Point was third and another three strokes back.