42nd Annual Junior Championship

June 15, 2000

Lexington: Second round leader Emerson Dyer shot a final round 71 to win the 42nd Annual South Carolina Golf Association Junior Championship. The 54 hole event was contested on the par 72, 6,507 yard Country Club of Lexington, June 13-15, 2000.

Dyer, who will attend Coastal Carolina in the fall, was joined in the final pairing of the tournament with first round leader Brian Duncan of Greenville and home town favorite Gavin Gillespie of Lexington.

A birdie on the 7th hole gave Duncan the lead. It was only short term as he gave it up on the following hole. With a two shot swing on the eighth hole moved Dyer back in front. “I knew they were going to have to make some birdies to catch me.”

A birdie on ten and seven consecutive pars found Dyer on the eighteenth tee with a four stroke lead. The day before he was forced to hit his second shot off a bridge in a hazard. “I hit an 8 iron off that bridge because I just figured I had to get it airborne.” He later said, “I thought I would get a drop, so it kind of made me mad.”

In the 14-15 age division, Nick Hughey won a two hole sudden death playoff over Dane Burkhart of Aiken. Both players finished with a three round total of 226. Hughey, playing with a “ribbon of remembrance” for a good friend that recently passed away, dedicated the win to the friend and was convinced he had a hand in the win.

Turner Smith was victorious in the 12-13 year old division with rounds of 77-75-75 to win by 3 strokes over McArn Bennett. Smith’s final round included three birdies.

The top eight finishers from 14-17 will play in the 25th Georgia- South Carolina Junior Team Matches to be played at The Farm in Dalton Georgia and the overall champion will earn an exemption in the South Carolina Amateur.

The Country Club of Lexington played at a yardage of 6507 for the 14-17 year olds and 5882 for the 12 - 13 year olds.

16-17
Emerson Dyer (Conway)	70	74	71	215
Gavin Gillespie (Lexington)	72	75	72	219
Brian Duncan (Greenville)	68	78	74	220
Stephen Poole Jr. (Spartanburg)	74	77	70	221
Matt Bennett (Cheraw)	75	74	73	222
Alex Hamilton (Aiken)	76	73	75	224
Daniel Barden (Columbia)	74	78	75	227
Shane Birckbichler (Greenville)	76	73	78	227
Nicky Biershenk (Boiling Springs)	72	75	80	227
Kevin Kisner (Aiken)	79	77	72	228
Landon Hames (Spartanburg)	75	80	73	228
Ryan Castle (Summerville)	73	79	76	228
Van Burgess (Boiling Springs)	77	74	77	228
Billy Nisbet (Myrtle Beach)	73	82	74	229
Justin Gandy (Darlington)	75	80	74	229
Charles Chapman (Mt. Croghan)	77	77	75	229
Jeff Spencer (Blythewood)	77	76	76	229
Matthew Bryant (Lexington)	74	77	78	229
Thomas, M Cameron (Clover)	75	81	74	230
Scott Brown (North Augusta)	77	78	75	230
Andrew Hewitt (Spartanburg)	78	76	76	230
Emmett Turner (Greenwood)	78	75	77	230
Ben Grandy (Batesburg)	75	73	82	230
Lawerence Caudle (Columbia)	74	79	78	231
Robert Chen (Orangeburg)	75	79	78	232
Benji Thompson (Clarks Hill)	74	82	78	234
Jay Sylvan (Columbia)	78	78	79	235
Matt Wiley (Greer)	74	79	83	236
Matthew Minor (Surfside Bch)	73	82	86	241

14-15
Nick Hughey (Gaffney)	73	77	76	226
Dane Burkhart (Aiken)	74	80	72	226
Luke Hart (Blythewood)	75	79	73	227
Joel McAlhaney (Aiken)	75	74	78	227
Zach Siefert (Simpsonville)	74	76	78	228
Casey Thompson (Clarks Hill)	77	80	74	231
Marshall Swails (Columbia)	76	75	80	231
Alex Sturgis (Rock Hill)	74	80	79	233
Adam Hart (Blythewood)	79	79	77	235
Patrick Cunning (Aiken)	75	85	76	236
Josh Clark (Simpsonville)	81	73	82	236
Andor Pruitt (Cayce)	78	79	80	237
Josh Janis (Ninety Six)	79	76	82	237
William J. Fairey (Columbia)	77	83	78	238
Matthew Nickles (Columbia)	79	78	81	238
Matthew Mead (Greenville)	82	80	77	239
Clark Carpenter (Blythewood)	80	80	79	239
Warren Thomas (Columbia)	79	78	82	239
Enobong Udo (Greenwood)	78	83	79	240
Zach Martin (Pickens)	80	78	82	240
Zachary Moran (Taylors)	81	79	81	241
Gill Herzberg (Blythewood)	79	82	84	245
Justin Hendrix (Aiken)	75	85	86	246
Hunter Leopard (Spartanburg)	81	81	85	247

12-13
Turner Smith (Laurens)	80	74	75	229
McArn Bennett (Cheraw)	78	76	78	232
Austin Bowen (Chapin)	77	75	84	236
Phillip Mollica (Anderson)	79	80	80	239
Baker Elmore (Cheraw)	81	77	82	240
George IV Bryan (Columbia)	81	76	83	240
Clinton Chandler (Rock Hill)	75	81	85	241
Kurt Owings (Pauline)	80	78	88	246
Allen Koon (Bamberg)	80	79	88	247

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