Last year when Hugh Faulkner was a year younger and a half foot shorter he surprised the big kids by winning the overall championship at the Greenville County Junior Amateur championship.

Most tournaments that include age division competition allow any golfer playing from the same tees to win the overall championship.

Faulkner finished at the top of the 13 – 14 year old Division for the second straight year and since his age group played the same tees as the 15-18 year old kids and since his score was better than the older kids he won the County title for the second straight year.

“I guess last year was a surprise that I won,” said Faulkner. “This year. my game has improved and I wanted to win it again,” he said.

Not only has his game improved from year to year, it improved from the first round to the second round at Holly Tree.

Faulkner shot an opening round 4-under par 68. Playing the back nine first, he started with a birdie and then ran off a string of five straight birdies before carding a bogey on his ninth hole.

In the second round he added to his big lead by shooting a 3-under par 33 on the front. He closed out the back nine with 3 straight birdies to post a 7-under par 65.

“I knew I had the lead, but I wanted to stay aggressive. When I’m playing good I want to keep it going and I was able to do that today,” he said.

Faulkner, who played on the Greenville High School team that finished second in the state AAAA tournament last spring, was the only golfer to shoot under par in the tournament.

The overall champion only made 2-bogeys in the 36 hole tournament. His final round was bogey free. In the 36-hole tournament he made 13 birdies and won the overall championship by 19-shots.

“I’ve played some good golf this summer and I’ve got a few more tournaments to play. Defending the championship in the county was important,” said Faulkner who will be the youngest golfer in the SCGA Amateur championship next month at the DeBordieu Club near Georgetown.

Rose wins 15-18 Division Championship

The boys 15-18 year old Division needed a playoff to crown a champion.

Connor Rose was tied with two other golfers in second place to start the final round. When first round leader Jack Magera faltered Rose was able to take the lead.

While Rose was still on the course, Groves Williams finished his round and posted a 2-under par 70. He improved on his first round by 12 shots.

Williams and Rose finished in a tie.

Williams birdied the first playoff hole while Rose needed a tough five-footer to force a second playoff hole.

On the second playoff hole, Rose used an 8-iron to get within 5-feet on the 153 yard par-3 second hole.

He made the putt to win the age group title.

“I had a chance to win, but I missed a birdie putt on 18,” said Rose. “I was glad I had another chance. This is a big win for me,” said the Riverside High School golfer.

Pellerin wins Girls County Title

In the girls championship Olivia Pellerin had the lead over Kamryn Williams going into the final round. Unfortunately Williams had to withdraw from the final round leaving Pellerin able to claim the win.

The Mauldin High School golfer shot rounds of 75 -74 for a 5-over par 149 total.

Pellerin had a highlight in the round that she will remember for a long time.

“On the fifth hole I hit my shot in the water, but it skipped three times and ended up on the green,” she said.

The good luck helped her par the hole.

The County Championship win is a confidence booster for the rising sophomore who has played a number of SCJGA events this year.

“I made some good long putts today,” said the girls champion.

The 10-12 year old boys played 9-holes each day.

Thomas DeMint won the age group title by 7-shots over Benjamin Brown with Heyward Jennings finishing in third place.

Cullen Beck won the boys 7 -9 year old Division. Beck made 7-birdies in his final 9-hole round shooting a 29 to win the age group title over Miles Jacops.

Scores from the Greenville County Junior Amateur https://scjga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/scjga21/event/scjga2192/contest/5/leaderboard.htm