Union’s Evan Johnson fired an opening round 75 in the 2016 NCHSAA Golf State Championship at Longleaf Country Club in Southern Pines on Monday. Johnson qualified as an individual for the states after finishing in third place at last week’s 1A Mid-East Regional Championship at Coharie Country Club in Clinton.
It was a solid day all around for Johnson, who is really in good shape entering the final day of the two-day event, and has a legitimate shot at winning the event as an individual.
Johnson trails leader, Patten Williams of Community Day School by 6 shots entering the second and final day. Williams shot a blazing score of -2, 69 on the par 71, Dan Maples design. Johnson finds himself currently in a tie for fifth place overall as an individual.
Lakewood’s team qualified for the event after placing in the top 3 at the regional last week at Coharie. This is most of the Leopards’ first time in the state finals, but they are enjoying the experience. After a day of struggles, the Leopards find themselves in last place of the teams in the state finals, but being there says a lot about their team and the progress that they have made this season.
It was a team score of 398 for Lakewood. Community School of Davidson is in the lead after a day one total of 301, and lead Mount Airy by 7 shots going into round two.
Lakewood was led by Griffin Faircloth, who shot 85 in the opening round. Ty Horne shot 102 for Lakewood, Zack Johnson shot 105, and Owen Gray shot 106 to round out the scoring for the Leopards, who hope to end their season on a better note on Tuesday.
Union head coach Tim Pope believes his guy, Evan Johnson still has a good shot at winning the individual race.
“He needs to keep the ball in the fairway off the tee and play with a ‘win it’ type of attitude tomorrow,” said Pope after Monday’s round. “He needs to be aggressive and hope the ball bounces his way.”
Information for Tuesday’s round is not available for the Wednesday paper. For more information on the golf state championship scoring, visit www.clintonnc.com and follow Adam Capps on Twitter @ac4birdie. Live scoring links can be found online on the golf page at nchsaa.org.