Wilmington-area golfers continued their summer tour this past weekend as four local standouts finished in the top 10 at the 2016 Carolinas Junior PGA Championship presented by Under Armour and Genesis at The Hackler Course held on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.
After missing the cut at the North Carolina Amateur Championship earlier this month in Chapel Hill, Wilmington Christian Academy product Joey Funderburg rebounded over the two-day event to place third among the 100 golfers in the field. Funderburg was five under par for the tournament, three strokes behind eventual winner Zack Gordon of Gaffney, South Carolina.
Funderburg sat in a tie with Gordon after posting a 68 during opening round play. His one-under 71 on day two put him in a tie for third as Gordon finished at minus-eight for the championship, with a pair of 68’s on the scorecard.
East Carolina signee Blake Taylor of Atkinson was one stroke behind Funderburg to place fourth, while Mideastern Conference Golfer of the Year Jackson Tyler closed in a five-way tie for eighth place. Taylor, who won last year’s Carolinas Junior PGA Championship, bounced back after a 73 on the par 72 layout and fired a five-under 67 for low round of the tournament during final round play.
New Hanover’s Brantley Moore also competed in Conway and closed the championship at one-over.
In the girls’ overall division, Sara Funderburg of Wilmington took 10th place after shaving seven strokes off her opening round, eight-over-par 80.
Boys’ leaderboard Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Final
No. 1 Zack Gordon 68 68 136 (-8)
No. 3 Joey Funderburg 68 71 139 (-5)
No. 4 Blake Taylor 73 67 140 (-4)
T-8 Jackson Tyler 72 70 142 (-2)
T-28 Brantley Moore 74 73 147 (+3)
Girls’ leaderboard Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Final
No. 1 Smith Knaffle 76 69 145 (+1)
No. 10 Sarah Funderburg 80 73 153 (+9)
