Mills wins Boys' Dogwood State Junior Chamionship; Rice takes girls' title by nine shots

 
Nolan Mills Jr. of Charlotte, NC had a bit of déjà vu today at the 10^th Dogwood State Junior Championship hosted by Sapona Ridge Country Club in Lexington, NC. Mills found himself in the final group for the second time in the last two weeks of a Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) Championship. He entered both final rounds trailing by two strokes. The story was different this week as the rising senior at Myers Park High School shot a final round 68 for a three day total 204, coming from behind to win his first CGA Championship.
 
 The day was not easy for Mills as second round leader Cole Ray of Raleigh, NC started with two birdies. Mills stayed patient adding three birdies of his own. “My putting was great last week but I had a lesson this weekend and focused on hitting fairways,” remarked Mills about what contributed to his win this week. After bogeying the 17^th hole he found himself with just a two shot lead “Being in second last week definitely helped me this week, I was a little nervous on 18 tee but just wanted to hit the fairway.” Mills hit the fairway, then strategically made his way up the final hole finishing with a tap in par for the victory. Ray finished the championship in solo second. Walker Simas, a high school teammate of the victor, finished his championship in third place.
 
Callista Rice of Mars Hill, NC won the girls division with consistent rounds of 74-73-73. Rice contributed new irons and her putting to the win. “I bogeyed my first hole but stayed relax and birdied my next two,” said the rising sophomore in high school. “Today I tried to avoid any trouble,” added Rice. The day was not easy for her as her mind was also focused on her Grandmother who was submitted to the hospital yesterday after following Callista during her second round. “My parents are a huge support but my grandparents taught me to play golf and even played a practice round with me this past week,” said an emotional champion. Finishing tied for second was hometown girl Emily Hawkins of Lexington, NC and Samantha Vodry of Mooresville, NC. They finished nine shots back of Rice at 230.
 
Boys' Championship (6,620 yards, par 71, 72.2/137)
      Place    Name                                                                     Score
         1     Nolan Mills Jr (2015), Charlotte, NC                       67-69-68--204
         2     Cole Ray (2015), Raleigh, NC                                69-65-72--206
         3     Walker Simas (2016), Charlotte, NC                       68-70-72--210
        T4    Avery Price (2017), Gastonia, NC                          72-68-72--212
        T4    Patrick Stephenson (2016), Four Oaks, NC            69-71-72--212
        T4    Walker Cress (2016), Concord, NC                        67-72-73--212
        T7    Jacob Haithcock (2014), Burlington, NC                 72-68-73--213
        T7    Nick Stafford (2014), Belmont, NC                        69-72-72--213
         9     Hoke Carlton (2015), Charlotte, NC                        71-71-72--214
       T10   Preyer Fountain (2015), Raleigh, NC                      72-74-70--216
       T10   Viraj Garewal (2017), Raleigh, NC                          72-75-69--216
       T12   Davis Richards (2015), China Grove, NC                71-72-74--217
       T12   Joey Funderburg (2016), Wilmington, NC               73-69-75--217
       T12   Logan Shuping (2016), Salisbury, NC                    74-68-75--217
       T12   Matthew Sharpstene (2017), Asheville, NC             68-76-73--217
       T12   Sam Wimbrow (2015), Concord, NC                      76-68-73--217
       T12   Will Minton (2015), Raleigh, NC                             70-74-73--217
       T18   Brantley Phillips (2016), Greensboro, NC               72-74-72--218
       T18   Corey Wilson (2016), Raleigh, NC                          72-70-76--218
       T18   Grant Powell (2016), Colfax, NC                            72-72-74--218
       T18   Mark Johnston (2015), Lewisville, NC                     73-73-72--218
       T22   Hardin Councill (2016), High Point, NC                   76-70-73--219
       T22   James Mishoe IV (2015), Cary, NC                        73-73-73--219
       T22   Nick Kroustalis (2014), Clemmons, NC                   73-68-78--219
       T25   Aman Gupta (2017), Concord, NC                         71-76-73--220
       T25   Ashton Poole Jr. (2015), Charlotte, NC                  73-74-73--220
       T25   Chandler Metz (2017), Wilkesboro, NC                   76-75-69--220
       T25   John Freeman (2016), Asheville, NC                      76-67-77--220
       T29   Aaron Purviance (2014), Winston-Salem, NC          72-70-79--221
       T29   Ben Chrystler (2015), Whispering Pines, NC           73-75-73--221
       T29   Bryce Hendrix (2015), Greenville, NC                     74-74-73--221
       T29   Jonathan Brightwell (2016), Mint Hill, NC                77-70-74--221
       T29   Reid Darden (2016), Clinton, NC                            71-75-75--221
       T34   Aaron Walker (2015), Charlotte, NC                        73-75-74--222
       T34   Alston Taylor (2015), Lincolnton, NC                      77-73-72--222
       T34   Chase Cochrane (2016), Waxhaw, NC                    75-76-71--222
       T34   Jon Henry (2014), Cornelius, NC                            73-76-73--222
       T34   Matthew Guo (2017), Clemmons, NC                     69-78-75--222
       T34   Ryan Gerard (2017), Raleigh, NC                           75-74-73--222
        40    Jubal Early, Jr. (2015), Charlotte, NC                     75-76-72--223
       T41   Hogan Lambeth (2014), Burlington, NC                  74-71-79--224
       T41   James Sugg (2016), Pinehurst, NC                        76-75-73--224
       T41   John Thatch (2014), New Bern, NC                         74-76-74--224
       T41   Seth Lomison (2016), Pfafftown, NC                     72-76-76--224
       T45   Candler Rice (2016), Asheville, NC                         74-75-76--225
       T45   Drew Bernard (2017), Charlotte, NC                       76-72-77--225
       T45   Jack Speer (2015), Winston-Salem, NC                  73-72-80--225
       T45   Kenan Poole II (2019), Raleigh, NC                        74-77-74--225
       T45   Tripp Summerlin (2016), Summerfield, NC              73-75-77--225
       T50   Carson Ownbey (2018), Candler, NC                      76-73-77--226
       T50   George Schmitt (2015), Elon, NC                           77-74-75--226
       T50   Michael McMahon (2016), Raleigh, NC                   72-78-76--226
       T50   Thomas Hodges (2015), Matthews, NC                  75-76-75--226
       T54   Chris Kim (2019), Cary, NC                                    75-72-80--227
       T54   Michael Wicker (2016), Rougemont, NC                 79-70-78--227
        56    Justin Emmons (2017), Asheboro, NC                   75-74-79--228
        57    Justin Westveer (2014), Charlotte, NC                    79-70-80--229
        58    Jimbo Stanley (2017), Raleigh, NC                        72-79-79--230
        59    Jacob Lowe (2017), Angier, NC                             76-74-81--231
        60    Will Simmons (2016), Charlotte, NC                       75-70-DQ--DQ
 
    Girls' Championship (5,729 yards, par 71, 73.9/131)
      Place    Name                                                                     Score
         1     Callista Rice (2017), Mars Hill, NC                          74-73-74--221
        T2    Emily Hawkins (2018), Lexington, NC                     77-80-73--230
        T2    Samantha Vodry (2016), Mooresville, NC               77-78-75--230
         4     Kathryn Carson (2017), Mooresville, NC                 77-75-80--232
        T5    Annie Collom (2015), Davidson, NC                       80-77-76--233
        T5    Haeley Wotnosky (2018), Wake Forest, NC            82-77-74--233
        T5    Jessica Kittelberger (2014), Raleigh, NC                75-79-79--233
        T8    Elizabeth Nguyen (2017), Pinehurst, NC                 78-79-77--234
        T8    Joliana Elias (2015), Jamestown, NC                     75-81-78--234
        T8    Rhea Bhatia (2015), Wake Forest, NC                    78-77-79--234
        11    Kendall Dobbins (2016), Summerfield, NC             79-77-82--238
        12    Caroline Cahill (2017), Wilmington, NC                   85-79-75--239
        13    Emily Herron (2015), Charlotte, NC                        84-77-80--241
        14    Alicia Marion (2015), Asheboro, NC                       79-79-87--245
        15    Moon Cheong (2017), Charlotte, NC                      81-82-85--248
        16    Morgan Laird (2015), Waxhaw, NC                         85-78-91--254
        17    Reilly Thomas (2017), Cary, NC                             79-83-93--255