PINEHURST- Senior Drew Younts of Northwest Guilford roared from behind to successfully defend his individual championship and win the 70th annual North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A men’s golf championships on Tuesday at Pinehurst number six.

Younts recorded a one-over par 145 for the 36-hole event with a 72 on the final day to win the event by a single shot. The Northwest golfer entered the final round tied for 10th.

Three golfers finished in a tie for second, including Ben Wright of Crest, Nik Peterson of Charlotte Providence and Cory Nagy of Charlotte Vance, but it was broken by a one-hole playoff. Wright birdied the extra hole while Peterson made par and Nagy had a bogey to shake out all three positions in the standings.

Monday’s leader, Blake Cox of Apex Middle Creek, had an 80 in the final round to go with an opening 68 to finish at 148, three strokes out of first.

Morrisville Green Hope held on to the edge in the team standings it had established in the first round as Wake County schools took three of the top four spots. Green Hope had a 592 to win its second state golf crown in the last four years. Raleigh Broughton, which had won six of the previous eight 4-A championships, was second at 598 followed by Charlotte Providence (602) and Middle Creek (612). Middle Creek had been second after Monday’s play.

Sophomore Will Almand was the low man for the state team champions with a 148 total while Kevin O’Connell had a 149.

The best four of six individual scores counted toward the team total.

Prior to 1986, all NCHSAA competed for a single title in an open tournament. Play went to three classifications in 1986 and then to four classes beginning with the 1998 tournaments.

Wendy’s and the Carolinas Ford Dealers are the presenting sponsors of the golf championships, and a total of 84 golfers competed in the tournament.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

70th ANNUAL CLASS AAAA MEN’S STATE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS–2006

Pinehurst number six—par 72, 6,700 yards

FINAL TEAM SCORES

Pl Team Score

1. Morrisville Green Hope 289-303–592

2. Raleigh Broughton 302-296–598

3. Charlotte Providence 301-301–602

4. Apex Middle Creek 294-318–612

5. Northwest Guilford 301-313–614

6. Southern Pines Pinecrest 312-306–618

7. New Bern 312-316–628

8. West Forsyth 311-322–633

9. Matthews David Butler 317-317–634

10.Weddington 318-324–642

11.Greensboro Grimsley 321-327–648

12.Fayetteville Terry Sanford 337-320–657

FINAL INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

1.Drew Younts, Northwest Guilford 73-72—145

2.Ben Wright, Shelby Crest 69-77—146*

Nik Peterson, Charlotte Providence 75-71—146*

Corey Nagy, Charlotte Zeb Vance 72-74—146*

5.Nathaniel Gburek, West Forsyth 72-75—147

Patrick Barrett, Southern Pines Pinecrest 74-73—147

7.Blake Cox, Apex Middle Creek 68-80–148

Will Almand, Morrisville Green Hope 70-78—148

Daniel Meggs, Matthews David Butler 75-73–148

Bryce Aronson, Raleigh Broughton 76-72–148

Jack Fields, Southern Pines Pinecrest 75-73–148