By STEVE WILLIAMS

Veteran Western Alamance golf coach Mike Tolley knew he had the makings of a good golf team when the class of freshmen arrived from the middle school in 1997.

The Warriors had a good tradition in golf, but that incoming class was something special.

"There are always a few (newcomers) that you hear about, but you usually only get one or two. Getting four or five out of one grade level is unusual. I knew this was going to be a good group, but you can never count on a state championship."

The state 2-A title was exactly what Western got, dominating May 21-22 at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill. The Warriors’ 596 total was 14 shots better than Statesville, Lenior Hibriten and Shelby, who settled for seconds at 610. Western led by five after posting a 298 the first day and padded the margin with another 298 in the final round.

Four seniors were the Warriors’ inspiration while a freshman provided the spark for Western’s first-ever state golf title.

Robert McKinney and David Honeycutt were each making their fourth state tourney appearances, Will Benton was on three state teams and Brian Walker was part of the state tourney line-up twice.

But it was a freshman, Justin Newton, who led the charge. His 74-72 tied for fourth in the state, five shots off the pace of Shelby’s Tripp Reynolds, who shot 70-71.

Honeycutt (74-75) tied for ninth, Benton (75-75) tied for 11th and McKinney (75-76) tied for 15 th.

The scores by Walker (81-78) and sophomore Danny Morris (83-77) would have helped every other team in the field although the Warriors didn’t count them.

"Our strength all year was our depth," Tolley said. "One through six on any given day could come in number one. We were consistent in the state and it primarily that way the whole year."

The Warriors got an early-season shock in the Mid-State 2-A Conference play when McMichael High of Mayodan, which placed sixth in the state with a young team, won the first league match.

"We kind of knew we were going to be pretty good, but that was a wake-up call," Tolley said. "It showed them that if they don’t do it they can be beat."

McMichael came out on top of Western three times during the season but the Warriors finished atop the conference tally by 16 shots.

"Over the course of a year, that’s not that many shots, but the fact that we had tough competition throughout the year certainly helped us in the long run," Tolley said.

After losing in the 18-hole conference tournament to McMichael at Holly Ridge, Western got it going, shooting 296 to win the regional at Quail Ridge.

The Warriors then carried it over to Finley.

"This was great bunch of kids," Tolley said. "They pull together, work together and pull for each other. Good senior leadership set the tone. They knew what they wanted to do and they were fortunate to complete it."

McMichael may be the team to beat next year. Nick Baker, who tied for fourth in the state, is one of five returning players. Baker will join Zack Arms, Dustin Kallam and Carson Williams as senior leaders with Jake Gore, who played a key role as a freshman, also returning. The Phoenix only graduation loss was Charlie McDaniel.

Chris Lowman, a junior at Siler City Jordan Matthews, capped his strong season by winning the State 1-A individual crown, shooting 76-69.

Lowman, the Central Tar Heel Conference player of the year, finished three shots ahead of Dustin Shaw of Alleghany.

Alleghany, however, took the team title with 617, nine shots better than Albemarle.

Jordan Matthews finished third at 638 (324-314), North Stokes was fourth at 644 (318-326), and Graham was fifth with 657 (331-326).

North Stokes, the defending champ, played without number one man Brant Stovall, a junior, in the second round. He opened a three-shot lead with an even-par 72 in the opening round but had to withdraw because of food poisoning. He had finished second in the state as a sophomore.

Josh Vogler led the Vikings with a tie for fifth at 152 (78-74).