Manning, Lethco, Wood, Jones win titles

 By STEVE WILLIAMS

Youth prevails.

College players Rocky Manning and Travis Lethco and high school senior Burton Wood captured championships of area invitationals played in August and September.

Manning and Lethco, a pair of players on the Greensboro College roster, won the Gate City and Pudding Ridge amateurs; and high school senior Burton Wood prevailed in the first Chatham County Amateur.

Clay Jones, a 30-something from Winston-Salem, spoke up for the mid-ams by winning the Reidsville Jaycee Amateur, edging high school senior Justin Newton by a shot.

The winners joined the list of players who have qualified for the eighth annual Triad Golf Today Tournament of Champions, which will be played in March or April 2004 at Greensboro National.

 Clay Jones captures Reidsville Jaycee title

 REIDSVILLE – Clay Jones used his deft touch around the greens to scramble for pars on the final two holes Sept. 21 and held on to win the 35th annual Reidsville Jaycee at Wolf Creek Golf Club.

Jones, who was a shot off the pace with the final round began, followed his opening round 68 with a 69 and finished a shot ahead of former Jaycee champ Tony Nichols of Reidsville and Western Alamance High School senior Justin Newton. Both had a pair of one-under-par 69s.

Jones, sparked by an eagle on the par-5 No. 6 hole, turned the front nine in 33 and held a share of the lead with Terry Mills heading to Wolf Creek’s back nine.

But Jones fell off the pace with back-to-back bogeys at 11 and 12.

Newton birdied No. 12 for a two-shot swing and he grabbed a share of the lead with Mills.

The key moment on the back nine came at the No. 14. Jones missed the green but chipped in for birdie.

Newton, who bogeyed No. 14, came right back with a birdie at No. 15, leaving a three-way tie going to the final three holes.

Jones took the lead for good with a steady par at the par-5 16th while both Newton and Mills suffered bogeys.

At No. 17, Jones left his approach shot in the valley below the uphill green but hit a masterful chip and saved par. At No. 18, he got up and down from just off the left of the green with two clutch putts.

Newton had a 10-footer for birdie to force sudden death but his bid narrowly missed.

Nichols, who birdied the 18th to close within one, lost his chance when he pushed his second shot at No. 16 into the hazard. But the real downfall for Nichols came earlier. On the short par-5 No. 6 hole, he suffered a double bogey while all the others in the top four either birdied or eagled.

Burton Wood rallies to win Chatham Am

 SILER CITY – Burton Wood proved himself against the best 1-A golfers in the state earlier this year when he captured the individual state championship while leading Jordan Matthews High School to the team title on his home course at Siler City Country Club.

In the inaugural Chatham County Amateur at the same course Sept. 20-21, he again came out on top, but this time he beat some of the best veteran players from Chatham and surrounding counties.

Wood, a senior at J-M, posted rounds of 71 and 73 and then beat Dale Fogerty of Sanford (73-71) in a two-hole playoff. Twig Wood (Burton’s dad) finished third at 145 (71-74) and Garland Yates of Asheboro was fourth at 149 (74-75).

Fogerty was four ahead with two holes to play but Burton Wood picked up three shots on the par-4 17th hole, scoring a birdie while Fogerty doubled. Fogerty also bogeyed the 18th hole, but Wood needed a 15-footer to save par and force the playoff.

Wood rescued par from over the green on the first playoff hole to stay alive and then hit the decisive shot of the tournament on the par-5 second hole – a 205-yard 2-iron that found the green. He two-putted from 20 feet for the birdie and the win.

Manning claims victory in Gate City Amateur

 BROWNS SUMMIT – Greensboro College player Rocky Manning edged Ryan Sharpe by one shot to win the Gate City Amateur at Bryan Park Aug. 30-31.

Trailing by two shots after he bogeyed the 11th hole and Sharpe birdied, Manning got within one going to the final hole on the Champions Course. Sharpe found trouble off the tee and his third shot went over the green, leaving him with an impossible recovery shot. He eventually settled for a double bogey. Manning also ran into some trouble at 18 when his second shot found the bunker that guards the left front of the green. He escaped the sand and then rolled in an 8-footer for the winning par.

Manning took the lead with a sizzling stretch on the Players Course in the first round. He was two over after seven holes but birdied Nos. 8, 9, 10, 12 and 14 on his way to a three-under-par 69. Sharpe was the only other player under par with a 71.

Manning shot 74 the second day and Sharpe a 73.

Garland Yates of Asheboro finished third, three shots back at 146 (74-72).

Travis Lethco wins at Pudding Ridge

 MOCKSVILLE – Travis Lethco of Wallburg broke the competitive course record and the two-day tournament record while winning the sixth annual Pudding Ridge Amateur Aug. 23-24 at Pudding Ridge Golf Club.

Lethco, who plans to join the Greensboro College team next spring, posted rounds of 67-70 on the par-72 course and beat Todd Chadwick of Clemmons by four shots.

Chadwick, who shot 71-70, trailed by four shots when the second round began but he got within a shot of Lethco after 12 holes. But Lethco birdied the 13th while Chadwick bogeyed and that two-shot swing all but clinched the title for Lethco.

It was the second tournament title of the year for Lethco. He won the Brookwood Amateur in June.