Florence, S.C. – It was a picture perfect finish for the final round of the 68th Grant Bennett Florence Junior Invitational at Florence Country Club. Just imagine the dream scenario for a club to host a prestigious annual event and crown a local boy the champion. This would be the scene as Pake June of Florence, trailing by one shot going into the day, climbed the leaderboard and came out victorious by one shot. June followed up his opening round of one-under par 70 with a two-under 69, edging out Wills Kelly (Camden) who fired a final round 4-under 67 and Gene Zeigler (Florence) who posted the low round of the day at 5-under 66.
June, playing in the final group, held off his fellow competitors coming down the stretch making a key, par-saving six foot putt on the 17th hole. He then hit a fairway metal to 10 yards short of the green which had a front hole location. Local knowledge prevailed as he chipped up just three-and-a-half feet short of the hole and sunk the birdie putt to be the first local winner of the esteemed and longest running junior tournament in South Carolina since Gregg Jones, Jr. in 1996. June expressed how much this victory meant to him saying, “It means so much, beyond words to describe winning this event and at my home course.”
David Oliver, IV (Pageland) would make a run for the overall title during the day. However, a couple of bogies on his final nine would drop him into a tie for 3rd overall but enough to claim the 13-14 division.
Coming from behind to capture his victory, Charles Cauthen (Columbia) surged to the top of the 11-12 age group, carding a 2-under 69 to win by three and take the division title.
In the 10 and under division, Owen Atkinson of Columbia was able to hold-off his competitors, securing an eight shot victory. Atkinson improved by one-shot, posting a 5-over 40 for a two-day total of 81.
