Childress falls in semifinals of NC Junior Championship

Published 9:06 pm Friday, June 22, 2018

Staff report

CHARLOTTE — Brandon Einstein, of Clemmons, won the 51st North Carolina Junior Boys’ Championship here Friday afternoon at Pine Island Country Club.

No. 2 seed Michael Childress, of Salisbury, fell to Einstein, the No. 3 seed, in one of the morning semifinal matches, 2 and 1.

Childress, a soon-to-be freshman at the University of Richmond after graduating recently from Cannon School in Concord, fell behind early to Einstein — three down after four holes. But Childress rebounded and led by a hole after 13.

Einstein, a recent Forsyth Country Day grad who is heading to High Point University, won three in a row to finish, going up 2 with just one left.

Einstein then won the tournament’s final match, easily defeating Lansdon Robbins, of Davidson, 7 and 5.

Robbins, a teammate of Childress’ at Cannon, won the other semifinal match, defeating Drew Hackett, of Charlotte, 3 and 2. Robbins, the No. 20 seed, will be a freshman at UNC Wilmington this fall.

The event’s No. 1 seed, Alex Goff, of Kings Mountain, was upset on Wednesday by No. 64 AJ Shaffer, of Horse Shoe, N.C. Goff earned the No. 1 seed by firing a 7-under par 64 in Tuesday’s qualifying stroke play. Both Childress and Einstein shot 66s on Tuesday.

Entry to the tournament was open to any male amateur golfer between age 12-18, as of June 22 — who has not started college, is a legal resident of North Carolina, is a member in good standing of a club which is a member of the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) and has a current USGA Handicap Index at a CGA member club that does not exceed 18.3.

51st North Carolina Junior Boys’ Championship
Pine Island Country Club | Charlotte

ROUND OF 16:

Noah Connor, Reidsville (2019) def. Christopher Sperrazza, Raleigh (2019), 2 and 1.

Drew Hackett, Charlotte (2019) def. Abhay Gupta, Concord (2022), 2 and 1.

Landson Robbins, Davidson (2018) def. Ethan Lukes, Chapel Hill (2020) 19 holes.

Connor Jones, Raleigh (2018) def. Zach Gilbert, Davidson (2019), 3 and 2.

Michael Childress, Salisbury (2018) def. Tyler Dechellis, Clayton (2021), 19 holes.

Thomas Deal, Cornelius (2018) def. Nicklaus Sutton, Matthews (2019), 19 holes.

Brandon Einstein, Clemmons (2018) def. Will Hawley, Raleigh (2019), 3 and 1.

Andrew Wilmoth, Raleigh (2018) def. Graham Chase, Charlotte (2019), 2 and 1.

QUARTERFINALS:

Hackett def.  Connor, 1 up.

Robbins def. Jones, 4 and 3.

Childress def. Deal, 4 and 3.

Einstein def. Wilmoth, 2 and 1.

SEMIFINALS

Einstein def. Childress, 2 and 1.

Robbins def. Hackett, 3 and 2.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Einstein def. Robbins, 7 and 5.