Younts comes back to win at Forest Oaks

By Steve Williams, Special to the Review
Published: August 4, 2008

GREENSBORO — Drew Younts fired a 4-under-par 68 Sunday and surged from five shots off the pace to win the 36th annual Forest Oaks Invitational.

Younts, a rising junior at UNC Greensboro and a former club champion at Penrose Park Country Club, finished one shot ahead of Bruce Woodall of Yanceyville. Woodall, a former standout at Greensboro Day School who will begin his freshman year at the University of Virginia later this month, shot 68-73.

No one else was close. Steve Sharpe was the only other player to break par Sunday, shooting a 71 to finish three shots back of Woodall in third place at even-par 144 (73-71).

First-day leader Joey Perkins of Winston-Salem followed his 67 with an 80 and settled for fourth place at 147.

Reidsville’s Patrick Brady finished 10th with 72-78.

Thick rough made for tough playing conditions both days and when the championship and first flights moved back to 7,200 yards on Sunday, scores soared. Five players broke par the first day from 6,600 yards and only two managed to break par in the second round.

Younts was up to the challenge, however, as he won the championship for the second straight year. It was his third career invitational title as he also won the N.C. Players Championship at Tanglewood in 2006.

“The course was in great shape but the rough was as high as I’ve ever seen it out there,” said Younts. “I hit it great off the tee in both rounds and that helped me shoot 4-under for the tournament. I managed to keep it in play off the tee.”

Younts, playing in the group ahead of Woodall, got his round off to a par-birdie start but he suffered a double bogey at No. 3 after hitting into the lake.

“I had to fight back from that,” he said.

He did it by adding birdies at Nos. 5, 7 and 9 to offset a 3-putt bogey at No. 6. He made the turn in 1-under 35.

On the back nine, he birdied 11, 12 and 13 and then parred his way in.

“The one that got me going was No. 12,” Younts said of the par-3 hole. “The tees were all the way back and I hit a cut 5-iron to 10 or 12 feet. After I made that birdie, I started thinking I had a chance to win.”

A two-putt birdie at the par-5 13th followed and gave him the lead.

Woodall, meanwhile, was struggling with some short putts on the back nine.

“I missed three putts inside four feet at 13, 15 and 17 so I basically kind of gave it to him,” he said. “That 68 (Younts’ score) was a really good round Sunday. I played the par-5s in 3-over and you can’t do that and expect to win.”

Younts, meanwhile, played the par-5s in 3-under.

Woodall had an eagle on the par-5 No. 2 hole during the first round but he suffered a double there Sunday after hitting out of bounds.

After losing the lead on the back nine, he made a late rally, scoring a birdie on the par-4 16th from about 20 feet to get within one.

He almost holed a chip shot at the par-3 17th but missed the 4-foot par putt. But he came right back with a birdie at the par-4 18th, sinking another 20-footer. But he ended with one shot too many.

It was the third runner-up finish this summer for Woodall to go with his victory in the Tuscarora Invitational last month. His other seconds came at the J.M. Bryan and Forest Park invitationals.

Both Younts and Woodall are in the field for this weekend’s 54-hole Cardinal Amateur at Cardinal Country Club in Greensboro. The strong field includes some of the nation’s top collegiate players along with a number of the area’s best mid-ams. Zach Sucher, an All-American at University of Alabama-Birmingham, is the defending champion.