Blistering start helps N.C. junior celebrate a Holliday title

Blake Taylor of Atkinson, N.C, has become accustomed to spending Thanksgiving in Myrtle Beach.

The 17-year-old senior at Wilmington Christian Academy began playing in the George Holliday Memorial Junior Championship as an 8-year-old, and he has missed the event in only two or three years in the decade since.

He now has something to show for the years of missing the traditional family festive feast, as a blistering start Saturday gave him a lead and he pulled away for a two-stroke win with a 6-under-par 210 in the 47th annual, 180-player event at Myrtle Beach National Golf Club.

“Being the last year I could play in it, I decided to play in it and give it a good shot and it’s nice to be able to come away with a win,” said Taylor, who is ranked fourth in North Carolina’s Tarheel Youth Golf Association rankings.

Ashley Czarnecki of Greenville, 17, made the most of her first and only Holliday with a three-stroke win in the girls division at 3-over 219.

Taylor, an East Carolina commitment, began the final round on the West Course two strokes behind playing partner Michael Lubrani of Belle Vernon, Pa., but took the lead after starting 4 under through three holes with an eagle and a pair of birdies.

He eagled the par-5 first hole with a 3-wood to 25 feet, and birdied the par-4 second hole with a sand wedge to 2 feet and par-4 third hole with a wedge to 10 feet. “That’s probably the best start I’ve ever hard,” Taylor said. “It was definitely kind of different because I went from being behind to being in front really quick.”

Taylor bogeyed the fifth hole and Lubrani eagled the sixth to pull even for the lead, but Taylor birdied the seventh hole with a wedge to 20 feet. “I definitely felt that was a big momentum shift where I was able to take the lead back,” Taylor said.

Taylor went on to birdie the 10th, bogey the 14^th and birdie the 17th for an insurance stroke and a 5-under 67 to go along with an even-par 72 on the King’s North Course on Thursday and 1-under 71 on the Southcreek Course on Friday.

“Michael fought back and tied me a couple times,” Taylor said. “But it seemed like every time he tied me I was able to get a birdie or he’d get a bogey and I was able to get one up again, and coming down the stretch I was able to pull away.”

Lubrani finished third overall, three strokes behind Taylor at 213 with a final-round 72, as Trent Tipton of Orient, Ohio – playing in the boys age 14-15 division – moved into second at 4-under 212 with a closing 70.

The win is Taylor’s second significant victory on the Grand Strand in five months, as he won the Carolinas PGA Junior Championship at the Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina in late June. He made the cut to the top 30 for the final round in the national PGA Junior Championship and finished in the top 25. He also advanced through local U.S. Open qualifying this past summer and finished second in the North-South Junior in Pinehurst, N.C.

The local victories are in addition to a state high school individual title and individual runner-up and three team titles at Wilmington Christian. He’ll be playing in the Charles Tilghman Junior Championship in two weeks at the Surf Golf and Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach.

As has become custom, Taylor’s family made alternate plans for the holiday. Taylor’s grandparents brought leftovers Friday from their Thanksgiving feast, so Taylor’s family had their Thanksgiving dinner Friday night in Myrtle Beach.

“A lot of my friends ask what I’m doing for Thanksgiving. I tell them I’m playing in a golf tournament in Myrtle Beach, and they kind of don’t understand what all that’s about,” Taylor said. “But I enjoy it. It’s different. It’s always a fun tournament to play and always seems to draw a strong field.”

Czarnecki continued a breakout year that will make her one of the more sought after college recruits among seniors in 2016, as she is uncommitted and is considering Wofford.

Since this summer, Czarnecki has won the Cobbs Glen Junior Invitational in Anderson, Upstate Junior Classic at Smithfields Country Club in Easley, Women’s South Carolina Golf Association Junior Championship at Sunset Country Club in Sumter, and S.C. Girls Junior Match Play Championship at Dataw Island Club. She also qualified for the U.S. Junior Girls Championship and finished second in the S.C. Class AAAA girls high school championship playing for Mauldin High.

“It was a heck of a summer of golf, day in and day out,” Czarnecki said. “I’m super excited to keep working at it, keep making my game better and seeing what my game will do next.”

She shot rounds of 72 on Southcreek, 73 on the West Course and 74 on King’s North on Saturday, making eight birdies in the three rounds, including one on the first hole Saturday. “That definitely made me comfortable with the greens,” Czarnecki said. “I built my confidence off that one putt. I knew I’d be able to make them throughout the day as long as I stayed patient with it.”

Czarnecki said she was hesitant to skip the family’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner at her grandmother’s house, though she considered playing last year but didn’t believe her game was ready.

“At first I was skeptical about it but I liked it,” said Czarnecki, whose family had Thanksgiving dinner at K&W Cafeteria. “A year ago this time I wasn’t exactly in the place with my game as I am today. In the last year I’ve really developed my game a lot better.

“… This past 10 months I’ve really worked on my game a lot and had it tuned in and was confident I could go out and win it if I played well.”

Smith Knaffle of Murrells Inlet tied for fifth in the girls overall competition, shooting rounds of 76, 73 and 79 for a 12-over 228.

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Blistering start helps N.C. junior celebrate a Holliday title."