Palmetto High School Golf Championship

La Quinta (Calif.) High School seniors Alfred Castro, Mark Hicks, Tad Murray, Joey Simonds and Tyler Henry have been friends since grade school. They attended junior golf clinics and have been competing together since they started playing the game, which made their sudden death victory in the 13th annual Palmetto High School Golf Championship Saturday at Ocean Ridge Plantation all the sweeter.

After 36 holes of stroke-play competition, La Quinta and Forestview High School (Gastonia, N.C.) were tied at 605. The Palmetto’s rules call for a team, sudden death playoff. All five players for each team competed with the top four scores counting, a format the close knit Blackhawks embraced.

The playoff started and ended on the 375-yard 10th hole on the Lion’s Paw course. Castro, Hicks, Simonds and Murray, all made par 4s, giving La Quinta an aggregate total one stroke better than Forestview.

The Blackhawks bested a field that included 60 teams from 12 states. (Full Scoreboard)

“This is huge,” La Quinta coach Joe Simonds said. “This is about as big (a tournament) as we play. You’ve got teams from all over the nation coming. It’s pretty impressive.”

It was the second win in tournament history for La Quinta, and Castro (3rd), Hicks (t-5th) and Murray (t-12th) all finished in the top 12 individually.

“The thing that makes it special is all five us being such good friends,” Hicks said. “Doing it together, in a sudden death playoff, makes that high of winning even higher.”

It was a disappointing end for Forestview, but the Jaguars played outstanding golf, led by Taylor Dickson, who captured medalist honors after shooting a 70 at Lion’s Paw, the low-round of the day. Dickson finished with a two-day total of 145, same as South Pointe (N.J.) High School’s Miles Curley. Dickson won medalist honors by virtue of shooting the lower round on Saturday.

South Pointe finished third in the championship flight with 36-hole total of 612. Charlotte Country Day, which entered the final round with a one-shot lead, finished fourth (613). Defending tournament champion Pinewood Prep was unable to make a charge and finished fifth (618). Pinewood’s Cody Austin, the 25th ranked junior in the world and the defending medalist winner, shot a 72 at Lion’s Paw and finished fourth (147).

Academic Magnet School won the First Flight with a 36-hole total of 636, six shots better than Diamond Bar (Calif.) High School. Davis Womble of Wesleyan Christian Academy captured medalist honors with a 144. The First Flight played at Lion’s Paw.

Greer (S.C.) High School cruised to victory in the Second Flight, finishing at 653, 19 strokes better than second place Carolina Day School. Greer’s Ryan Lynn won Second Flight medalist honors (150).

Niagara District School won flight three with a two-day total of 698, besting Chapin High School by nine strokes. Nate Butcher of Millville High School (N.J.) and Asheville (N.C.) High School’s Brandon Twigg each shot a 14-over 158, but Twigg’s won the individual competition with his second round 77.

The Second and Third flights played the highly acclaimed Tiger’s Eye layout Saturday at Ocean Ridge.