Published: June 20, 2009 11:45 pm      

Stretch Battle

Thomas breaks tournament record; Sandy Hook’s Flanery strong second

BELLEFONTE — First a 40-foot pine tree, then the tournament record.

Big things fell Friday in the final round of the Natural Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior.

Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., toppled the old tournament mark with a 12-under-par 198 total, capped by a stirring performance on the back nine at Bellefonte Country Club to pull away from Jared Flanery of Sandy Hook.



Flanery put on an early birdie blitz Friday to overtake Thomas by one stroke at the turn, but Thomas eagled par-5 No. 10 and went on to shoot a blistering 29 on the back side and win by five shots.

“Number 10 definitely was the key. I hit a good 3-wood and just killed the 5-iron,’’ said Thomas, who finished off the hole with a 15-foot putt.

“After that, it felt like I kept on going,’’ he said. “I’ve never shot under 30 for nine holes in a tournament before. The last five holes, my adrenaline was pounding.’’

The victory gave the 16-year-old Thomas back-to-back NRP Bluegrass Junior titles. He’s also the first boy to win the tournament twice overall.

“It means a lot,’’ Thomas said after his fourth appearance in the American Junior Golf Association event. “I told my mom I wanted to get on the board twice because I saw it when I first came here and remember how cool I thought that was. I’ve grown up playing in this tournament. I’ve had success here and I know so many people, it’s like home for me.’’

The 26th annual Bluegrass Junior was interrupted for 40 minutes during the morning when a white pine toppled near the front of the No. 2 green.

Nobody was injured and a BCC grounds crew cut and dragged the tree to an adjacent wooded area.

Rules official Tom Cooksey and longtime tournament volunteer Ira Smith were seated in golf carts behind the tree when it fell in the opposite direction. Golfers Todd McDaniel of Manchester, Ky., Sage Engel of New Albany, Ohio, and Devin O’Grady of Lancaster had hit fairway shots to the green but the players were not in the area where the tree crashed down.

“Tom had just said, `That tree looks like it’s leaning,’ ’’ Smith said. “It wasn’t five seconds later that the tree started leaning all the way down. It happened too quick to get scared. There was debris all over the place, but the clean-up crew did a fantastic job of clearing it all away.’’

Thomas, coming off a huge win in the FootJoy Invitational last week, entered Friday with a three-shot lead over Flanery and two other players.

Flanery came out blazing, however. He birdied three of the first five holes and connected for another on No. 9 to shoot 31 on the front side and momentarily grab the lead.

“I had to try and catch Justin and that’s a hard task to tackle,’’ said Flanery, a recent Elliott County High School graduate. “He’s a machine. I didn’t make any birdies down the stretch and he got red-hot. I would have had to shoot 59. I’m happy with how I finished.’’

Flanery’s final-round 66 gave him a 203 total, good enough to win the tournament on most years.

“I had a good week, played solid and put up red numbers in a tournament with a bunch of people that were capable of winning this thing,’’ he said. “I can’t ask for more than that.’’

Thomas praised Flanery’s shotmaking that turned the final round into a tight battle most of the way.

“Jared has always been a good player in Kentucky,’’ Thomas said. “He plays well here and likes this course.’’

Flanery, who will continue his golf career at Morehead State University, finished four shots ahead of third-place Andrew Cho of Howey in the Hills, Fla., and also received the tournament’s annual Cameron Weis Sportsmanship Award.

In the girls’ division, Kendall Martindale of Jefferson City, Tenn., came from behind for a two-shot victory over Emma Talley and Allison Emrey.

Talley, from Princeton, Ky., led by three shots after two rounds before falling off to a 78. Martindale took advantage, shooting a 3-over 73 on the final day to finish at 219 for her third career AJGA win.

Martindale, 16, chipped away this week after trailing Talley by seven shots after the first round.

“I’ve played with Emma a lot,’’ Martindale said. “I know she can go really low, or really high. I gained four strokes back on Emma (Thursday) so I knew it could be done again.’’

Martindale’s big moment Friday came on No. 5 when she made an eagle from 160 yards out.

“If you have a good hole on this course, you put it in your pocket and save it for later,’’ she said. “The first nine got me ahead of the other girls and I just kept it going on the back.’’

ROCKY STANLEY can be reached at rstanley@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2671.