Monroe’s Moyers is state’s best junior

In the 18-year history of the VSGA Junior Match Play Championship, no one has ever won the event twice. It was some trivia that Mikey Moyers didn’t know about until recently.

“I accidentally looked that up,” the defending champion said. “That just added to the pressure. I shouldn’t have been thinking about it, but I was.”

While the pressure may have nagged him, Moyers was able to overcome it, defeating Jack Wilkes 2-up at Birdwood Golf Course to become the first-ever repeat champion.

“I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time,” the rising William Monroe senior said. “I knew it was on a golf course that I could play well on. I’m very familiar with it.”

After cruising through the first three rounds of match play, Moyers finally got a dogfight in the championship round with the 16-year-old Wilkes.

Wilkes, the lowest seed in the tournament, made Moyers play all 18 holes of the match, something no one had done all week.

“Coming up on sixteen I was talking to my caddie, and I said that if I just get [the match] to 17, I’d be good,” Wilkes said, “because he’s been beating people 4 and 3 all week.”

Moyers had a two-stroke lead heading onto hole 17, a long par 5. But Wilkes, in just his first junior match play event, crawled back into the match after Moyers’ attempt to get to the green in two shots found its way into a water hazard.

Wilkes took the hole and needed a clutch shot on 18 to force a playoff, something he accomplished the previous day against Matt Ball.

It didn’t happen this time around. Wilkes’ second shot from the fairway found the top of a sand trap next to the green. Moyers’ second shot landed on the green, but he still had a tough 30-foot putt ahead of him.

Moyers put his ball two feet from the hole while Wilkes’ chip shot gave him a tough 10-foot putt to force extra holes. It went wide and the two were quick to shake hands afterwards.

“It wasn’t like any of my other matches,” Moyers said of his face off with Wilkes. “I know what he did to Evan Beck. I knew he was capable of making birdies. I didn’t take him easy at all.”

As he did in his first two matches Thursday, Moyers found victory early against his first opponent Friday morning, Trevor Times. Moyers won 4 and 3 over the 14-year old Williamsburg native.

Wilkes also played strong in his first match of the day defeating his good friend, Bryce Chalkley, 3 and 2.

The win continued his remarkable run, as on Thursday, Wilkes knocked off top-seeded Evan Beck 2 and 1, and then took out Ball, the ninth seed, in extra holes.

“I remember finishing qualifying with a 75 and thinking that I wasn’t getting in,” Wilkes said. The Roanoke native had to beat out Phillip Doyle in a playoff on Wednesday to earn the last spot available.

“My dad said that I was going to be on the bubble and to go out and practice,” Wilkes added. “So I picked up a couple of range balls and tried to stay loose. It was a blast going this far.”