After three rounds at Pinehurst Resort, Arizona and Utah were crowned champions at the National High School Golf Association’s Boys and Girls 2020 High School Golf National Invitational in North Carolina.
Participants at the second annual event included golfers across more than 40 states from public and private high schools who were invited based on their State Championship performances.
Arizona won the girls division with a three-day score of 920 and Utah won the Boys Division with a three-day score of 903 at the second annual tournament. Arizona was led by Katie Stinchcomb, who shot 218 (74-72-72) over the event’s three days, and finished T-2 as an individual.
Loralie Cowart from Winston, Georgia, shot rounds of 70-74-72 to earn medalist honors.
“It was so awesome to win,” Cowart said in a statement. “This experience at Pinehurst was tremendous, and I am so thankful to have won this event and bring the title back to Georgia. Now, I am heading back to my home state feeling good, and ready for another tournament next week at Chateau Elan.”
Finishing six shots behind Arizona was runner-up Ohio with a second Arizona team finishing in third.
On the boys side, Utah entered the final round trailing Florida by three strokes, but carded a final-round score of 292 to win by one shot. Tyson Shelly led Utah after carding a three-day total of 223 (73-78-72) to finish 26th as an individual.
Anawin Pikulthong, a 15-year-old who is verbally committed to Arizona State, won individual medalist honors at 10 under, 206 total. Ben Warian from Minnesota finished second (210) and Riley Tuttle from Virginia finished third (211).
“It was great to play Pinehurst,” Pikulthong said in a statement. “Winning state with my team was cool, and winning this as a sophomore is pretty special. I’ve had some great tournaments recently and have been playing some really good golf. … These greens were some of the best I have ever putted on, and playing Pinehurst was a top-class experience.”
Florida earned second place in the boys division followed by defending champion from Virginia (908).
Both the boys and girls individual and team champions earned exemptions to the 2021 National High School Golf Invitational.