Johnson garners one-stroke victory

By Ted Allen

Published: July 17, 2008

FOREST — Appomattox graduate Adam Marshall trailed Randolph-Henry graduate Corbin Pillow by three strokes going into the last three holes of the Central Virginia Junior Golf Tournament, Thursday at Colonial Hills.

But Marshall, who battled Pillow throughout the Dogwood District, Region B and Group A state tournaments last fall and shared the lead at 74 through Wednesday’s first round at London Downs, saved some of his best shots for last.

He carded a 73 to pull off a comeback victory, finishing at 147 to edge Pillow (74-74-148).

“It was back and forth the whole time,” Marshall said. “I fired a birdie, birdie, par (on 16, 17 and 18 to win). We were tied going into 18 and I made par and he bogeyed.

“It was a good round,” he added. “I made some bogeys, but I made birdies, too. I was hitting my drives good to set up some good wedges and I was able to hit them tight (to the pin).”

Pillow, who placed 14th in the championship flight at the Central Virginia Invitational Golf Tournament in mid-June and played at the VSGA’s State Amateur Championship at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, shooting a 156 to miss the cut, will compete in the Junior State Amateur in Blacksburg at the end of July.

He plans to walk on to JMU’s golf team this fall.

Two 12-year-olds took some of the spotlight away from the two graduating seniors Thursday — Austin Inman, a 6-foot-1 rising seventh-grader at Liberty Christian Academy who placed third overall at 77-74-151, and Cassidy England, a home-schooler who defended her title in the girls open division.

Inman, who moved here from Wilmington, N.C., two years ago and lives on London Downs course, won Central Virginia Golf Tour events at Poplar Grove and Winton this summer.

He should have competed in the tournament’s 11-12 division or even the 13-14 age group, but instead played up to the 15-18 category to face better competition.

“My strengths are driving and putting,” said Inman, who missed an eagle putt and settled for a birdie Thursday after driving 330 yards to the front of the green.

Inman will compete in the U.S. Kids World Championship for players 12-and-under from July 31 to Aug. 2 at Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 4, site of next month’s U.S. Amateur Championship.

Next summer, he will play in his third Isaac B. Grainger, the 18-under equivalent of the Ryder Cup, held every other year in his home town of Wilmington.

Started in 1999 and alternating between Wilmington and its sister city of Doncaster, England, every other year, the event pits 12 U.S. players against 12 from Europe in match play. Inman has sealed the U.S. team’s victory the past two years, including its first win in England last summer.

“He was the youngest one ever to play on the Grainger Cup team,” said Jennifer Inman, Austin’s mom, who said players are selected based on their golf ability, GPA and sportsmanship.

Inman was 18 months old when he started hitting off a tee.

“I took him to the driving range and he’d grab a bucket and go hit balls and he would cry when I told him it was time to go home,” said his father, Kenny.

“He’s won every long-drive competition he’s ever been in,” he added, including the past three for his age at Pinehurst, with a 279-yard drive last year.

England, of Madision Heights, took 18 strokes off her first-round performance at London Downs, carding a 75 to equal her career-best score from last year’s Winton’s Women’s championship.

She preferred the slower greens at Colonial Hills. “Yesterday, I hit the center of the greens and it would shoot off the course,” said England, who pulled away from Leslie Brooks, the only other player in the girls division, to win by 20 strokes at 168. “Today was so much better.”

The only other female in the competition was 10-year-old Victoria Davidjohn (43-48-91), who placed third in the 11-12 age group won by Josiah Singleton (33-39-72), brother of Liberty University’s Jacob Singleton.

England also won the Peggy Kirk Bell futures division points championship this summer in Fayetteville, N.C., winning four of the seven tournaments. She will play in her fifth U.S. Kids World Championship later this month at the shorter Pinehurst No. 3 course, competing against approximately 75 girls from all over the world in her age group.

She takes lessons from Boonsboro club pro John Comninaki and will receive tips from former LPGA pro Donna Andrews of Lynchburg before then.

Like Inman, England is another big hitter off the tee. At age 10, she won one long-drive event with a 269-yard drive.

“Boys hate to see her show up at the long drive competitions,” Scott England said. “She’ll hit the ball longer than any 12-year-old girl down there (at Pinehurst).”