Maybank, Pate tackle tough conditions to win Junior Heritage golf tournament

PJ Maybank and Macy Pate tackled the cold and windy conditions to win the 31st Sea Pines Junior Heritage hosted by Sea Pines - Atlantic Dunes and Harbour Town Golf Links.

Maybank, from Michigan, fired the only under-par round of the day with a three-under par 68 to win the boys division with a 2-under 141.

“Today was great,” Maybank said. “The weather was brutal, so shooting 68 makes this one of the best rounds I’ve ever played for sure. This win feels great. To shoot three under on the back nine in some of the toughest tournament conditions I’ve ever played in was pretty clutch and feels really good.”

Maybank shot a 73 in Saturday’s opening round and trailed first-round leader Jackson Byrd. The son of PGA Tour golfer Jonathan Byrd, finished second with a 146. Byrded shot a 75 on Sunday. Greenville’s William Jennings and Florida’s Phillip Dunham finished tied for third with a 147.

Pate of Winston Salem, NC posted a final round score of four-over par 75 to claim victory in the girls division. She finished the tournament at five-over 148 overall to win by three shots.

“I was really just trying to make as many pars I could because the weather was so tough,” Pate said. “Today’s weather conditions were the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in, but I just tried to put it out of my mind and play some golf. It feels really good to win because these are two really difficult courses with so much history. It’s a great feeling to get a win so early into 2022.”

Nicole Nash of Charlotte, NC and Emerson Blair of West Point, MS tied for second place, each carding eight-over par 151 for the tournament.

Bluffton’s Camilla Burnett tied for eighth with a 155.