JUNIOR GOLFERS: Porter, Myers capture titles at Norman Puckett championship

Published 9:53 am Friday, June 20, 2025

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NATCHEZ — Not a lengthy weather delay on Saturday nor a hard-charging rally attempt by Nathan Peyer on Sunday could keep Will Porter of Monroe, Louisiana, from taking the boys’ overall championship last weekend at the 2025 Norman Puckett Junior Golf Championship.

The tournament, which started on Friday for the boys’ 16-18 and 14-15 age divisions as well as for the 16-18 and 13-15 age divisions, took place at The Natchez Golf Club at Duncan Park. In the end, Porter as well as Allie Myers of Pearl on the girls’ side survived the elements to become overall champions.

This year’s Norman Puckett Junior Golf Championship saw players deal with heat, humidity, and, of course, inclement weather. Despite a quick downpour late Friday morning, play was able to continue. But that was not the case on Saturday.

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“Saturday, we had a two-and-a-half-hour weather delay. We had nine children left (to finish their round),” Duncan Park Golf Course Superintendent Greg Brooking said. “They finished at 6:30 p.m. We had no weather delays on Sunday, thank goodness.”

Porter had rounds of 75 on Friday and 73 on Saturday to enter the final round on Sunday seven shots clear of Peyer, who is from Duluth, Georgia. Which turned out to be a good thing for Porter, whose Day 3 score of 75 put him with a three-day total of 10-over-par 223, which was good enough to fend off Peyer, whose round of even-par 71 put him at 13-over-par 226. While both were in the boys’ 16-18 age division, Porter won the boys’ overall title for 2025.

Brody Thibodeaux of Brookhaven finished third in the boys’ 16-18 age group with round of 77, 75 and 77 for a three-day score of 229. There was only local player in the boys’ 16-18 age group, Timmy Hutto from Meadville. He had rounds of 83, 77, and 84 to finish seventh in that age group and 11th overall with a three-day score of 244.

Brantlee Bennett of Tylertown rallied from a two-shot deficit to win the boys’ 14-15 age division. He had a final-round 76 to finish with a three-day score of 234 after posting back-to-back rounds of 79 on Friday and Saturday.

Nolan Osborne of Gonzales, La. had the lead in that age group heading into Sunday after firing rounds of 76 on Friday and 80 on Saturday. But he struggled on Sunday en route to a round of 79 to finish at 235. Bennett finished sixth overall while Osborne came in tied for seventh overall.

Eli Merrill of Ferriday, Louisiana, was the only local player in boys’ 14-15 age division. He had rounds of 102-102-108 to finish eighth in that group and 23rd overall with a three-day score of 312. Also in that age group, Riley Powell of Yazoo City, one of Pete Powell’s grandsons, came in sixth place with rounds of 96-92-87 for a three-day score of 275. That was also good enough for 21st place overall.

On the girls’ side, there was noticeable absence in the 16-18 age division. Sophia Macias of Denham Springs, Louisiana, the girls’ overall champion in 2022 and 2024, was unable to have a chance at back-to-back and three out of four overall titles.

“She had a scholarship to Tulane (University), so she aged out of the tournament,” Brooking said. Which meant a new girls’ overall champion would be crowned by the end of play on Sunday. There were supposed to have been two players in the girls’ 16-18 age group, but one had to drop out. That left just one, Allie Myers of Pearl, to take the overall title with rounds of 76, 74 and 72 for a three-day score of 222.

“Anika Singh (of Melissa, Texas), she had to drop out because of a death in the family. We had six girls total,” Brooking said.

Scarlett Kirsch of Baton Rouge, La. won the girls’ 13-15 age division with round of 85, 80, and 83 for a three-day total of 248, seven strokes ahead of second-place Leah Wigginton of Summit, who had rounds of 90, 84, and 81 to finish at 255.

In the boys’ 12-13 age division, in which they played 18 holes each on Saturday and Sunday, Anderson Roy of Madison held on to defeat Cole Butler of Vicksburg by one stroke. Roy had a share of the lead with Neil White of Ridgeland after Round 1 on Saturday with a score of 85 while Butler was nine strokes behind both of them with a round of 94.

Butler surpassed White and nearly caught Roy from behind on Sunday, but Roy did just enough to finish in first place despite a final-round 84 to finish at 169. Butler’s final-round 76 gave him a two-day score of 170. White had a final-round 87 to finish third at 172.

Brooking said the tournament went quite well despite having to deal with the weather at some point all three days.

“The tournament went great. The course played tough. They said they hadn’t played on a course this tough in a while. Some of them complained that the greens were too fast. But everybody was really happy,” Brooking said. “We had good food. We had great sponsors — Delta Bank, Taco Bell, WJ Burnsed, Visit Natchez, and GoMart. The Puckett sisters also helped.”

In the girls’ 10-12 age division, in which they played nine holes each on Saturday and Sunday, Emma Magee came in first place with scores of 41 and 40 for a two-day score of 81. In the boys’ 10-11 age division, in which they played nine holes each on Saturday and Sunday, Charlie Magee of Pass Christian had back-to-back rounds of 35 to finish in first place with a two-day score of 70. Britt Powell of Yazoo City, another of Pete Powell’s grandsons, came in second place with rounds of 53 and 42 for a two-day score of 95.

In the boys’ 9-and-under age division, also played in nine holes each on Saturday and Sunday, James Pena of Long Beach captured first place with rounds of 33 and 36 for a two-day score of 69.

“It was nice to have Pete Powell’s grandchildren, Riley and Britt Powell, play. We ended up with 48 kids competing. We had 58 signed up, but 10 of them dropped out,” Brooking said. “Two of them were for a death in the family. Others were for sickness or their parents couldn’t make it. But we had a great tournament. We had grandparents, parents, a lot of people here.”