North Augusta, S.C.– Pierce Adamson of Atlanta, Georgia and Sahana Mantha from Charlotte, North Carolina have won the the annual Vaughn Taylor Championship presented by James Hardie.

Adamson bogeyed the first two holes in the final round , but held it together and proceeded to birdie five of the next seven on his way to a -3 (69) to win by a shot over Augusta’s Hamilton Coleman. Coleman fired a final round 69 and finished one shot off the lead. It all came down to 18 as Adamson was left with a six foot putt that he calmly sank for his first AJGA victory.

Griffin Gravin (Statesboro, Ga.) was third with Joseph Canitano (Alpharetta, Ga) coming in fourth.

In the girls division, Mantha outlasted Samantha Dizon (Philippines) on the fourth playoff hole to win the tournament in her third try. Both Mantha and Dizon had chances on the first two playoff holes as both nearly chipped in from just off the green for the win. Finally, Mantha’s par on the fourth extra hole was good enough to claim the title. They finished at+4 for the tournament.

Clairey Lin (Palos Verdes Estates, Ca.) led the opening two rounds, but stumbled in the final round and finished three shots back. Grace Ridenour (Raleigh, N.C.) and Grace Frei (The Colony, Tx) rounded out the top five.

Conditions were again a factor with temperatures approaching 100 degrees as the golfers had to battle that and the quick greens all tournament long.