McCartney Hinkle will enter the third and final round of the West Virginia Junior Amateur Championship with a two-shot lead.
This, after Hinkle, a resident of Bluefield, Va., and a rising junior at Graham High School, fired a second-round 66 Tuesday at Canaan Valley Resort to move to 9-under par through 36 holes of the 54-hole event.
In addition to carding six birdies, the highlight of Hinkle’s round came when he made eagle on the par-4 seventh hole — the 16th hole of Hinkle’s round.
It was part of Hinkle’s 32 on the front nine. Hinkle made birdie on the 11th, 12th, 14th, 17th, 2nd and 3rd holes and made bogey on the 13th and 16h holes.
Winner of the West Virginia Golf Association’s Junior Match Play Championship seven weeks ago at Parkersburg Country Club, Hinkle has 10 birdies and three bogeys through two rounds.
He holds a two-shot lead over Charles Town native Argyle Downes, who carded a bogey-free 68 in the second round after entering it tied atop the leaderboard with Hinkle.
Downes made birdie on holes No. 2, 3, 8 and 10 before recording par on each of his final eight holes.
Cameron Fallon, a rising junior at Parkersburg South, tied Hinkle for the low round of the day and is in solo third at 6-under par. Fallon’s 66 featured a stretch in which he shot 7-under par on an eight-hole stretch. It began with consecutive birdies on the seventh and eighth holes, and after a par on the par-5 ninth, Fallon made three straight birdies to start the back nine, a par on No. 13 and then an eagle on the par-5 14th. Fallon ultimately dropped a shot the remainder of his round, which included three pars and a bogey on the par-5 17th.
He sits two shots ahead of Carson Higginbotham, a Clarksburg native who shot 70 for the second straight day.
Recent Winfield High School graduate Jackson Woodburn is solo fifth at 3-under par after improving on his opening round score by one shot with a 70.
Tommy Evans, a rising sophomore at Washington High School, improved his first-round total by four shots and is in solo sixth at even par.
Huntington’s Sammy Shy (+1) is in seventh, followed by Fairmont’s Caleb Young and Hurricane’s Carson O’Dell at 2-over par.
In the girls championship, recent high school graduates Savannah Hawkins (Hurricane) and Kerri-Anne Cook (Westside) remain tied for first at 6-over par. Both improved their opening-round scores by four shots with a round of 73 Tuesday.
Hawkins, also a winner at the Junior Match Play Championship in May, carded three birdies, four bogeys and 11 pars.
Cook recorded a pair of birdies and only one bogey, but made a double bogey on the 13th.
Hawkins and Cook will play their final round together Wednesday starting at 8:24 a.m.
The third and final round for the boys and girls championship divisions begins at 7:30 a.m.
Hurricane’s Parker O’Dell wrapped up the boys 13-14 division championship Tuesday with a second-round 71 to finish 1-over par for the 36-hole event.
Elizabeth resident Jude Walker claimed the boys 12 and under division title Tuesday with a round of 74, allowing him to finish 36 holes at 5-over par for a six-shot victory.