CANAAN VALLEY, W.Va. — In a span of just five holes during the final round of the WVGA Boys Junior Amateur Championship, Charles Town native Argyle Downes traded a two-shot deficit for a three-shot lead. Downes rode that momentum on the back nine to win his second Junior Amateur title and his first since 2021 with a two-shot win over McCartney Hinkle of Bluefield, Va.
Trailing by two shots while stepping up to the No. 9 tee box, Downes sent his second shot on the longest hole on the course just past the flagstick and off the green. Downes chipped onto the green and made birdie to make the turn at 10-under. Hinkle, who made birdie on the seventh and eighth holes, made bogey to fall into a tie for the lead.
“I think that was nice because the momentum kind of swung in my favor,” Downes said. “We were tied through six holes and I missed two short ones back-to-back. That stings a bit. But to be able to bounce back and get going on the back nine was really nice.”
Hinkle, who made 16 birdies in the 54-hole tournament, stumbled with back-to-back-to-back bogeys to start his back nine. Meanwhile, Downes made consecutive birdies on No. 13 and No. 14 to take a lead he would not relinquish.
“On 13, I hit a pretty good drive down on to the front edge. I had probably a 20-yard chip. I hit a pretty good chip to within a couple feet and made the putt. Same thing on the next hole, I hit a really good drive and I hit a 9-iron into the Par 5, which was really nice.”
Downes finished the tournament at 11-under and all three of his rounds were under par.
“I played here in the Junior Am when I was younger and I kind of knew that the course was a little bit more open than some of the other courses. So I thought it might be low.
“This is my last WVGA junior tournament and I am going off to college in the fall. I have been playing in this tournament since I was eight, nine years old. So it is kind of nice to go out with a bang, you could say. It has been really fun.”
Downes has signed with Rutgers University and he will compete for the Scarlet Knights in the fall.
Parkersburg South Patriot Cameron Fallon finished in third place at 6-under. Scott Depot’s Jackson Woodburn (5-under) was fourth and Charles Town’s Tommy Evans (3-under) came in fifth. 15-year-old Carson Higginbotham of Clarksburg (even par) finished sixth.