Staff report

DAVIDSON — Salisbury resident Frank Adams III made five birdies in his first seven holes on his way to a 69 — a final round good enough for a two-shot victory in the eGolf Tour’s River Run Classic.
Adams finished 12-under and won $16,000. He shot 68-67-69 — 204, playing his last two rounds on Friday.
Roberto Diaz finished second at 206.
Adams, 34, is one of the veterans on a tour made up mostly of young pros in their 20s This was his seventh tour win.
Storms plagued the event. Adams was washed out Thursday, but he was able to shoot a 67 Friday morning to move to the top of the leaderboard, along with Diaz.
Adams played his third round Friday afternoon in a threesome that included Diaz, and Adams rode a bogey-birdie roller coaster early on.
“It was a pretty crazy stretch there for a while,” Adams told eGolf’s Stewart Moore. “I hit a couple of poor shots from the rough on Nos. 3 and 5, other than that, I was playing well.”
The turning point came on No. 7, a tough par 4. Adams birdied, while Diaz bogeyed, a two-shot swing that provided some breathing room.
Adams tapped in a birdie on No. 12 to pick up two more shots on Diaz. Adams had a five-shot cushion at that point, but the tournament still was a long way from over.
“When I first started playing this tour, I had some friends who housed me that lived on the golf course, so I’ve played a lot of rounds out here,” said Adams, who turned pro in the summer of 2003. “The one thing that’s always stood out to me here is the last four holes. Not to take anything away from the first 14, but the last four, you better buckle up.”
Pars on 15, 16 and 17 kept Adams at 12-under, three shots up on Diaz, even though Diaz rolled in a 30-foot birdie on the 17th to move to 9-under.
When Adams avoided the water on No. 18 with a solid tee shot, he was finally home free.
“I’m 34 now, and sometimes that can be a wall for guys out here,” Adams said. “You have to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you really want to do it. This reaffirms everything for me.”
A former East Carolina golfer, Adams has made 15 of 16 cuts, collecting $45,004 in earnings this season. He has eight top-10 finishes and is third on the tour’s money list.
Adams has been one of the tour’s most consistent performers the past two seasons, posting 27 top-30 finishes in his last 32 starts.
“It can be frustrating, wondering when it’s going to be your time, or what it’s going to take,” Adams said. “You just have to keep hanging in there until it’s your turn. The play out here is so good; the talent is so deep. You have to put it together for three or four days to win.”
Adams hadn’t won since the 2010 Morocco Classic.
The Laurinburg native is married to Erwin Middle School teacher Allison Dupree.