Staff report

SOUTHERN PINES — Nick Lyerly, a senior at East Rowan High School, remains the No. 1 junior boys golfer in North Carolina, according to the Tarheel Youth Golf Association’s Feb. 1 rankings.

Salisbury’s Michael Childress, a junior at Cannon School in Concord, has moved up to No. 3. Viraj Garewal, of Raleigh, holds down the second spot.

A.J. Beechler, of Pinehurst, and Jack Massei, of Cary, round out the top five-ranked golfers.

The TYGA ranks 428 junior golfers across the state.

Two Concord golfers are ranked in the top 20. Tim Bunten, a teammate of Childress at Cannon, is No. 12, and Stephen Carroll, a senior at Concord High, is No. 20.

Lyerly, a UNC Greensboro signee, is at the top by a comfortable margin, based on his scoring average of 70.65 and total points of 12,916. Garewal is at 73.22 and 7,385. Childress follows at 74.09 and 8,468.50.

Points are earned based on finishes in rankings events.

Other local golfers ranked include Parker Chavis (No. 136), of China Grove; Charlie Barr (172), of Salisbury; Bryson Sprinkle (178), of Salisbury; Andrew Coward (246), of Landis; Patrick Street (315), of China Grove; Mitch Jeter (339), of Salisbury; Austin Miller (388), of Rockwell; and Ethan Mastro (428), of Salisbury.

Gina Kim, of Chapel Hill, is the top-ranked junior girl golfer in the state. Emily Hawkins, of Lexington, is No. 3 and Mooresville’s Kathryn Carson is No. 6.

No Rowan County girls are ranked.