Leaderboard changes throughout 2nd round of Vaughn Taylor Championship (2024)

Published: Jun. 12, 2024 at 7:51 PM EDT

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The second round of the 14th annual Vaughn Taylor Championship is in the books, and a few of our local golfers competing this year have made their mark in more ways than one.

After a strong start in round one, Augusta’s Tyler Newsome had a solid performance for the second day in a row.

He picked up three birdies on the day, including one on 18. but he did bogey two out of his last three holes, bringing him to even par on the day.

The 13-year-old is heading into the final round at one under five strokes back of the lead.

Greenbrier’s Walker Gantt has had himself a nice past couple of days.

Despite bogeying back-to-back holes before the turn, the Augusta University commit found his groove for most of the second nine.

He followed up the birdie on 17 with a bogey on 18 to end his day, bringing his score to one over after 36 holes.

Nicholas Flite Came out the gate guns blazing to start his day.

The 15-year-old from Evans had an eagle on three and picked up three birdies on his first nine.

But a double-bogey on eleven hurt his score for the round.

He’s at three over at the moment, but if he can bottle up that momentum he had early on in round two, he has the approach to make three over flip in the blink of an eye.

“I think if you have a good work ethic and you’re out here practicing, you’ll see improvements all the time. A lot of these guys are my friends we play all the time. I really enjoy being out here,” said Flite.

Two of the seven local players in this year’s event are Sarah Martin and Nathan Martin.

Two siblings from Evans who are no strangers to playing in big tournaments.

This is the second year in a row they’ve played in the Vaughn Taylor together.

In addition to the great golf experience, the Martins told News 12 there’s been no shortage of competitive banter over the past couple of days.

“We just talk about strategy. We also depending on how we play talk about what happened and stuff like that. So, that can bring in some funny conversations too,” said Nathan.

Sarah said: “It’s fun because a lot of times everyone asks if I beat the boys or whatever and I do get to say I did this time, so it was fun. I definitely could’ve made yesterday better, but golf is golf I guess.”

Bartram Trail is actually their home course.

Luckily, for the Martin family, they had a short commute to watch Sarah and Nathan play.

“I think it’s so cool because we don’t have to travel and like all of my siblings could come out and both of my parents could too. So, it’s really great being so close and at home. It’s a great tournament. I love it,” said Sarah.

Here’s where our local golfers stand after round two:

Tyler Newsome Is staying steady at one under with Walker Gantt two strokes behind at one over.

Nicholas Flite is sitting at three over.

Barrett Loftis is at six over.

Sarah Martin has the edge on her brother Nathan Martin by one stroke, and Augusta’s Sam Rogers is at 12 over at the moment.

People were talking in the clubhouse about Henry Hill from Dalton, Ga.

He shot an incredible seven under 64 in round two, catapulting him into a share of the lead with Charlotte’s Griffin Cheatwood at six under.

Going into the third and final round, there are six boys within two shots of the lead.

And if you want to talk about impressive performances, the girls’ side is full of them.

Gloria Nip from Port Saint Lucie has the best score of anyone so far, regardless of gender, leading the way at eight under.

Kat Ha is right on her heels at seven under, and Victoria Wang is right there as well at six under.

Between the boys and the girls’ fields, 21 players are still under par heading to Thursday’s final round, which tees off at 8 a.m. back at Bartram Trail Golf Club.

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