After mother killed in car crash, Arkansas teen golfer perseveres

STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES Ryan Spurlock of Maumelle watches his tee shot Monday from hole No. 10 during the ASGA Stroke Play tournament at Shadow Valley Country Club in Rogers.
STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES Ryan Spurlock of Maumelle watches his tee shot Monday from hole No. 10 during the ASGA Stroke Play tournament at Shadow Valley Country Club in Rogers.

Ryan Spurlock is playing his best golf at the start of this year's junior season with top-five finishes -- including two championships -- in all five events he has played.

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Harrison’s Jackson Marseilles hits out of a bunker on No. 12 during Wednesday’s round in Little Rock

It's what happened off the course May 13 that the 18-year-old from Maumelle would love to forget. That's the night his mother, Andrea Epperson, was killed in a car wreck on Interstate 40 just minutes from her Conway home. It was one week before Spurlock's graduation from Maumelle High School.

Coming off a fourth-place finish in the Monk Wade Junior Classic the weekend before, it was the last tournament Epperson saw her son play. Spurlock took two weeks off from playing but returned June 8 to win the Bruce Jenkins Memorial Championship before finishing fifth last weekend at the Southern Bancorp Alliance Insurance Tournament.

Spurlock is back in contention at the Arkansas State Golf Association Junior Championship at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock after opening Wednesday with a 5-over 77. He is five strokes behind the leaders -- Thomas DePriest of Lake City, Palmer Hays of Fayetteville and Evan Griffith of Greenwood -- heading into today's final round.

"It was really tough playing in that first tournament she wasn't there for," said Spurlock, who had her initials "AEE" on his ASGA hat Wednesday. "This tournament is very special to me. It's one I never won before and has been on my list the last three years."

Spurlock, who will play golf in the fall at Arkansas Tech, won the 2014 ASGA Junior Player of the Year but finished second in a playoff to Garrett May for the state championship. He and the rest of the field have some ground to make up to catch the three at 72.

"You have to keep the ball in the fairway out here," Spurlock said. "The wind can make it very tough, especially if you're having to play out of the high rough."

Sitting three strokes behind the leaders in a tie for fourth place is Luke Long of Fayetteville and Ty Johnson of Clinton, who struggled to a 5-over 41 on the front nine but made five consecutive 3's on the back side that led to a 2-under 34 for his 75. Long, who helped lead the Bulldogs to the Class 7A state championship in the fall, made back-to-back birdies on the par-4, 9th and par-5, 10th to jump-start his round.

"I didn't hit the ball as well as I wanted," said Long, who won last week's Southern Bancorp tournament by three strokes and will play collegiately at Southern Illinois. "When I got some opportunities, I felt like I took advantage of them."

Miles Smith, who shared medalist honors in Monday's U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier in Little Rock, struggled to a 12-over 84.

On the girls side, Brooke Matthews of Rogers supplied the only sub-par round of the day with a 1-under 71. Matthews had a 4-under 32 on the back nine (her first nine of the day) before closing with a 3-over 39 on the front. She is three strokes ahead of Josie Roberson of Maumelle.

"I felt like I had a pretty good putting stroke going," Roberson said. "I hit some pretty good drives and kept the ball in the fairway and was able to use my short game when I could around the greens."

One surprise Wednesday came from Elizabeth Moon, the 2014 and 2015 junior player of the year. Moon, of Forrest City and the 2014 tournament champion, shot a 15-over 87, which included a 10-0ver 46 on the back nine.

Sports on 06/16/2016

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