FAYETTEVILLE — Brian Denton knew last Monday had all the makings of a good day of golf. The Knightdale senior was coming off of back-to-back under par rounds — including a 69 at Devil’s Ridge — in his final two Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference matches and his short game was as solid as ever.

Denton, who is headed to play his college golf at Wingate, continued his run of stellar play in the 4-A eastern regionals at Gates Four Country Club. The Knights’ standout fired a 72, then made back-to-back pars to top Fayetteville Jack Britt’s Jake Barge in a playoff for individual medalist honors.

“I just did a really good job of putting and chipping, especially on the par-5s,” Denton said. “I always seemed to get up and down when I missed the green. I really relied on my putter today.”

Denton’s round wasn’t all about getting up and down; it did include five birdies. He posted birdies on the par-5 fourth and the par-3 sixth on the front nine. His chipping and putting game shined on the par-5s on the backside. He birdied both par-5s (the 13th and the 18th) as well as the par-3 16th on the back nine.

The one hole he wished he could have had back was the 172-yard, par-3 15th where he made double-bogey. Denton moved on to this week’s state championships at Pinehurst No. 4 that began Monday. Results were not available at press time.

Knightdale finished seventh in the team standings at 325 at Gates Four. Southern Pines’ Pinecrest shot 301 to win, a stroke ahead of Clayton.

The Knights’ Jay Murray finished at 83, while Lou Muccio shot 84. Other scores for Knightdale were an 86 from Jung Yoon, Matt Pridgen’s 92 and a 99 from Eric Meilinger.

East Wake finished 10th in the 12-team regional with a total of 345. Aaron Little and Rondo Brannan both shot 83s to lead the Warriors’ effort. Other scores for the Warriors included an 88 from Brian Strickland, Zach Lassiter’s 91, Brad Jordan’s 92 and Lee Madjar shot 95.

The top-three finishing teams advanced to this week’s state 4-A championships at Pinehurst No. 4. The top-three individual finishers not on those qualifying teams also advanced.

Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference golfers swept those three slots, led by Denton. Smithfield-Selma’s Patrick Sawrey (73) tied for third individually, while Holly Springs’ Grant Houser won a playoff for the third spot against teammate Jamin Smith. Both Houser and Smith shot 76 on the day.