WENDELL — Coming off a first-place finish in the 4-A East Regionals, Knightdale golfer Brian Denton had a week to fine-tune his game before competing in the state finals at Pinehurst No. 4 last Monday and Tuesday.

Monday’s rain had an impact on his play as he posted an opening round score of 80, but he bounced back Tuesday, firing a one-over 73 to place 13th out of the 84 golfers in the tournament.

“The first day was a wash out,” he said. “We had a 30-minute delay at the beginning of the day, I didn’t get to hit as many balls as I normally do, and it turned out to be a terrible ball striking day.”

It doesn’t sound like something your average golfer says about playing an unfamiliar course in tropical weather, but Denton isn’t the average golfer. The 80 he shot on the first day of the championship was the highest 18-hole figure he carded all season long.

“I went back out after the first round and chipped and putted to work on speed and get a better feel of things,” he said. “My mental game was awful on the first day, so we looked through my mental and physical game from day one, I got in a good practice before round two, and I played very aggressive the next day. I went for all the pins and things went a lot better, thank God.”

Denton may not have favored the first round weather, but he had the full support of his family working on his side. His sister and former Knightdale golf star Ashley Denton was able to get away from college to be there for her brother.

“Having Ashley there was real nice,” he said. “She was in school while I was in the regular season and when I won at regionals, but it was very special to have here there. Just to see that face calmed me down over those next couple days.”

The family headed to the Village of Pinehurst Sunday when Denton managed to squeeze in one practice round. He mapped out the course with his sister and parents, Steve and Sue Denton, alongside. Brian Denton said the group walked through hole-by-hole and talked about them, looking for the smart play on each to make sure any kinks would be worked out before he took on the best in state the next morning. But over the next morning No. 4 turned into a swamp and it flooded Denton’s perception a bit. He said he was swinging well, but said poor mental game took over.

“I couldn’t let myself succeed,” Denton said. “My mind took me out of it. My mental preparation wasn’t too different than it ever is, and I didn’t let the regional win affect my head. I just tried to stay in the tournament mindset.”

A strong mental game includes being able to overcome negativity, and Denton had time after time proved he had such ability throughout his high school career. He reminded himself that his last three matches coming into Pinehurst were finished under par, but he said he didn’t want to be overwhelmed with such thoughts as he approached the field at states. He just wanted to put that in past and focus on the future.

Ironically, it was the first round he was able to put behind him, and focus on day two he did. The rains finally ceased and Denton got back on the offensive.

“The greens were still a little soft and it held many approach shots but putts still ran out,” he said. “From the fairway you could throw them right at them.”

He said his day-two wedge play wasn’t much to write home about, but he did drive the ball about as good as any in match all season, hitting 78 percent of the fairways. He put himself in position to score and could’ve had a lower second round had he stuck some of the short shots closer.

“I didn’t make enough putts for birdie, I only birdied one par five, and that really only offset the few bogeys I did have,” Denton said. He finished the one-over round with two bogeys, one double and three birdies.

”The hardest part was learning the speed of the greens. They looked incredibly fast, but my putts seemed to come up short and right on the line. On the second day I hit a lot of greens, but with a little better speed control I could’ve gone a little lower, even on both days,” he said.

Denton said it was great to get to represent Knightdale High School with a win at regionals and then to go on and play in the state tourney.

“It was exciting to be the first to go to states from Knightdale’s men’s golf team, and it was very special to be able to do that my senior year and end with a bang,” he said.

Denton will play in several events over the summer before joining his sister as a golfer at Wingate University. This weekend he will play in the Rex Hospital Open, a Nationwide Tour event. Denton has the chance to play for being ranked in the top-60 of all junior golfers in North Carolina.

Other upcoming matches for Denton include the June 16 North Carolina Junior, a match play event at Henderson Country Club, the Coastal Plains Junior Amateur July 7-8 at Bradford Creek Golf Course in Greenville, the July 18-19 Big I Junior Championship at Mid Pines Golf Club in Pinehurst, the Carolina Junior at the Country Club of North Carolina, also in Pinehurst, from July 28-30, and the August 6-7 U.S. Amateur qualifier at Walnut Creek Country Club in Goldsboro.