REIDSVILLE - Joe Hinton, a Wakelon High School graduate who now resides in Eden, won the club championship at the Plantation Golf Club for the second year in a row on August 29-30.

A 75 on day one and 73 on day two was enough to earn him the shot at the repeat in a playoff with Ben Gentry, who carded a pair of 74's in the Saturday-Sunday event.

Hinton's only birdie of the day came on that first playoff hole, the par-4 first, to grant him the victory. His drive settled roughly 15 yards from the green, while Gentry's landed on the fringe in the 40-foot range of the hole. But Hinton's bump-and-run settled inside six feet and Gentry's uphill put came up 10 feet shy of the cup.

Gentry missed his target and Hinton rose above the pressure of the situation and drained his putt for the two-peat.

"The key was the drive," Hinton told Eden News reporters. "You're not going make a lot of birdies coming out of those traps so I was determined to cut that ball and make sure I had it between the two traps. That chip was hit just the way I wanted to hit it. The putt was the easy part."

On Sunday's round Hinton doled out 16 pars and bogey on each side.

Before winning last year's championship, Hinton had two third-place finished at The Plantation. He fired 72-70 last year to win outright by five strokes.

"It was a struggle these past two days just to play halfway decent," he told Eden News. "You just have to hang in there."

Hinton has also won club championships at Zebulon Country Club, Brushy Mountain in Taylorsville, and Hickory Hill in Mocksville.