Carter Tate, of Gardendale, watches his tee shot Wednesday at the Cullman Golf Course. With six birdies on the day, Tate won the Elks Junior Golf Championship of Cullman County with a two-day score of 8-under par.

After hitting all 18 greens in regulation Thursday at the Cullman Golf Course, Carter Tate pulled away from the rest of the field to win the Elks Junior Golf Championship of Cullman by five strokes.

With a 6-under par performance Thursday to complement his first-round 2-under par, Tate (15-18) cruised through his final round, showing control and precision on nearly every hole.

“It was a good round,” he said. “I just kept the ball in play, and the course was set up where I had wedges into a lot of the greens.”

By hitting every green in regulation, Tate made his job easy on the putting surface. Although he discounted his ability by saying he “didn’t make a lot of putts,” his six birdies were enough to add to his first-round lead and leave the field in his tracks.

With a second-round 70 to reach 3-under for the two-day tournament, Sylas Elliott finished second overall and first in the 13- to 15-year-old age division.

“I just had one bad hole,” he said. “It was hard to recover from it whenever he’s [Tate] making birdies all the time.”

Even though he finished five shots behind the tournament’s winner, Elliott was very pleased with his play.

He said, “That’s the lowest I’ve ever shot in a two-day tournament, so I feel good about it.”

Also in the final foursome, Lee Mattox (13-15) faltered on the back nine and finished the round 2-over. Still, with par Wednesday, he was able to finish third overall and second in his age division.

Rounding out the last group, Layne Rice (15-18) played a consistent round to card a 73. He finished second in his age division by finishing the tournament 3-over.

Tate said he was just happy to have a chance to play because his hometown course, Castle Pines in Gardendale, is undergoing renovation. He said it also didn’t hurt the tournament was inexpensive to enter.

“It was really cheap, and I like that a lot,” he said. “You can’t beat $25 for two days of golf and lunch.”

Tate will begin attending Harding University in Arkansas during the fall, but he said he still needs to tryout for the golf team. After winning this tournament and the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour Ross Bridge Junior Classic in Birmingham Tuesday, Tate thinks his chances of making the team are improving.

“Hopefully the coach takes notice,” he said.

Shad Adams, Elks director of the junior tournament, said the Elks put so much work into hosting the annual championship because of its effect on young golfers like Tate, as well as the other participants.

“This is the next generation of golfers,” he said. “We have to keep teaching kids to play golf or there won’t be any golfers in the future.”

For the weekend, Adams and the Elks provided all the junior golfers with shirts, towels, golf balls, tees and trophies, among other amenities. He said they were able to give the golfers so much because of the money they raised at the annual Elks Member Guest Tournament, which was held in early June.

“All the money raised from that tournament goes to provide the money to do what we do for the kids here,” Adams said.

Even though a lot of work goes into running the tournament, he said it was well worth it.

“This tournament is all about the kids,” Adams said. “We want them to be able to come out and have a stroke-play tournament, which is something they don’t get to be involved in a lot.”

In the 16- to 18-year-old division, Matt Easterwood tied for third with Michael Gilliand, as both golfers finished 11-over. Tucker Livingston matched his first-round 79 to cap off a 14-over tournament and Jake Wall was 18-over. Nick Massey withdrew.

For the 13- to 15-year-olds, Colby Sandlin took third by finishing 7-over and Eli Marty was only a shot back. Trey Hanvey had a two-day score of 19-over while Conner Stevens shot 21-over. Luke Wilson rounded out the age division with a second-round 119.

Two golfers competed in the 10- to 12-year-old division. Playing only nine holes, Trey Tucker edged Shae Donnley. Tucker bested his counterpart by 16 shots.

As the sole 9-and-under participant, Curt Wilson improved eight shots on Wednesday’s round to finish with an overall score of 70. Each day, Wilson played only five holes.

Rob Ketcham can be reached at 256-734-2131, ext. 257 or at robk@cullmantimes.com.