NORTH AUGUSTA – Local products McKenzie Talbert and Anne Marie Covar practiced for success at the Carolinas-Georgia Junior Championships held over the weekend at Mount Vintage Plantation and their performances certainly reflected the added work.

Talbert, recently named the top female junior in South Carolina, finished in third with a two-day tally of 152 (78-74) while Covar took a healthy finish at sixth with a total of 155 (75-80).

North Carolina’s Katherine Perry of Cary, NC, and the University of North Carolina, showed why she is the top-rated junior girl in the Tarheel state after winning the girls competition by six shots in posting a 146 (76-70) after closing strong with a two-under round on Monday.

Meanwhile, James Chapman of Gastonia, NC, and Appalachian State, made it a sweep of the event for Tarheel golfers after winning the boys competition with a five-under total of 139 (70-69).

Talbert, who entered the tournament on a hot streak with five wins in a row, said she and Covar expected to play well at the event.

“It’s a big improvement from last year and we practiced hard,” she said. “We’ve both been playing well so we expected to do well out here. I went from (winning) five in a row to third. You always expect to win every time out, but it’s not unexpected when you don’t. I’ll get a lesson in this weekend and we’ll do it again.”

Anne Marie Covar added that playing on such a difficult course – which once hosted LPGA events – and against such stiff competition requires perfection.

“Today wasn’t a great day (for me), but when you’re playing against the best players on a course like this one you have to be perfect (to win),” she said. “You could play here a million times and you still have to hit your shots.”

Perry, meanwhile, was feeling pretty close to perfect for much of the tournament.

And it started very early.

“It was,” Perry said when asked if she felt zoned in. “On the first hole I hit the ball well and that got my confidence up. And after that I just kept playing well. There is some pretty tough competition out here so I’m happy that I could do my best.”

For a complete final scoring list from the tournament, please visit online at www.juniorgolfresults.com and select the link for the Carolinas-Georgia Championships.