Carolinian Amateur winner Tim Bunten (Carolinas G.A. photo)

Tim Bunten of Concord, NC, lapped the field twice on his way to a win at the 5th annual Carolinian Amateur.

“The first round I didn’t putt well, yesterday I putted well, and today I made pretty much everything I looked at,” Bunten, a rising senior at East Carolina, told the Carolinas Golf Association.

“Coming down the stretch especially, I made some really good par putts and rolled in a couple of nice birdies too.”

Bunten got better each of the first two rounds, putting himself in position with a 69 on Saturday after an even par 72 on Friday.

His momentum continued on Sunday, as Bunten found an eagle and five birdies to post 5-under 67 en route to a six stroke win.

You might say he got into the zone.

“I was kind of unconscious the whole day,” Bunten said. “I wasn’t thinking. Just hitting shots, finding them, and hitting it again. I saw some putts roll in, and that was nice. I kind of knew that I had the lead, but I was playing as if somebody behind me was playing great.”

Although playing as if someone was behind him, Bunten was in the final group and kept the mentality of being chased to lap the field. Coming down the stretch, Bunten slipped slightly with a bogey on No. 15 but immediately got the shot back with a birdie on No. 16 before slamming the door shut with a birdie on No. 18 to close out the championship.

East Carolina dotted the top of the leaderboard as Bunten’s teammate Patrick Stephenson finished in solo second with a 3-under 213 total. Last week’s runner up at the North Carolina Open Peter Fountain finished T-8 at 1-under.

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