ECU Athletic Media Relations

WALLACE — One day after winning the 2014 East Coast Amateur championship, East Carolina rising junior Al Dickens defeated David Donovan IV in the final match to win the Fifth North Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship at River Landing Country Club Friday. The championship match was originally scheduled for Aug. 3, but was postponed due to inclement weather, after the tournament began Aug. 1.

In the finals, the Charlotte native captured the title, beating Donovan, from Hampstead, 3 and 2. Dickens trailed 1 up through six holes before a he birdied No. 7 to tie the match. The duo then halved the next five holes before Dickens went 1 up on 13 with his first of three consecutive birdies. He then won each of the next two holes to go 3 up, before halving the 16th hole with Donovan to clinch the title.

He is the second ECU golfer to win the event along with Harold Varner.

En route to the finals, Dickens won four matches after earning the No. 8 seed in the qualifying tournament with a 36-hole tally of 6-under 138. Dickens defeated James Chapman of Raleigh in the first round, 1 up, before posting a 4 and 3 victory over Thomas Walsh of High Point in the round of 16. He followed with a 5 and 3 win over Stanhope Johnson of Greensboro to reach the semifinals.

He advanced to the championship match by sinking a birdie putt on 18 to defeat Philip Oweida of Charlotte, 1 up.

On Thursday, Dickens completed his second consecutive bogey-free round to win the East Coast Amateur, also held at River Landing. Dickens fired a 5-under 211 to finish the 54 hole tournament tied for first-place, He birdied the fourth playoff hole to defeat Joseph Cansler. Dickens recorded eight birdies on the final 36 holes, posting back-to-back scores of 4-under 68 after shooting a 3-over 75 in the first round.