CULLMAN — Patrick Drake did just enough to hold off a late surge by Jake Tucker and win the 2012 Buck Shear Memorial Golf Tournament Sunday at the Cullman Golf Course.

Drake, a former standout at Cullman High and Wallace State, followed Saturday's 7-under 65 with a second-round 3-under 69 to secure a narrow two-shot victory over Tucker.

“I didn't play as well as yesterday, but I'm proud that I kept it together coming down the stretch and played some smart golf,” the champion said. “It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.”

Drake, who also won the title in 2006 and 2010, is now part of a select trio of golfers to hoist the trophy at least three times. Todd Lindsey has seven victories, while Dan York has four.

“It means a lot,” Drake said of his place among the Buck Shear Memorial's best. “I'm just now getting my game back to where I think it needs to be. It helps beating some All-Americans, some Division I players and Blaise (Wilson) at UNA.

“There's a lot of pride that goes into it, getting to beat up on some of these young guys. I just turned 30, so I feel like I'm an old veteran playing with these young guns now.”

Tucker was one of those “young guns” who had his sights set on catching Drake. After a modest 2-under 70 Saturday, the former Bearcat and current golfer for Troy University turned in Sunday's lowest round, a 6-under 66.

“It felt good getting closer to the lead,” said Tucker, who did his Round 2 damage from the second-to-last grouping. “Because that's what I play in this tournament for — to win.”

Cullman High graduate and UNA golfer Blaise Wilson, the 2009 champion, and Johnathan Henderson, a former Lion, tied for third with 36-hole scores of 4-under. Wilson entered the final round only two strokes behind Drake but faltered on the back 9 Sunday to fall out of contention.

Despite saying he's golfed all of five times this year, Henderson used an extremely steady performance to wind up in the top five.

“I didn't come in with high expectations,” Henderson said. “Once you get in the heat of the battle, though, you want to rise up, and I just couldn't get anything going today.”

Rounding out the “Championship A” flight were Kevin Byrd, 2-under (70-72-142), Sylas Elliott, 1-under (68-75-143), Bill Griffin, even-par (70-73-144), and Caleb Neighbors, 7-over (70-81-151).

Elliott has proven to be yet another up-and-comer out of the Cullman High golf program in recent years. The junior, playing in Sunday's final foursome with Drake, Wilson and Henderson, overcame a rough start to his final round to end up as one of only seven golfers able to tout sub-par scores for the two-day tournament.

“I wish we had more kids like Sylas in the area,” Drake said. “We've got Sylas, a young player, and Trey Hanvey (Holly Pond), another great young player. It's great to see them play well. Cullman has a great future in front of it for golf.”

Terry Kent shot two straight even-par rounds to win the super senior title, while Griffin's even-par finish helped him clinch the senior crown.

See below for full results from all six flights.

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

Championship A flight

Patrick Drake 65-69-134

Jake Tucker 70-66-136

Blaise Wilson 67-73-140

Jonathan Henderson 69-71-140

Kevin Byrd 70-72-142

Sylas Elliott 68-75-143

Bill Griffin 70-73-144

Caleb Neighbors 70-81-151

Championship B flight

Kyle Pressley 73-70-143

Terry Kent 72-72-144

Hunter Roberts 73-71-144

Trey Hanvey 73-73-146

Bob Kurtz 74-72-146

Keith Drake 73-74-147

Jake Miller 75-72-147

J.J. Adams 72-76-148

Blake Woo 73-85-158

Curtis Alexander 75-83-158

Greg Aderhold 75-84-159

1st flight

Kolby Hamrick 76-70-146

Stephen Cowart 77-69-146

Jarod Durham 77-72-149

Ed Calvert 76-75-151

Cody Calvert 76-76-152

Steve Pressley 77-76-153

Thomas Holt 77-77-154

Buddy Shear 77-79-156

Bryan Haynes 77-80-157

Allen Jackson 77-80-157

Paul Stidham 77-90-167

2nd flight

Matt Easterwood 78-73-151

Tommy Cost 78-75-153

Wayne Fuller 78-76-154

Paul Woo 80-74-154

Jimmy Dale Burgess 80-79-159

Walt Drake 79-83-162

Roger Starnes 80-84-164

Kendall Goodwin 80-86-166

Kevin Campbell 78-99-177

3rd flight

Dan York 81-75-156

Bo Blackwell 81-75-156

Tommy Byrd 82-75-157

Mark Aderhold 84-78-162

Don Green 85-80-165

Wade Knight 82-85-167

Tommy Baccus 82-87-169

Brent Prevette 83-87-170

4th flight

Nick Speers 90-75-165

Wade Casey 90-78-168

John Harris 90-80-170

Fred Ponder 88-83-171

Josh O’Neal 86-88-174

Jason Holt 86-94-180

Kelly Cooper 91-91-182

Jim Otto 91-100-191

Howard Calvert 101-90-191