NATCHEZ &045; You put Jordan Farmer and Akeem West competing against each other on the golf course, and this is what you’ll often get.

Both wound up shooting an even par 71 on the second day of the Natchez Junior Golf Championship, but West’s slice to open the seventh hole was the difference as Farmer edged him out by one.

Farmer’s 143 over the two days was good to win his third straight Juniors title, the second to do it after Lee Jones pulled a hat trick just before Farmer’s first win.

&uot;This was the best field I’ve ever seen over here,&uot; Farmer said. &uot;Out of the four guys I played with, it was the hardest field I’ve ever seen. This is our third year this year to play together (with West). I hated to be that close with anybody but him. He’s a great golfer and one of my good friends.&uot;

&uot;I’ve got three of them. I don’t turn 18 until July of next year, so I’ve got one more year to make it. Hopefully I can, and that will be plenty for me.&uot;

The matchup was the last of the two in the city junior championship with West playing in his last one before heading to play at Mississippi College. The two battled in the first day of the tournament Thursday with Farmer holding a one-shot lead that came down to the last hole.

This time, though, it came down to the seventh hole with two more remaining.

&uot;(We’ve played) since the eighth grade,&uot; West said. &uot;We’ve played five years, and we’ve always been about the same. We were tied going into the seventh, and I hit my tee shot in the woods. He made even par, and that’s basically the way it ended. I just reverted back to my old golf swing.&uot;

West bogeyed on the seventh, and Farmer was able to play it safe and come up with par. Both golfers made par on eighth and ninth to finish out with the one-shot difference.

Farmer ended the day with four birdies and bogeys, including birdies on holes 1, 3, 14 and 12.

&uot;He hit left, and I hit it right down the middle to play it safe,&uot; Farmer said. &uot;I pared, and he bogeyed. I didn’t hit it great, but I made my pars. The last two we both made pars, and it was a hard, long two holes. I was ready for it to be over.&uot;

West and Farmer pulled ahead of Matthew Hall and Jake Kaiser, who finished up six and 10 shots back of Farmer. Hall came into the day three shots back of Farmer and started solid before starting the front nine on the wrong foot.

Hall put his tee shot on 15 in the water, came up with birdies on holes 16 and 18 but bogeyed on 1 and 2 to put him back out of the hunt. He came up with pars the rest of the way.

Hall finished with a 74 Friday after shooting a 75 the day prior to finish at 149.

&uot;I was really disappointed in how I finished up,&uot; Hall said. &uot;I started out two under after nine. I was cutting it close. I was three back, and I messed up on the two holes on the back. (Farmer) came out and birdied 1 and 3, and I was behind. Then I just tried to play my golf and beat my score from yesterday.&uot;

Kaiser sat five shots back after the first day at 77 and dropped his score by one shot Friday with a 76 to stand at 153. Brandon Wells finished behind Kaiser with a 156, while Alex Middleton finished 13 shots better than his first day with a 94 to finish at 201.

Mary Kate Byrne finished her second day two shots higher than her first with an 83 to finish at 164 in the girls’ 15-18 division.

&uot;I’m going to try my best (next year),&uot; Hall said. &uot;I wanted it bad. I came out and played every morning this week. A year can make a difference. I’ll try to come out here and win it. (Farmer and West) were getting after it after a while. You could tell the tension was there.&uot;

In other age groups, Trevor Farmer edged out Steve Scarborough on a sudden-death playoff to claim the 11-and-under crown. Farmer led by one shot after Thursday, but Scarborough’s 39 was one shot better to leave the two tied at 81.

Adam Kaiser won the boys’ 12-14 age group with a 48 Friday to finish at 99 and ahead of Ben Gaudet’s 107. Carolyn Mullins won the girls’ 12-14 title with a 54 Friday to finish at 103.