When Parker Rutherford was 6 years old, he was hitting golf balls through the courtyard of his family’s apartment complex on Culkin Road.

At 13, he started playing— and holding his own — against grown men at Clear Creek Golf Course. By the time he was 18, the prodigy was competing on a Division I NCAA team at Nicholls State.

Finally, at age 20 and with a host of other remarkable accomplishments on his resumé, Rutherford can say he’s the best golfer in town.

Rutherford chipped in for eagle on the ninth hole, then stayed steady on the back nine to hold off Gabriel Riveros and win his first Warren County Championship on Sunday. Rutherford shot 71 on Sunday to finish with a two-day total of 141, three shots ahead of Riveros.

After making his final putt, Rutherford was congratulated by nearly 20 fellow competitors, family and friends who had gathered near the 18th green to watch the end of the tournament. Some gave him high-fives, and most gave him celebratory hugs.

“It makes it worth a lot more. These people have seen me since I was this tall, growing up playing golf and playing against them,” Rutherford said. “I’ve been trying to win this tournament for seven or eight years now, so now that it’s finally happened it feels good to do it in front of everybody. It feels really good.”

Rutherford finally broke through in his eighth appearance in the tournament. He’d finished in the top three each of the last five years — twice losing on the last hole — but never won.

“It feels great. It’s almost kind of surreal, because it finally happened. I’ve come so close so many times, all I could do was think about what it would be like to win it. Now that I have, I don’t even know what to say. I’m at a loss for words,” Rutherford said.

The turning point for Rutherford on Sunday came just before the turn. He birdied No. 8, then chipped in from 30 yards out on No. 9 for eagle. Riveros bogeyed the eighth hole and never was able to make up that three-shot swing despite making seven pars and two birdies on the back nine.

Rutherford birdied the 13th hole and finished up with three consecutive pars, never slipping enough to open the door for Riveros to rally.

“Gabe made a hell of a run. He just wouldn’t go away. I was happy to play solid enough to hold him off for the back nine,” Rutherford said. “The chip-in on nine for eagle was probably the biggest shot. That gave me a lot of momentum. I felt great about my lead and how my game felt after that. I wasn’t trying to hole it, but it was in a comfortable spot for me.”

Kevin Neihaus and Channing Curtis tied for third place, with a two-round total of 150. Neihaus entered the day five shots back and could have been in position to make a run on the back nine. He bogeyed four of his last eight holes, however, to fall off the pace.

Curtis, playing in the first flight after shooting a 79 on Saturday, tied for the low round of the day Sunday with a 71.

Curtis made eight birdies and played the front nine in 2-under par, but bogeyed Nos. 12, 13 and 17 on the back. He only made par on 14 of 18 holes. Everything else was a birdie or bogey.

First-round leader Nick Mekus provided some levity to the final foursome of himself, Rutherford, Neihaus and Riveros, but not much in the way of a challenge to the winner.

Mekus, who shot 67 on Saturday, made double bogey on the first hole and bogeyed Nos. 4, 5 and 6. After making another double bogey on No. 8, he snapped his putter in half and had to putt with a pitching wedge for the rest of the round.

Mekus wound up shooting 84 on Sunday and finished tied with Rocky Shiers for fifth place, with a two-round total of 151.

“I missed probably five 3 1/2 foot or shorter putts, and I guess I’d just had enough. I have a temper issue. I know that. I knew that coming into the day and I didn’t do a good job controlling it,” Mekus said. “I immediately regretted it. But what’s done is done.”

On the back nine, with his championship hopes well scuttled, Mekus accepted his fate and started to have fun.

Friends following him in a golf cart played country songs on a cell phone as he hit each shot. The 21-year-old turned his hat backward on the 17th hole and carried a beer to the green as he walked up to putt. He cracked some self-deprecating jokes, showed off his broken putter and made a small side bet with a friend that he’d make at least one long putt with the wedge.

Mekus lost the $5 bet when a 35-foot putt broke too far left on the 17th hole and a 40-footer on the 18th missed right by about six inches.

“I hit some really good putts with the wedge, but none of them dropped. I didn’t three-putt any, which I was doing with my putter. It wasn’t the worst thing. I just didn’t hit it well enough to win either way,” Mekus said. “I had a good time on the back nine. The front nine was a struggle. But I had fun on the back. At least I had that.”