WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- A little local knowledge went a long way for Austin, Texas, high school senior Maya Walton this week.

 

Her familiarity with the area helped her enjoy her time at Taconic Golf Club and away from the course on her way to an 11-stroke win at the second annual PGA Junior Series event.

 

This week marked Walton's second straight trip to Taconic for the event, and she said her experience on the course a year ago helped her post a three-round score of five-over 218.

 

And in her off hours?

 

"I checked out the Van Goghs at The Clark and the Warhol at the Williams College Museum," Walton said. "That was fun. We did that yesterday. I was kind of nice to take a break from golf."

 

Speaking of breaks, Walton broke par once on her way to her championship, carding a 70 in the second round on Wednesday.

 

The boys medalist this week, Wyomissing, Pa.'s, Nate Menon, broke par every time out, finishing with a consistent 70-70-70 to finish three-under for the tournament and eight strokes ahead of Newton, Mass.', Alejandro Soto.

 

"I think in general, I just did a really good job all week keeping he ball in the fairway and putting the ball on the greens and not making too many big mistakes," said Menon, a rising junior a Wyomissing High School. "This course, it is tough. There's a lot of trouble you can get into, and I did a really good job of staying out of that."

 

Like his week, Menon's Round 3 scorecard was a model of consistency. After birdying the par-4 seventh hole, he picked up his only bogey of the day on the par-4 eighth. He knocked in a birdie put on 18 for the second straight day to keep his round under par.

 

Both Menon and Walton received exemptions to August's PGA Junior Championship.

 

After Menon, the next three finishers hailed from Massachusetts: Soto, Gloucester's Mark Turner and Attleboro's David Chatfield. Three of the top 10 boys hailed from outside the United States -- two from China and Canada's Jared Dandy, who tied for 10th.

 

None of the 13 girls in the field call Massachusetts home. After Walton came Auburn, N.Y.'s, Lindsay May in second place with a 16-over 229.

 

In addition to the boys 15-18 competition and the girls, the event feaured a flight for boys 12-14. Williamstown's Ben Gilooly finished second in the four-boy field in that division, finishing five strokes behind Winchester's Trevor Lopez.

 

Gilooly was one of three Mount Greylock students competing in the event, and each of them improved their score each day of the tournament.

 

Gilooly, a rising freshman, had the most dramatic drop, going 98-87-83.

 

Mount Greylock senior Matt Wiseman finished 42nd in the 57-player field after rounds of 89, 82 and 80. Mounties junior Kyle Alvarez went 97-91-90.

 

Both Menon and Walton entered Thursday's final round with the lead. Walton had an 11-shot lead over May. Menon was up by six on Chatfield.

 

Menon said that he was not affected by the pressure of playing from the front.

 

"I just had to keep playing how I've been playing and stick with what's been working," he said. "If you start thinking about what's going on with the scores, it's not going to go well.

 

"I think I did a good job today just staying in the moment and paying attention to every shot and not getting ahead of myself."

 

Unlike Walton, Menon did not play in the 2015 event at Taconic.

 

Walton was in contention going into the final day a year ago but came up short. This year, she put that experience to good use.

 

"I started strong last year and I hurt my back on the last round," she said. "But it was still a great experience. I love this golf course. That's why I decided to come back.

 

"It definitely helped a lot. Last year the greens were a lot faster and trickier, so I thought that would be the focus coming in here. ... But because the greens were slower, they actually grew the rough up a lot. Coming from Texas, it's not the most common thing.

 

"But I hit the ball on the fairway, so that helped a lot. And because I was comfortable with the greens, I was able to make some putts."