A stop for Gatorade after a good day on the golf course led to Michael Newberne sinking a $100,000 scratch-off prize.

Newberne, a fork lift driver from Kenansville, said when he walked into the Village Store on N.C. 41 in Wallace to get the drink, a Ruby Red 7s ticket caught his eye. He bought the $20 ticket and scratched it in his car to see if he won a prize.

“I read it three times, maybe more, not sure, ‘cause I couldn’t believe it,” Newberne said when he collected his win at lottery headquarters last week. “I was very surprised.”

After required federal and state tax withholdings, Newberne took home $70,756. He said he planned to buy a new car, do some home improvements, and help his mom.

The Ruby Red 7s game began in January with four top prizes of $4 million and eight $100,000 prizes. Two $4 million prizes and five $100,000 prizes remain to be won.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how $4 million made a difference in Duplin County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website, www.nclottery.com.