On Saturday April 29, 67 SOPGA Jr. Tour members took to Locust Hills Golf Club to compete in the Locust Hills Jr. Open!
Players were greeted with clear and sunny skies, a welcome change from the last two weekends on the SOPGA Jr. Tour. With only one round to be played for the event, players would have to get off to hot starts in hopes of earning coveted Player of the Year Points and March to Muirfield Points. As an added incentive, the newly announced Junior Ohio Cup would be using the Player of the Year points list to fill out Team SOPGA.
The Boys 16-19 division saw a number of competitors tee it up for the first time this season. Tyler Caleodis, Israel Coblentz, and Ben Dawson got their 2023 season off to a strong start finishing in a tie for sixth place with a score of ten-over-par 82. Eian Cambria and Zach Hartley ended the event in a tie for first place at three-over-par 75. Cambria ultimately claimed the top spot in a scorecard playoff. Continuing his red-hot start to the year, Andy Steed finished the tournament in a tie for third place with Griffin Turner.
Lucas Massa has become very comfortable finding his way to the top of the leaderboard in the Boys 13-15 division. Massa recorded his 2nd win of the 2023 season after finishing in a tie for first with Anderson Reiser at seven-over-par 79. Anderson’s brother Will Reiser finished the tournament in a tie for third place with Carter Adkins and Carson O’Korn.
The 9-12 year old boys got their first opportunity to tee it up with the SOPGA Jr. Tour season. Morrison Capoccia competed in the 18-hole division and started his season off with a win shooting fourteen-over-par 86. For the 9 hole division, three boys teed it up for their first events with the SOPGA. Luke Barker finished in third for his first start of the season. Van Laver finished five strokes behind Jenner Gambill who claimed the top spot with a score of eight-over-par 44.
Hope Manning kicked off her season in a big way with a score of four-over-par 76. Manning’s score of 76 was the low round of the day for all girls and was just good enough to hold off Zoey Merritt, who continued her great play to start the season with a second place finish, one stroke behind Manning. Trailing Merritt by five strokes and finishing the tournament in third place was Andrea Golden.
The Locust Hills Jr. Open was the first event of the season for the top three finishers of the Girls 13-15 division. Ava Snow shot a career low score of seventeen-over-par 89 to claim the bronze medal. Reagan Hoffmans just edged out Snow with a score of sixteen-over-par 88 to finish in second place. Taking home the top spot was Aubrey Arnold, finishing five strokes ahead of Hoffmans.
The Girls 9-12 division had 3 competitors start off their year on Saturday. Caroline Webster and Ava Zamora competed in the nine hole division. Zamora was able to just edge out Webster for the top spot. Savanna Blackmore teed it up for all 18 holes and posted a score of seventeen-over-par 89 highlighted by a birdie on the par five sixteenth hole!
Congratulations to all those that teed it up last weekend and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
Click here to view the leaderboard.
Click here to view Player of the Year Standings.
Thank you to Locust Hills Golf Club for hosting the SOPGA Jr. Tour! Next on the tee, the Hamilton Jr. Open.