Urbana Country Club played host to 64 juniors for the second event on the SOPGA Jr. Tour Season!
Players were faced with tough conditions during round one of the Urbana Jr. Classic. Between high winds, cold temperatures, and even a mix of rain and hail, players fought through it all in hopes of claiming the second automatic bid to the SOPGA Jr. Tour Championship at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Julian Myers led the way after round 1 for the boys 16-19 division posting the round of the day at two-over-par 74. Andy Steed continued his impressive start to the season trailing Myers by one stroke heading into the final round. Closely behind Steed was Gabe Scherer, Ashton Hoffbauer, and Gavin Augenstien, looking for a strong finish to fight for the top spot on the leaderboard.
Harrison Young once again found himself holding the lead after round one for the boys 13-15 division with an opening round seven-over-par 79. Young sat four strokes ahead of Jack Faulkner who was looking to start his 2023 SOPGA season off on a strong note.
On the girls side, Ellie Lim didn’t wait long in her quest to defend her title as 2022 SOPGA Girls Player of the Year opening the event with a six stroke lead over Medha Pothuru and seven strokes ahead of Zoey Merrit.
The girls 13-15 division had Megan Fosburg sitting in first place after round one with Cadence Monroe-McCoy and Mikaili Smith looking to bounce back in the final round to challenge Fosburg for the top spot.
The final round saw temperatures drop as players prepared to compete for a podium finish in the bitter cold. The boys 16-19 division heated up in the final round as players made great improvements, despite the cold temperatures. Most notably Colten Montgomery bounced back with a 16 stroke improvement in the final round. In the end, three players finished tied at first place. In a scorecard playoff, Gavin Augenstein earned his bid into the SOPGA Tour Championship after posting the low round of the day, two-over-par 74..
“I kept my mental game very steady all weekend through the cold,” noted Augenstein. “I came back today and really stayed calm and took it one shot at a time and ended up playing a really solid round of golf.”
On the boys 13-15 side, Harrison Young would not be denied a second weekend in a row despite a charging Carter Adkins. Adkins posted a career low score of five-over-par 77 in hopes to chase down Young. In the end, Harrison claimed his first victory on the SOPGA Jr. Tour with Adkins finishing in second place. Will Reiser played steady all weekend and ended the tournament in third place in his first SOPGA event of the season.
Ellie Lim kept her foot on the gas during Sunday’s final round, improving her round one score by two shoots with a five-over-par 77 to claim first place. Medha Pothuru and Zoey Merrit stayed steady and finished the weekend in second and third respectively.
“I think making sure the weather didn’t affect my mental game was super important for me.” said Lim after her round. “I know the cold can cause the ball to do different things and we were all playing in it so I just made sure to make the right decisions.”
Cadence Monroe-McCoy was one of two players in the girls 13-15 division who saw their scores improve during the chilly final round. Monroe-McCoy fought back from a four stroke deficit to claim her second consecutive victory to start her season. Mikaili Smith also improved on her first round score by nine strokes to finish her first SOPGA Jr. Tour event in third place.
Click here for full leaderboards from the event.
Thank you to Bill Unger, PGA and his staff at Urbana Country Club for hosting the SOPGA Jr. Tour and congratulations to all of our players this past weekend on their great play! The SOPGA hopes to see you all competing again soon with some warmer weather!