Champions Golf Course played host to 64 players competing to earn points on their #MarchToMuirfield.
Birdies were plentiful in the boys 16-19 division. As the day progressed, it became apparent that there was going to be a battle on the top of the boys 16-19 year old leaderboard. Andy Steed and Quentin Stall continued their impressive seasons at the Champions Jr. Open as it came down to the wire. In the end it was Andy Steed who stood alone holding the gold medal. Steed made four birdies en route to a two-under-par 68. This victory marks Steed’s fifth consecutive victory on the SOPGA Jr. Tour! Stall may have ended the day in second place, but that doesn’t take anything away from his impressive round of one-under-par 69. Rounding out the podium was Ashton Hoffbauer. Hoffbauer was coming off of a third place finish at last week’s Granville Jr. Classic.
The girls 16-19 division came down to a scorecard playoff. Tied atop the leaderboard was Caroline Ziegler and Olivia Jones. Both girls finished with rounds of eight-over-par 78. In the end, Jones won the scorecard playoff to claim the gold medal. Finishing in third place was Ava Bressler. After a stumble on her seventh hole of the day, Bressler was able to right the ship to claim third place.
The boys 13-15 division had a tie of its own for the top spot. Jack Schwaigert and Hoyt Dodson ended the day tied for the top spot with scores of nine-over-par 79. Schwaigert claimed his first win of the season in a scorecard playoff with Dodson finishing in second place. Lucas Massa continued his great play of the year at the Champions Jr. Open. Massa finished the day with a score of ten-over-par 80, good enough to claim the bronze medal.
A familiar face found herself in the gold medal position in the girls 13-15 division. Nikitha Suresh joins Andy Steed as the only players to win their division five times in a row. Suresh finished the round with a final score of six-over-par 76. Olivia Donovan used two birdies to post a score of ten-over-par 80 to grab the silver medal. Two players tied for the final spot on the podium at fifteen-over-par 85. Kiera Kwak and Mary Helber shared the bronze medal as play concluded at the Champions Jr. Open.
Eight boys teed it up in the 9-12 division. One of those eight would battle Champions Golf Course over 18 holes. Benjamin Vo made three birdies on his day to post a score of three-over-par 73 and claim the top spot. Of the boys playing 9 holes, Max Weber claimed the gold medal. Finishing in the second position for the 9 hole division was Luke Allender whose round was highlighted by a par on the difficult 11th hole. Rounding out the top three was Luke Barker who claimed the bronze medal.
Six girls showed up to the Champions Jr. Open ready to go. Two of those girls compete over nine holes. Juliana Vo matched her brother on the day claiming a matching gold medal for the Vo siblings. Mila Van Winkle grabbed her first silver medal of the season in her first appearance on the SOPGA Jr. Tour. Anna Helber claimed the top spot in the 18 hole division after making two birdies en route to a score of eleven-over-par 81. Amelia Buettner grabbed another medal to add to the trophy case with her second place finish at the Champions Jr. Open. Rounding out the top three was Madeline Donovan.
Thank you to Dave Wehner, PGA and his staff at Champions Golf Course for hosting the SOPGA Jr. Tour!
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