Davis Bryant of Aurora and Hailey Schalk of Erie were the only two players to break par in Monday’s opening round of the Colorado Junior PGA Championship, and each holds a two-stroke at Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course at the Air Force Academy.
Schalk, the 3A girls state high school champion who won last week’s AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior by Transamerica, picked up where she left off by starting with a 1-under-par 71 in the first of four Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors for 2017. The 15-year-old made four birdies and three bogeys on Monday.
Amelia Lee of Castle Rock, who placed third in last month’s 5A state high school tournament, holds down second place in the girls competition at 73. Josie Baker of Sherman Oaks, Calif., is third at 75.
In the boys tournament, Bryant (pictured), a 2015 U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier who won the JGAC Todd Creek tournament by nine strokes last month, fired a 2-under-par 70 on Monday after a five-birdie round.
Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins and Ian Thorpe of Superior share second place at 72, each highlighting his round with an eagle. Thorpe played his final seven holes in 4 under par. TJ Shehee of Mead holds fourth place at 73.
The 54-hole tournaments will continue through Wednesday.
The top two finishers in both the boys and girls fields will qualify for the national Junior PGA Championships at the Country Club of St. Albans near St. Louis, set for July 18-21 (girls) and July 31-Aug. 3 (boys).
For scores from the Colorado Junior PGA, click on the following: BOYS, GIRLS.
