Liam Wood of Boulder, who won the 10 & under Junior Series title in 2015, shares the top spot in the boys tournament after Monday’s opening round, and 2014 10 & under champion Traejan Andrews of Windsor is a shot behind.
And in the girls tournament, defending 11-13 champion Sofia Choi of Littleton built a 12-stroke lead at the halfway point. If Choi prevails, she’ll become the first two-time winner of the girls 11-13 Junior Series Championship.
The 13-year-old Choi, winner of three JGAC tournaments this year, made four birdies in Monday’s round of 2-over-par 74. She’s a dozen strokes up on Hadley Ashton of Erie and 13 ahead of third-place Kaylee Chen of Highlands Ranch, the season-long points leader in the division.
In the boys tourney, Wood shot a 4-over-par 76 and shares the lead with Jake Chesler of Firestone and Alex Chitkoksoong of Aurora.
Chitkoksoong made an eagle on Monday, while Chesler had two birdies and Wood one.
Andrews, the points leader in the division, and another two-time winner in 2017, Gage Messingham of Arvada, are tied for fourth place at 77, one behind the leaders.
The tournament will conclude on Tuesday for both boys and girls.
The Junior Series Championships for other age divisions will take place later this week, with the 10 & under event set for Wednesday (Aug. 9) at Pinehurst Country Club’s Pfluger 9, and the 14-18 tournament scheduled for Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 12-13) at Pelican Lakes in Windsor.
For the scores from Fox Hill click on the following: BOYS, GIRLS.
]]>At least assuming no alternates get into the field.
Fifteen Coloradans competed Saturday in regional qualifying at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., but none won his or her age division — which was what was necessary to qualify for the finals, which will be held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on April 2.
This marks the third time in the four years of the DC&P Championships that Coloradans have been shut out of the finals. But three in-state junior golfers — Luke Trujillo, Arielle Keating and Caitlyn Chin — went to nationals this past spring.
Here were the Coloradans who had the highest finishes Saturday at regionals:
— Landon Houska of Fort Collins, playing in regionals for the second straight year, finished second in the boys 7-9 division, seven points behind national qualifier Carter Gaede.
— Matai Naqica of Centennial tied for second in the boys 10-11 division, 10 points behind national qualifier Liam Hartling.
— Jake Chesler of Firestone placed second in the boys 12-13 division, 14 points behind national qualifier Evan Chien.
— Gracie Olkowski of Grand Junction finished third in the girls 14-15 division, 38 points behind national qualifier Megan Ahmadi.
Here’s how all the Coloradans fared on Saturday, with their points from each of the three skills (drive, chip and putt) — and their total.
Boys 7-9 — 2. Landon Houska, Fort Collins 32-23-50–105; 7. Preston Brooke, Arvada 27-4-36–67.
Boys 10-11 — T2. Matai Naqica, Centennial 48-22-37–107; 5. Benjamin Starr, Cherry Hills Village 27-17-50–94.
Boys 12-13 — 2. Jake Chesler, Firestone 58-30-45–133; 9. Ben Harding, Longmont 11-26-60–97.
Boys 14-15 — 4. Jack Hughes, Aspen 52-27-45–124; 6. Davis Long, Lafayette 35-31-51–117.
Girls 7-9 — 6. Caitlyn Chin, Greenwood Village 6-19-41–66; 7. Livia Pett, Denver 13-7-40–60.
Girls 10-11 — 10. Brooke Hudson, Parker 0-12-26–38.
Girls 12-13 — 6. Katelyn Lehigh, Loveland 32-2-45–79; 7. Sofia Choi, Littleton 27-19-30–76.
Girls 14-15 — 3. Gracie Olkowski, Grand Junction 41-22-60–123; 7. Marie Jordaan, Cherry Hills Village 43-14-32–89.
For all the results from the regional qualifying at Riviera, CLICK HERE.
All the regional competitors advanced through both local and sub-regional qualifying events.
In all, 40 boys and 40 girls will compete in the national finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship, which is sponsored by the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America. The competition is limited to players 7-15.