Eva Pett of Denver tied for sixth out of 69 players on Thursday in the girls 13-14 division in Florida.
Pett shot rounds of 80-78-75 for a 17-over-par 233 total, which left her 17 strokes behind champion Thanchanok Iadpluem.
Ironically, Pett had narrowly qualified for the Optimist tournament in Florida, finishing tied for sixth last month at Meadow Hills Golf Course, where only seven players advanced. Last year as a 13-year-old, Pett finished fifth in the girls division of the Colorado Junior Amateur.
One other highlight from the Colorado perspective this week came from Rachel Penzenstadler of Centennial, who made a hole-in-one Thursday on the 141-yard 11th hole en route to a 33rd-place finish.
The third and final phase of the Optimist International — for boys 16-18 and girls 15-18 — will be held in Florida from Sunday through Wednesday. A combined 17 Coloradans are scheduled to compete in those tournaments.
Here are the results of the Colorado golfers at the Optimist this week:
Girls 13-14
6. Eva Pett, Denver 80-78-75–233
17. Kaylee Chen, Denver 83-82-75–240
23. Katelyn Lehigh, Loveland 85-81-78–244
30. Sofia Choi, Littleton 83-86-78–247
33. Rachel Penzenstadler, Centennial 82-81-85–248
34. Timbre Shehee, Mead 85-80-84–249
60. Amira Badruddin, Parker 94-93-98–285
Boys 14-15
23. Ryan Sangchompuphen, Denver 77-75-75–227
45. Traejean Andrews, Windsor 78-77-76–231
58. Maxwell Lange, Golden 81-76-77–234
69. Hunter Swanson, Denver 77-80-81–238
Missed 36-Hole Cut
Jack Larson, Arvada 82-83–165
Jackson Grace, Boulder 85-83–168
Trey Kirschner, Arvada 86-83–169
Mario Dino, Denver 83-87–170
Dakota Dolph, Pine 84-89–173
Langdon Bradley , Lone Tree 87-86–173
Jackson Rottschafer, Centennial 85-91–176
Matthew Wilkinson, Centennial 84-94–178
Jack McCormick, Littleton 84-94–178
Christopher Gunlikson II, Longmont 89-94–183
Nicholas Pevny of Aspen, a Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado member who won the Colorado-based qualifier for the event on June 8 at Aurora Hills, finished in the top spot out of 105 players in the boys 12-13 division on Saturday in Florida.
Pevny, 13, shot rounds of 72-73-72 for a 1-over-par 217 total, good for a two-stroke win over Zhengfei Han. Pevny made five birdies and five bogeys on Saturday, and chalked up 10 birdies for the three rounds.
Upcoming are two more phases of the Optimist International Junior — July 24-26 for boys 14-15 and girls 13-14, and July 29-Aug. 1 for boys 16-18 and girls 15-18.
Here are the results of the Colorado golfers at the Optimist this week:
Boys 12-13
1. Nicholas Pevny, Aspen 72-73-72–217
82. Grant Samuelson, Fort Collins, 93-89-79–261
99. Will Balliet, Thornton 103-90-90–283
104. Michael Dinapoli, Steamboat Springs 94-97-107–298
Girls 10-12
16. Caitlyn Chin, Greenwood Village 77-79-84–240
27. Ashleigh Wilson, Highlands Ranch 93-85-85–263
37. Reece Bandemer, Loveland 102-89-100–291
Boys 10-11
18. Austin Barry, Fort Collins 80-78-77–235
32. Tyler Long, Evergreen 86-86-86–258
37. Landon Houska, Fort Collins 87-92-86–265
Hillary, winner of the 2016 JGAC Tour Championship and runner-up in the 2017 AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior by Transamerica, made one birdie, one bogey and 16 pars in Tuesday’s opening round. She trails leader Yuka Saso of the Philippines by six strokes and is just two shots behind the third-place competitors.
In the same division, 4A state high school champion Lauren Lehigh of Loveland posted a 73 and is tied for 22nd place.
Elsewhere, also in the top 25 after round 1 is Nicholas Pevny of Aspen, who shares 17th place in the boys 11-12 division after carding a 1-under-par 71. He sits six strokes behind leader Anton Ouyang of San Jose, Calif.
The tournament will continue through Thursday or Friday, depending on the division.
Here are the scores for all the Coloradans competing this week:
Boys 15-18
54. Dillon Stewart, Fort Collins 76
111. Cal McCoy, Highlands Ranch 79
Girls 15-18
15. Charlotte Hillary, Englewood 72
22. Lauren Lehigh, Loveland 73
105. Hailey Schalk, Erie 80
Boys 13-14
73. Jordan Jennings, Montrose 76
153. James Clark, Lamar 89
Girls 13-14
48. Sofia Choi, Littleton 76
117. Gracie Olkowski, Grand Junction 86
Boys 11-12
17. Nicholas Pevny, Aspen 71
Girls 11-12
67. Abigail Aeschleman, Highlands Ranch 85
Boys 9-10
60. Tyler Long, Evergreen 81
66. Gavin Amella, Pueblo 82
Girls 9-10
35. Hadley Ashton, Erie 81
64. Caitlyn Chin, Greenwood Village 89
Boys 7-8
59. Ashton Edwards, Boulder 100
Girls 7-8
38. Madelynn Makino, Parker 83