Eldridge goes red on day one, brings home the gold
Dalton wins in clutch performance
Raleigh, NC (April 28, 2013) – The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour made its second visit to North Carolina this year for the College Prep Series at NC State. The event was hosted by Lonnie Poole Golf Club in Raleigh, North Carolina which is NC State’s home course and was designed by Arnold Palmer. The course was a great challenge for the juniors and many of them lived up to the challenge by playing some great golf over the weekend. The weather for the tournament started out great with sun and warm weather all day on Saturday. Sunday afternoon, however, brought a lot of cloud cover and some light rain making Sunday a much more challenging round for many golfers. The Junior Golf Scoreboard ranked this event and the winners of all four divisions received automatic bids to the 2013 Tour Championship. South Carolina Junior Golf Association Heritage Points and Tarheel Youth Golf Association Points were also earned. Finally, because this was a college prep series event points were awarded to the top 15 players in each division and these points will go towards year-end honors including the Hurricane Cup and all HJGT Teams.
Hometown native Thomas Eldridge won the boy’s 15-18 age division after shooting a stunning 69-76 (145) for a four-stroke victory. Eldridge’s two day total was aided by an unblemished nine hole stretch of golf, frankly one of the best that the HJGT has seen this year. Eldridge’s low score of 31 came on the back nine of day one which was equipped with 5 birdies and 4 pars. The 5 birdies contributed to Eldridge’s division and tournament leading 11 birdies. Eldridge also shot one under on the back side day two for a total of six-under in the tournament on the back nine. Eldridge was impressive on both par threes and par fours where he averaged 2.90 and 4.00 strokes respectively. Finishing in second place was playing partner Alex Smalley who also went red on day one with a 71 before shooting a 78 on Sunday for a 149 total. Smalley actually led the division through 27 holes before shooting two double-bogeys which took him out of the race. Smalley finished with most pars (25) and led in par 5 performance (4.70). Finishing in third place was Aaron Purviance with scores of 79-71 for a 150 total. Purviance was the only player to shoot under par on day 2 and led the division in par 3 performance (2.80).
Kendra Dalton from Winston-Salem won the girl’s 15-18 age division by 3 shots after posting scores of 86-80 (166). Dalton was tied with second place winner Savannah Gowarty with only 2 holes left before Dalton finished birdie-par on the final holes to win by 3. Dalton finished best in both par 3 performance (3.10) and par 4 performance (4.69). Dalton also the division in birdies with a total of 2. Gowarty led the division with most pars (18) and shot a two day score of 83-86 (169). Gowarty’s par three average score of 3.30 and her par four average of 4.75 were both second best trailing only Dalton. Sue Ireland finished in third place shooting a two day total of 87-84 (171). She finished second in the field with 16 pars. Ireland was in the top four in the division in par three, par four, and par five performance.
Nicholas Routhier from Clayton, NC won the boy’s 11-14 age division by three strokes with a 36-hole total 150. Routhier’s scores of 75 on both days were tied for the best scores that were seen in the division over the weekend. Routhier won in large put due to having the most pars in his division with 23 and having the best par 4 performance (4.00). Routhier was most impressive on the front nine where he shot one-under par for the tournament which included four birdies. Thomas Messenheimer shot a two day total of 75-78 (153) and led his division in par 3 performance (3.10). Messenheimer also had the most birdies with seven. Finishing in third place was Dustin Blank with scores of 78-77 (155). Blank led the younger boys in par 5 performance (5.20). Blank was also second in total birdies with five and pars with 20.
The girl’s 11-14 division was won by Sabrina Hoskins from Orlando, FL which was her seventh HJGT tournament victory this year. Hoskins won with scores of 75-77 (152) for a 5-stroke victory. Sabrina Hoskins led the division with most pars with 23 which included 13 on day two. Sabrina Hoskins also led in par 4 performance (4.25). Coming in second place was high school teammate Lara Van Staden with scores of 77-80 and sister Sydney Hoskins with scores of 81-76 (157). Van Staden led the division with five birdies, four of which came during a stellar first round of 77. Sydney Hoskins led in par 3 performance (3.00). Weather: Saturday: Sunny and warm, high 50’s to low 70’s with 5-10 mph winds Sunday: Cloudy with light rain, high 40’s to high 60’s with 5-10 mph winds Tournament Yardages: Boy’s 15-18 division: 6,759 Boys’ 11-14 division: 6,141 Girl’s 15-18 division: 5,712 Girl’s 11-14 division: 5,101 Tournament Awards:EFX Birdie Challenge:
Boy’s 15-18 division: Thomas Eldridge Boy’s 11-14 division: Thomas Messenheimer Girl’s 15-18 division: Kendra Dalton Girl’s 11-14 division: Lara Van Staden Golf Pride Most Improved Player Boy’s 15-18 division: Nathan Bull, Aaron Purviance Boy’s 11-14 division: Michael Yan Girl’s 15-18 division: Jenna Smith Girl’s 11-14 division: Sydney Hoskins About Us: The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (HJGT) was founded in 2008 with the intention of providing junior golfers between the ages of 11-18 an opportunity to play exceptional courses in a competitive environment. Golfers who participate on tour will compete in one of four age divisions: Boys 15-18 Division, Boys 11-14 and Girls 15-18 Division and 11-14 Division. Based out of Jacksonville, FL, the HJGT administers events all across the southeast as well as Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.