Willoughby bears through rain delay for win Turner hangs onto her lead
The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour traveled to Guntersville, Alabama on May 17-18 for the Hurricane Tour Shop Series at Gunter’s Landing. The final round on Sunday had a three hour rain delay but all players were able to finish 36 holes. Winners in all divisions received an invitation to the 2014 Tour Championship and Mid-Season Invitational. The top three finishers in each division received an invitation to the Tour Shop Series Invitational. Additionally, the top ten finishers received points towards end of the year honors which include state teams, ALL HJGT teams and the Hurricane Cup. Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings were awarded to the field as well.
The Boy’s 15-18 division was won by Chip Willoughby of Albertville, Alabama. Willoughby was able to overcome the first round one stroke deficit to win the Hurricane Tour Shop Series. He carded a 79 in the first round and came out determined and hungry during the final round. Willoughby played well despite the conditions on Sunday and managed to make four birdie putts to secure the victory. He posted an 80 in the final round for a weekend total of 159. Finishing two strokes behind Willoughby was Chase Williams of Jasper, Alabama. He maintained his first round position to finish in second place. He made one birdie each day. During round one it helped him finish at 79 and during round two it allowed him to record an 82. Williams finished the weekend with a 161 total score. Harrison Martin of Gadsden, Alabama and Brett Batchelor of Madison, Alabama tied for third place with weekend totals of 162. Martin made a great comeback to finish in the top three after improving his score from 86 to 76. The 76 was the lowest round of the weekend in the division. Martin made two birdie putts on the weekend, one each day. Batchelor also improved his score from 82 to 80 with the help of three birdies, all of which occurred during the final round.
Showing great competition was the Girl’s 15-18 division. The leaderboard was separated by only six strokes at the end of the final round. Coming out on top was Sydney Turner of Montgomery, Alabama. She found a way to pull out the victory, and post two good rounds. Turner improved her first round one score of 92 to a 91 in the final round. She also fired a birdie during the final round on the par three, fifth hole. Turner finished the weekend with a 183 total score. In second place was Danielle Bates of Benton, Tennessee. She made a great effort to shorten the margin but just fell short, finishing two strokes behind Turner at 185. Bates improved 11 strokes from day one to day two as she carded a 98 during round one and an 87 in round two. Bates made eight pars on the weekend. Christina Hall of Enterprise, Alabama finished in third place with rounds of 93 and 96. She had a putt to remember on hole 15 during the final round. Hall was around 65 feet away and sank the putt for a birdie. Hall also recorded one birdie in the first round to finish with a weekend total of 189.
The Boy’s 11-14 division was won by Phil Jones of Alpharetta, Georgia. He had a weekend total of 156, three strokes better than the rest of the field. Jones was able to pull out the victory after struggling a bit in the second round. During round one he posted a two over, 74 with three birdies. In the final round he carded an 82 and one birdie. Jones’s impressively low round one score was just enough for him to hang on and win. Jacob LeCroy of Anniston, Alabama made a valiant comeback attempt but just fell short to finish in second place. LeCroy improved from an 83 in round one to a 76 in the final round. He had two birdies in the tournament and 19 pars to finish the weekend at 159. Dylan Ford of Homewood, Alabama finished in third place in the wet conditions. He recorded rounds of 81 and 88 for a weekend total of 169. Ford made one birdie putt during round one and had 19 pars on the weekend.
Rhea Hall of Charleston, Tennessee won the Girl’s 11-14 Division by 10 strokes. Going into the second round she only had a three stroke lead but was able to extend that to secure the victory. Hall improved her first round score of 88 to an 85 in round two. Hall ended the tournament with one birdie in round one and had 15 pars on the weekend for a total score of 173. Tori Owens of Chatsworth, Georgia finished in second place with a weekend total of 183. Owens played consistent, with rounds of 91 and 92. Owens posted birdie on hole 13 in the final round and recorded seven pars on the weekend. Weather: Day 1- High of 75, low of 60 with light precipitation and wind gust of 8 mph Day 2- High of 66, low of 55 with heavy precipitation and wind gust of 5 mph Tournament Yardage: Boys 15-18: 6,766 yards Boys 11-14: 6,156 yards Girls 11-18: 5,700 yards 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 the tour will compete in one of four age divisions: Boys 15-18, Boys 11-14, Girls 11-14 and Girls 15-18. Based out of Jacksonville, FL, the HJGT administers events all across the nation, with stops in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, and Pennsylvania. For more information regarding the HJGT 2014 Tour, please visit our website at www.hjgt.org, call the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour headquarters at (904) 379-2697, or email info@hjgt.org.