The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour traveled to Mobile, AL on September 27-28 for the Mobile Junior Open. Junior Golf Scoreboard Rankings were at stake while winners in all divisions received an invitation to the 2014 Tour Championship and points towards the 2014 Hurricane Cup.
Saturday featured overcast skies giving way to an abundance of sunshine in the afternoon. Guin native Cody Maddox would come away with the lead at the close of round one after opening with an 81. Maddox held a slim one shot lead, however, over Chase Williams after the opening round. With looming weather expected to hit and dump up to 4-5 inches of rain on Sunday, the final round did not look to be very promising. Sunday’s final round began under overcast skies and Maddox would open his round with a bogey on the difficult opening hole, but would rebound with pars on the 2nd and 3rd hole. Maddox would give three more shots away on the 4th and 5th holes but bounced back with two consecutive birdies. Williams, coming off an opening round 82 would take advantage of Maddox’s stumble with pars on his first four holes and adding a birdie on the narrow par 4 5th hole. Williams would card a consistent final round 77 to claim the Boys 15-18 title by seven shots over Maddox. Ben Harris would take 3rd place honors after a two round total of 180. Maddox would lead the division with the most birdies carding 5 total over the weekend. The difference maker for Williams would be his scoring average on the par 4s and 5s. Williams would average 4.4 on the par 4s and 5.4 on the par 5s. Williams’ win is his first on tour and earns him a spot in the 2014 Tour Championship in Orlando, FL.
The Boys 11-14 Division was a fight to the finish in Mobile. Joe Dumphy closed his round with a birdie at the last for an opening round 76 and take a three shot lead into the final round over Jack Goldasich. Goldasich would make a statement on Sunday making birdies on the 2nd and 5th holes before closing with a 78. Dumphy would not go away, making a birdie on his opening hole Sunday and adding another on the par 3 4th hole. Dumphy would stumble in the later holes on the front nine allowing Goldasich to grab lead in the final round. Dumphy would bounce back to close in 38 to force a playoff with Goldasich after players finished regulation at 157. After both Dumphy and Goldasich split the first playoff hole, the stage was set on the par 5 2nd hole. Both players hit the fairway to leave themselves with a chance to go for the green in two. Goldasich and Dumphy would hit the green in two leaving long eagle attempts. Goldasich lagged putt to give him the birdie while Dumphy narrowly missed. Ford Goldasich would take home third place in the Boys 11-14 Division with a two day total of 160.
The Girls 15-18 Division witnessed Carson McKie lead wire to wire to pick up her second win of the season after finishing regulation with a two day total of 157. McKie,who picked up her earlier win at the Kiawah Island Junior Challenge in February finished the event with rounds of 79-78. McKie would lead statistically in par 4 scoring averaging 4.4. Behind McKie on the leaderboard was Sarah Pabst of Niceville, FL and Abby Herrmann of Pensacola, FL who both finished just three shots back. Herrmann would lead statistically in par 3 scoring averaging 3.0 and Pabst would lead in par 5 scoring averaging 5.2. Herrmann would also lead in the most pars made with a total of 23 over the weekend. Anna Reid of Demopolis, AL would make the most birdies in the Girls 15-18 Division with a total of 4. McKie’s win adds to her already impressive season with 2 wins and 3 top 5 finishes. Alexis Berger earned a set of golf pride grips after improving 13 shots from round 1 to round 2. Weather: Day 1- Low of 70, high of 84. Overcast skies opening to sunshine in afternoon. Winds 10-12mph. Day 2- Low of 70,high of 81. Overcasts skies. Winds 10-15 mph. Tournament Yardage: Boys 15-18: 6,850 yards Girls 15-18: 5,806 yards Boys 11-14: 6,181 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, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Mississippi. For more information regarding The Mobile Junior Open, please visit our website at www.hjgt.org, call the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour headquarters at (904) 379-2697, or email info@hjgt.org.