(June 26, 2015) The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour made a stop at Reston National in Reston, VA to host the Northern Virginia Junior Challenge. The weather throughout the mid-week tournament couldn’t have been any nicer for the players as it was in the low 80’s with a slight breeze with no rain in sight. The course itself played slow on the first day, but much faster the second which allowed for much lower scores to be posted. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer course with large greens and fairways allowing there to be competitive play throughout the tournament. All the winners of each division will get an invite to the 2015 HJGT National Championship.
The Boy’s 15-18 division saw some exciting play through both rounds ending in a playoff between TJ Repczynski and Josh Hogue. TJ at the end of day one, after shooting 76, +5, had a three stroke lead over Josh. That all changed when Josh went out and shot an even par 71 day two to close the gap. Both players ended up bogeying the final hole forcing a decisive playoff which thanks to a par allowed TJ to pull out the victory after an exciting two rounds of play. Both players had a drastically different way of getting to that playoff hole with Josh playing consistent par golf except for two holes while TJ had to battle the lengthy course. Colin Caporal, who finished third with a two day total of 151 only finished one stroke off the lead after a birdie change on 18 at the end of the second round. The top 6 finishers in this division were only separated by a total of four strokes making for an exciting finish all the way to the end culminating in the decisive playoff.
In the Girl’s 15-18 division, Gabriella Kim, a Wayne, Pennsylvania native was able to post one of the lowest scores of the tournament with a two day total of 149. She was able to battle back after posting a 78, +7 on the first day to shooting an even par on the second day to take the division by 9 strokes. On the second day she only had one hiccup in an otherwise perfect round with a bogey on 3, but was able to wipe that out with a birdie on 13 to solidify the win. One of the most impressive performances was that of Skylar Sloan. She was able to battle back from sixth place after day one to take sole possession of second after posting a 72, +1. Her birdie putt on the 18th was what helped her complete her comeback with one of the lowest scores of the entire weekend. This tournament had a battle in almost every age division and that remained the same for the Girl’s 15-18 when it came to third place between Caroline DeLoach and Katie Reilly. Caroline was in sole possession of second place after day one just two stroked behind the leader, but ran into some trouble on the back nine of the second round, which allowed Reilly to close the gap. Reilly’s consistent play throughout the round coupled with a 75, +4 in round two allowed her to gain ground while DeLoach struggled. Overall exciting play down to the end made the final group of the day that much more entertaining to watch.
The Boy’s 13-14 was claimed by Nikita Gubenko is truly dominating fashion after posting the lowest two day total by six strokes of 143. He not only posted the lowest two day total, but also the lowest second day score to help secure the victory. He was able to post par on 24 of the 36 total holes and limit the damage to bogeys at worst which allowed him to lengthen his lead over a struggling field. The remainder of the field was close with ten strokes separating second from seventh place. In second place from South Riding, Virginia we had George Clark with a two day total of 160. He like most of the field was able to post a much lower score on the second day than the first since the fairways and greens were that much quicker allowed for drives to role more than just a few feet. He was able to post a second day score of 78, +7 to stave off the hard charging field. Wrapping up the top three we had Jonathon Zou whose play through the back nine on the second day was able to stave off S. Dean Satouri who was making a charge with birdies on the back nine.
In the Boy’s 11-12 division, although the top three where essentially set after the first round, there was still exciting golf with player’s posting much lower scores in the second round as compared to the first. Sunell Peruvmba, a local from Virginia, led the way with a two day score of 166. His consistent play throughout the two rounds is what lead him to the win. Peruvmba was able to limit damage on most holes to bogeys, which helped him lengthen his lead over his competitors who struggled on the first day. Nate Wojciechowski was able to secure second place in the division with a mixture of pars and bogeys throughout the two rounds that lead to a two day total of 191. Rounding out this division was Vishnu Sankavaram who had the biggest drop in scores from round one to round two accumulating a two day total of 202 in the process. Although the division wasn’t overly competitive it still made for an exciting two days full of long putts and tough shots. Weather: Day 1- Low of 75 to high of 82, Partly Sunny, winds 5-10 MPH Day 2- Low of 79 to high of 82, Mostly Sunny, winds 1-5 MPH Tournament Yardages: Boys 15-18-6786 yards Boys 13-14-6144 yards Girls 15-18/Boys 11-12-5611 yards About us: The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (HJGT) was founded in 2008 with the intent 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 13-14, Boys 11-12, Girls 15-18, and Girls 11-14. Based out of Jacksonville, FL, the HJGT administers events all across the nation, with stops in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Connecticut. For more information regarding the 2014 HJGT 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 Experience #TheHurricaneDifference