Toledo Junior Shootout
April 23-24, 2016 Beautiful Weather, Beautiful Course, Beautiful Weekend
This past weekend the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour continued the successful Ohio section of the tour with a great weekend at the Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green. The 54-player field had an amazing course and great weather for the event. We cannot thank the personnel of Stone Ridge GC enough for the great shape of the course and everything they helped us with this weekend. Scores came in tight after day one and stayed close for the weekend. The players had a few things on the line this week. The Girls 14-18 champion received four American Junior Golf Association performance stars, while the top three each received one. All three age divisions qualified for Junior Golf Scoreboard ranking. The winners received invitations to the 2016 National Championship on Dec. 3-4 and the top three were invited to the 2016 Druh Belts Midseason Invitational on June 11-13. Finally, the top 10 finishers received points toward the year-end honors which include all HJGT teams and the Hurricane Cup.
Boys 16-18 Division
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Brandon Bodis[/caption]
After the first round, our top three were all separated by two strokes with a tie for the lead at +3. Coming from Avon Lake, Ohio, Brandon Bodis used a birdie on the 18th and final hole to notch the win for the weekend. His 75 in round one and 76 in round two was enough to get the win. He sunk five birdies on the weekend, but none was bigger than his closing birdie on No. 18. His seven-over-par total was enough to edge second place finisher, Jules Blakely. This is the second week in a row the Westlake, Ohio, native came in second place. He was also tied for the lead after one round and owned a one-stroke lead heading to No. 18. He played par golf for most of the weekend with No. 14 being his best hole as he birdied it each day. Blakely stayed in the hunt and gave himself a chance, but his 152 was just off the lead. Taking third place out of 18 was Zac Supelak. Supelak was two strokes off the lead entering championship Sunday but he could not get any closer. Supelak finished strong with four birdies in round two bringing his total to 155 for the weekend and his 73 in round two was the low score of the tournament.
Boys 14-15 Division
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Philip Wong[/caption]
Philip Wong stole the show again as he entered round two with a three-stroke lead. He was not comfortable with just that so he took home the gold as well. The West Bloomfield, Mich., native traveled down to shoot a 162 overall (78-84) and had three birdies on the weekend. Second-place finisher out of 11 was Jimmy Meyers of Westford, Pa., who mimicked Tiger Woods a bit. Instead of the Sunday red shirt like Tiger, Meyers wore the Sunday red pants. Improving by 13 strokes, Meyer used four birdies to get back in the running for the championship, missing out by one (88-75). Rounding out the top three showcased our only tie of the weekend. Gregor Meyer (83-83) of Pittsburgh, Pa., Jarrod Teeter (85-81) of Johnstown, Ohio, and Preston Nanthavong (81-85) of Groveport, Ohio, each shot a 166 overall.
Girls 14-18 Division
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Jacinta Pikunas[/caption]
In our biggest field of the weekend, Jacinta Pikunas entered round two hoping to keep her lead and she did just that. With a three-stroke lead, the Youngstown, Ohio, native added to it and eventually won by five with a 148 total. She improved by four on Sunday to post a division-best 72. She played even par on both nines in round two and finished with five birdies. Coming in second place out of 23 was Marissa Kirkwood of New Castle, Pa. She improved her score by five strokes shooting a 74 and birdied the last two holes to finish strong. Rounding out the top three was local girl Lily Rinker of Toledo. Rinker made three birdies while posting consecutive 81s.
April 23-24, 2016 Weather Round 1: Low 47, High 62, Winds 10 mph, Mostly Sunny Skies, Breezy/Cool, Dry Course Round 2: Low 52, High 69, Winds 5-10 mph, Sunny, Beautiful Day, Dry Course
Tournament Yardages Boys 16-18 yards: 6,750 yards Boys 14-15 yards: 6,750 yards Girls 14-18 yards: 5,750 yards