FLANDERS – The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour held the New Jersey Junior Open at the Flanders Valley Golf Club from June 3-4. Boys and girls traveled from all over the country to participate in the 36-hole tournament. The event had four divisions: Boys 16-18, Boys 14-15, Boys 11-13 and Girls 14-18.
Taking the lead in the boys 16-18 division was Matthew Lu from Basking Ridge, NJ. With four birdies on the weekend, Lu brought in an outstanding scorecard. His scores of 75 for round 1 and 76 for round 2 gave him a total of 151 strokes making him the division champion. He has been playing with HJGT since 2020, participating in over 50 tournaments. With a decorated HJGT record Alex has 25 Top 3 finishes. In a three way tie for runner up honors was James Dunn from Westfield, NJ, Ryder Hodgson from Montclair, NJ and Zachary Rengen from Mechanicsburg, PA. Dunn, with seven birdies on the weekend, brought in scores of 71 and 81 while Hodgson and Rengen had four birdies with scores of 73 and 79. All three players totaled 152 strokes for the weekend.
In his first HJGT tournament, Jiayi Liu from Windsor, CT won first place in the boys 14-15 division. He brought in scores of 81 and 80 along with six birdies on the weekend giving him a total of 166 strokes. After his first win, Liu is in the Top 100 of the HJGT point rankings. With 166 strokes and five birdies, Kevin Ostrander from Point Pleasant, NJ places as our runner up honors. This was Ostrander’s second HJGT tournament, he will participate in the Northeast Regional Invitational in September. Henry White from Montville, NJ places in the top three honors with a total score of 175 strokes.
Ryan Mascali from Rye, NY was our first place winner in the boys 11-13 division. Mascali did a great job on the course this weekend, securing a win in his first HJGT tournament of 2023. With six birdies on the weekend, he put up scores of 80 for round 1 and 76 for round 2 totaling 156 strokes. With a total of 162, Dylan Suchak took home runner up honors. Suchak, from Buffalo, NY did an outstanding job on the course this weekend in his first HJGT tournament of the year. Finishing up top three honors was Axel Brandes from Brenardsville, NJ with a weekend score of 163. Brandes is within the Top 50 of HJGT point rankings.
Long time HJGT player and 8th place in the HJGT point rankings, Emily Renoff from Glen Ridge, NJ was our winner in the girls 14-18 division. Playing with HJGT since 2018, Renoff has 15 Top 3 finishes. This weekend she won with only 154 strokes. The runner up honors went to Lauren Patullo from Moorestown, NJ. Patullo put up scores of 81 and 78 totaling 159. Reese Hannon from Tewksbury, NJ and Aubrey Lee from Oradell, NJ tied up the top three honors. Both girls brought in impressive scores of 162.