Junior page – June 2013, page 29
The Georgia High School Association held its golf championships last month, with seven boys and seven girls events staged at courses throughout the state.
Boys state champions were Norcross, Gainesville, Marist, Woodward Academy, Westminster, Brookstone and Gordon Lee. Girls state champions were Lambert, Lakeside (Evans), Carrollton, North Oconee, Vidalia, Darlington and Schley County.
6A boys (at Spring Hill, Tifton): Zach Healy shot 67 to lead Norcross to a two-stroke victory over Gwinnett rival Peachtree Ridge. The Blue Devils finished with a 294 total, with the Lions next at 296. Johns Creek, just across the Gwinnett/Fulton border, was 3rd at 300, followed by Roswell and Colquitt County at 302.
Healy captured medalist honors by four strokes over five players who tied for 2nd at 71. Tying for 2nd were Zach Pritchard of Peachtree Ridge, Hayden Poole of Johns Creek, Shea Sylvester of Centennial, Nick Budd of Etowah and Luukas Alakulppi of Valdosta.
Clay Trocchio contributed a 73 and Patrick Haas a 74 for Norcross.
6A girls (at Sunset CC, Moultrie): Lambert outdueled Milton 220-225, with host Colquitt County 3rd at 245. Lambert’s Michaela Owen and Milton’s Kayla Jones shared medalist honors at 71, with Lambert’s Kayley Marschke and Newnan’s Ji Eun Baik tying for 3rd at 73.
Milton’s Nicole Latka and Centennial’s Emily Kurey tied for 5th at 75. Lambert’s Sloan Shanahan was among a group of players tying for 7th at 76, with the team not needing a 79 by Lauren Lightfritz.
5A boys (at Jekyll Island – Pine Lakes): All four Gainesville counters shot 74 or lower as the Red Elephants shot 289 to win by nine over host Glynn Academy. Lawson King led Gainesville with a 70, tying Emmanuel Kountakis of Lakeside (Evans) for medalist honors, with Kountakis winning in a playoff.
Also shooting 70 was Kile Williams of Starr’s Mill, which placed 3rd at 299. Columbia County rivals Lakeside and Greenbrier tied for 4th at 304.
Gainesville’s Jackson Bishop was 4th at 72, with teammate Spencer Ralston tying for 5th at 73. Nathan Williams shot 74 for Gainesville to tie for 8th, with the champions not needing a 75 from Pep Brown and a 76 from Grant Lasseter. All six Gainesville golfers placed 17th or higher.
5A girls (at Jekyll Island – Indian Mound): Eunice Yi shot 70 to earn medalist honors for Lakeside (Evans), which shot 225 to win the team title by four over first year north Fulton school Cambridge. Thomas County Central was 3rd at 233.
Megal Sabol shot 77 and Elizabeth Kim 78 for Lakeside to place 7th and 8th respectively. Megan Carter of Ware County was 2nd at 72, with Rachel Dai and Sabrina Long, both of Cambridge, tying for 3rd at 73. Jodi Henley of Thomas County Central and Haley Austin of Ola tied for 5th at 74.
4A boys (at Dalton G&CC): Marist dominated with a score of 279, with Richmond Academy well back in 2nd at 297. Will Chandler earned medalist honors for the War Eagles with a 66, and four of his teammates tied for 2nd at 71.
Shooting 71 for Marist were Will Duma, Jack Larkin, Sean Murphy and Joe Quirk. Mitchell Yates shot 73 to tie for 8th individually, but his score did not count for the War Eagles. Charlie Flowers of Columbus also shot 71 to tie for 2nd, with Columbus 3rd in the team competition at 305. South Effingham and Paulding County tied for 4th at 308.
All four Richmond Academy counters shot 75 or lower, led by Greyson Sigg, who carded a 73.
4A girls (at Nob North, Cohutta): Sydney Needham shot 74 to take the individual title, while also leading Carrollton to the team championship. The Trojans shot 250, with Columbus 2nd at 263 and host Dalton 3rd at 276.
Kayla Wilbourn of Cairo was the only other golfer to break 80 in the tournament, shooting a 78 to take 2nd behind Needham.
3A boys (at Reunion GC, Hoschton): Woodward Academy won with a 298 total, leading a 1-2-3 finish by teams from Region 6. Blessed Trinity was 2nd at 302 with St. Pius 3rd at 305. Oconee County took 4th at 304 with Jackson County 5th at 310.
Woodward got a 73 from Cam Andrade, a 74 from John Rollins, a 75 from Sam Fishman and a 76 from JakeLawson. Brooks Thomas of Ringgold was medalist at 72, winning a playoff over David Mobley of North Oconee and Patrick Strickland of Callaway. Colby Hipp of North Murray and Rob Padgett of Oconee County tied for 4th at 73 along with Andrade.
Among a group tying for 7th at 74 were Sebastian Darmodihardjo and Kevin Wargo of Blessed Trinity, and Garrett Bernhardt of St. Pius.
3A girls (at Chateau Elan, Chateau course): North Oconee scored the largest winning margin of any state champion, posting a 245 total, 25 strokes ahead of runner-up Woodward Academy. Banks County and North Murray tied for 3rd at 272, two behind the second place finisher.
Hannah Barger of Elbert County shot 73 to win the individual competition by five strokes. Crocket Floyd of North Oconee and Jocelyn Blair of North Murray tied for 2nd at 78, with Gracie Henderson of Blessed Trinity 4th at 79. Ansley Brock shot 82 and McKenzie Hedrick added an 85 for North Oconee.
2A boys (at Rocky Creek, Vidalia): Westminster shot 295 to win by five over Oglethorpe County, with Lovett 3rd at 301 and Greater Atlanta Christian 4th at 304. Westminster, Lovett and GAC are in the same region.
Tripp H’Doubler shot 71 to lead Westminster, tying for 2nd. Patrick Bridges tied for 7th at 73, with Wildcat teammates Hunter Bremer and Jackson Heazel tying for 9th at 75. Jake O’Bryan of Oglethorpe County was medalist at 70, with James Scott and Garrett Wright of Lovett and Chase Cole of Dade County tying for 2nd at 71. Nathan Mallonee of Oglethorpe County was next at 73.
2A girls (at Hawks Point, Vidalia): Vidalia was the lone host team to win a state title, posting a 150 total to finish ahead of GAC (159) and Wesleyan (162). Vidalia’s Katie Dalton was medalist at 71, with teammate Layne Carter 3rd at 79. Bailey Tardy of GAC was 2nd at 75.
1A boys Private (at Savannah Quarters): James Clark shot 69 to take 1st individually and also lead Brookstone of Columbus to the team title. Brookstone shot 297, followed by First Presbyterian (313), Mt. Pisgah (317), Mt. Paran (322) and Aquinas (323). Parker Derby shot 74 to tie for 4th for Brookstone.
Thomas Hodges of George Walton Academy was 2nd at 71, with Kyle Mueller of Athens Academy 3rd at 72. Scotty Hoffman of Mt. Pisgah also tied for 4th at 73.
1A girls Private (at Crosswinds, Savannah): Darlington shot 171 to edge Athens Academy by one. Brookstone, Galloway and Landmark Christian tied for 3rd at 177. Jordan Daniel of Landmark Christian and Amanda Doherty of Galloway both shot 78, with Daniel earning medalist honors in a playoff.
Hannah Mae Deems led Darlington, shooting 81 to tie for 3rd with Anna Buchanan of Athens Academy.
1A boys Public (at Double Oaks, Commerce): Gordon Lee shot 333 to finish ahead of Lincoln County (344) and Commerce (349), Lanier Guest was low for Gordon Lee with an 81, placing 5th, with teammate Devin Edwards tying for 6th at 82.
John Rollins of Trion was medalist at 71, with Harrison Mohr of Lincoln County 2nd at 72 and Tyler Shamblin of Seminole County 3rd at 73.
1A girls (at Highland Walk, Royston): In the most competitive of all 14 events, Schley County shot 201 to edge out Trion (203), Gordon Lee (204) and Towns County (204). Schley’s Jordan Booker was medalist at 91, followed by Stephanie Potter of Towns County and Ashley McDonald of Gordon Lee at 97.
Alcala Among HJGT Winners
The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour played events last month at Canongate GC and Bartram Trail in Evans. Among the winners was Carlos Alcala of Douglasville, who shot 69-70—139 to take 1st by seven strokes in the boys 15-18 division at Canongate GC.
John Milanowski of Peachtree City shot 69-69—138 to win the 11-14 age group by seven strokes over Jake Bayer of Lawrenceville. Austin Fulton of Villa Rica was 3rd at 147. Michael Sheahan of Marietta was 2nd in the 15-18 division at 146, followed by Henry Gee of Hiram at 150 and Spencer Haigwood of Roswell at 151.
Ivy Shepherd of Peachtree City was the girls 11-14 winner at 155, with Jayla McRae of McDonough 2nd at 167. Courtney Lowery of Greenville placed 2nd in girls 15-18 at 156, one shot behind the winner. Sarah Harrison of Martinez was 3rd at 159.
At Bartram Trail, Hunter Dunagan of Martinez shot 71-73—144 to take 1st in boys 15-18, two ahead of Augusta’s Jason Murphy. Jared O’Kelley of Canton and Harrison Stafford of Savannah tied for 4th at 147. Alex Markham of Dacula was 2nd in the 11-14 age group at 154, with Andrew Chung of Grovetown 3rd at 157. Harrison placed 2nd in girls 15-18 at 166, two behind the winner.
In a Hurricane Tour event in Bluffton, S.C., Zach Zediker of Gray shot 73-70—143 to win boys 15-18 by three. James Wohlers of Savannah shot 69-76—145 to take 2nd in 11-14, one behind the winner.
Katelyn Skiffen of Chatsworth was the girls 11-14 winner in a Hurricane Tour tournament in Sevierville, Tenn. JonErik Alford of Roswell was 2nd in boys 11-14 and Davis Kirk took 3rd.
GPGA Junior Tour Visits Stone Mountain
After taking May off, the Georgia PGA Junior Tour returns to action this month with an event at Stone Mountain GC June 26-27.
The GPGA Junior Tour has a busy July schedule with a 36-hole tournament at the University of Georgia course July 8-9 and one day Summer Series events at TPC Sugarloaf (July 11), Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek (July 16) and East Lake GC (July 23).
Governors Towne Club and Callaway Gardens will host Georgia PGA Junior Tour events in August.