2019 Las Vegas City Championship

Las Vegas Municipal Golf Club is always one of our best attended events, this year was no exception.  With a 54-player field, each age division was well represented. The players were greeted at the start of Saturday’s play with clouds, very windy conditions, and threats of rain; thankfully the rain held off, allowing us to complete the round.  Sunday was perfect playing conditions with almost no wind all day. Mother Nature has been all over the place in Las Vegas lately, so were glad to get this event in.

Tyler Smerz, Boys 15-18, said on the first tee he was gunning for a threepeat, but twenty-four other players in his age division had different ideas. Tyler finished day 1 in first place with an even par 72, while ten other players crowded up the leaderboard after firing rounds in the 70’s. Second to Tyler was Hunter Esparza, with a 73, and Parker Reese (from Utah) and Will Moser were tied for third with 75’s.  Simon Kwon, also from Utah shot 76 and was in fourth.  There were numerous players within striking distance as the golfers prepared for round 2. Starting out day two eight shots behind, Nicholas Desrochers was on fire with a 4 under par 32.  He closed to within three heading into the back nine.  Also giving himself a chance was Austin Smith with a 34 on the front nine. Hunter, gunning for his first victory on the tour shot a difficult 39 on the front; however, he was still within striking distance.  Max Cooper had it going on day 2.  After an even par 36 on the front, Max birdied four straight on the back nine, but with a first round 81, he was too far back to close the gap.  Feeling the heat as the leader, Tyler Smerz came through on the back nine with a one under par 35 to close out his third straight victory with rounds of 72-72/144.  Hard charging Nicholas Desrochers (80-70/150) and Simon Kwon(76-74) tied at 150 for the two days.  Simon took second in a scorecard playoff.

Boys 13-14 was captured by Nolan Wilson with rounds of 80-81/161. Wilson was consistent on both days to claim the victory.  Second place was Kyle Guloy with 89-82/171.

Bradley Bourn fired one of his best rounds on the RLJGT on day 2 to get back into the winners’ circle. Bourn opened with an 81 and held a one-shot lead over Jack Cook, and three strokes lead over last event winner, Attila Sharipbeck, with an 84. Bourn left nothing to chance on day two with a strong one under par 71 (80-71/151) to finish seven ahead of Jack Cook 81-77/158. Third went to Attila with rounds of 84-76/160

The Girls 15-18 winner went to Da Jin Choe from Korea with rounds of 70-73/143. Playing some amazingly steady golf over 36 holes, Da Jin had seven birdies on day one! Two times during her round she birdied three in a row, 2-3-4, and 11-12-13. Three bogies and a double kept her from going very low on day one.  With a seven-shot lead after day one, she put it in cruise and shot 73 for a one under par 143 to win by twelve shots.  Coming in second was Bella Gopwani and Natalie Cheong with identical rounds of 80-75/155.  Bella won second place in a scorecard playoff.

Girls 13-14 winner was Samantha Phelan with rounds of 79-83/162.  After day one, Samantha had a 4-shot lead over Cienna Cabrera and Zoe Parker with 83’s.  Samantha was not feeling well as play on day two started.  She persevered and was able to finish with an 83 to take the victory. Three shots back was last year’s Player of the Year Champion, Cienna Cabrera, with rounds of 83-82/165.   Zoe Parker struggled a bit on day two and finished with 83-87/170.  Most improved went to Lauren Pham. After opening with a very uncharacteristic 95, Lauren improved by 22 shots on day two to have the low round in her age group with a 77. Way to come back, Lauren!

In Girls 11-12, Jabeen Han from Korea was victorious with rounds of 76-78/154. Emmerson Hinds, fresh off of a victory at the US Kids Regional Desert Shootout in Phoenix, took second in a scorecard playoff with rounds of 83-81/164.  More impressive is Emmerson is only ten years old! Third went to Si Eun Nam (82-82/164) Congratulations to all our winners and also to all the players in the event.  It’s great to see all the improvement amongst all the players as the tour progresses.

The tour now heads to Royal Links Golf Club, one of our favorite tracks in Las Vegas.  Modeled after iconic holes from some of the most famous British Open courses, this is a true test of golf for all the players.  It’s scheduled for April 15-16, while the juniors are on spring break.  See you soon!

View all the photos from the event.

Get all the results from the Las Vegas City Championship.

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By admin / Administrator on Mar 06, 2019