After a mild winter, Mother Nature was not too kind to the players for the RecruitLook Boulder City Junior Championship. There were 40 junior golfers competing for a championship trophy and automatic bid to the AJGA Qualifying event, and any golfer that secured a victory most certainly earned it with the undesirable weather conditions over the weekend.
Where have RLJGT golfers gone to college?
Day one was as difficult playing as any event we have had in quite some time. With wind-gusts up to twenty-five mph and extremely cold conditions, Boulder City Municipal for two days beat up the players. Undaunted, the kids persevered, did their best and along the way, we had some special moments out on the course. The shot of the day goes to Victoria Estrada; she slammed dunked her second shot from the fairway for an eagle on the par 4 second hole. Honorable mention goes to Samantha Phelan – she ran home an eagle on the par 5, fifth hole by getting to the green in two and sinking her eagle putt.
The Boys 15-18 winner was Jake Johnson with rounds of 85-81/166. This puts Johnson alone atop the Points Leaderboard after two events. Second went to Xavier De La Rosa in a scorecard playoff with Tyler Pham, both finished with two-day totals of 172. Both De La Rosa and Pham bounced back after finishing outside the top 8 in the first event of the year. We expect both players to continue to compete for trophies.
Daichi Molde, Boys 13-14, playing his first event with us, was slow to start but he finished strong. He opened with a 93, seven shots behind first round leader Preston Heward from St George, UT. Molde started his second round with a bogey to Preston’s birdie, to fall nine shots back. Then, something clicked, and Daichi playing steady golf the rest of the day — finished with a 78 to Preston’s 92 to take home the hardware.
Wade Arcella, Boys 11-12 won with rounds of 103-95/198, and is now tied for first place in the Player of the Year point’s race with Bradley Bourn.
We had to shorten the Boys 9-10 to 16 holes due to darkness. In our closest event of the weekend, Eli Marshall squeezed a one-shot victory over Alex Lac 73 to 74. Eli made the turn with a one-shot lead, and the boys played shot for shot on the back nine, each scoring 31 over seven holes. Marshall takes control of the overall points leaderboard with this victory.
With our best field ever for the Girls 13-14 and 15-18, these ladies showed why Las Vegas Valley has some of the best female players in quite some time. Victoria Estrada, playing some of her best golf in the most difficult of playing conditions, scored an impressive 76-75/151 to finish six shots ahead of Gabby DeNunzio (D1 Weber State University commit) 77-80/157. Third went to newcomer Hailey Stevenson, with rounds of 80-81/161. Victoria’s impressive win now put her into 1st on the overall points leaderboard with 550 points. After winning event 1 in 2018, McKenzi Hall finished in 4th at Boulder City, dropping her to second in the points race.
Will Joanne Lee be the next RLJGT girl to start a long winning streak? Can she challenge Yana Wilson’s record of 11 tournament wins in a row? Time will tell, but Joanne Lee is now two for two with her consecutive victories to start this season. The girls 13-14, playing the same distance as the 15-18 girls showed they can compete with them. Joanne scored 78-79/157 to finish four ahead of Kirstin Angosta 81-80/161. Third went to Lilly DeNunzio, Gabby’s sister with 87-85/172. All in all, a very impressive showing by these ladies. We look forward to the battles in this age division in the events to come.
The girls 11-12 was shortened to seventeen holes due to darkness. Winner was Lauren Wong with rounds of 89-77/166. Dakota Tallent came in second with rounds of 91-88/179. Third went to Lumina Lu 103-85/190. With her third-place finish, Lumina is currently leading the girls 11-12 with 400 points.
The girls 9-10 was shortened to 16 holes due to darkness. Samantha Harris, girls 9-10, took top honors with an 86 to runner up Emmerson Hinds 89. Third went to Rivers Abigail Common with a 93. With her three-shot victory, Samantha leads the Player of the Year race with 450 points.
Congratulations to all our winners and players on a great showing.
Our next event is April 28-29 at The Club at Sunrise. This will be the final opportunity for junior golfers to receive automatic bids to our AJGA Qualifying event. Register now.
Get all the pics from the Boulder City Junior Golf Championship
