May 26th – IJGT Tournament Of Champions - International Junior ...

Second place honors were claimed by Yeung with a tournament total of 207. Rounding out the top three wasRichard Werenski (HH IJGA) of South Hadley, MA with consistent rounds of 72, 68 and 69 respectively.The Boys 13-15 Division’s first round, which was played on the NewCourse, saw three sub-par rounds including a 6-under-par 66 by Frank Szucsof Brookside, NJ and a 5-under par 67 from Wintergarden, FL nativeJonathan Ortiz. During the second-round, the players atop the leaderboardcontinued to play quality golf. Ortiz was able to record a round of 4-underpar 68, while Szucs and George Hirsch of Hilton Head Island, SC stayed inthe hunt with rounds of 73 and 71, respectively. Ortiz’s round gave him a 4-stroke edge heading into Monday’s final-round. Back on the New Course,Charlie Kern was paired in the second to last group and was about to propelhimself up the leaderboard. Kern began his final-round strong with a pair ofbirdies on his first two holes. Maintaining consistency and playing one shotat a time; he proceeded to add 10 more birdies to his bogey-free round.“My goal coming into the event was to place in the top five, so I focused on keeping the ball in play,” Kern said.“Throughout my round I tried to keep my score out of my head, at one point I knew I was nine under and keptmy focus once I got to my next shot.”Kern’s momentum was untouchable as he put together rounds of 72, 74 and 61 respectively to end thetournament at 9-under-par 207 and claim the crown. Ortiz finished the tournament with a 74 for a 7-under-par209 tournament total which was good enough for the second place honors. Hirsch’s even-par final-roundplaced him in the top three at 5-under-par and a score of 211 for the tournament.The Boys 12 and Under Division saw a very competitive weekend, with fivecompetitors finishing within six strokes of each other after the first round.Among those players were Kyle Sterbinsky and Newtown Square, PA residentMichael Davis who recorded first round scores of 2-under-par 70 and 1-underpar71 respectively. After Sunday’s round the two leaders where in a dead heatentering the final-round. Sterbinsky establish a strong start and entered the lastnine holes of the tournament with a one stroke lead on Davis. Both competitorsbattled to the end recording a pair of birdies and two bogeys. Sterbinsky’s birdieon the par 3 No. 17 was the turning point in the round en route to his victory.Davis played an excellent tournament and finished in second place with a 1-overpar217 tournament total. Rounding out the top three was Eric Edwards ofSalisbury, NC shooting 74 consistently all three rounds.In the Girls 15-19 Division, Saturday was electric with three players firing 1-under-par 71 in the opening round.Among the three was Irene Jung of Jacksonville, FL who recorded threebirdies. After nine holes of the second round, the final pairing of ladies foundtrouble on the challenging greens of the North/ South Course. Leaving thedoor open, Meadow was able to take control and make her move. En route tobecome the leader after Sunday’s round, Meadow carded four birdies and atwo-day total of 143 creating a 5 stroke separation from the field. The finalround saw The HH IJGA student take her game to another level as she addedsix more birdies to her tournament stats. Eight strokes back was Jung, whoearned second place honors, followed by Meng-Chu Chen of Beaumont, CAwho took home third place with a three-day-total of 6-over-par 222.“It feels good to win this event with all of my friends and HH IJGA coachesin attendance,” Meadow said. “My putter and wedge were keys to victory thisweekend.”