Each week, the AJGA honors one boy and one girl at every AJGA tournament who shoot the low final-round score. Below we hear from players at recent events as they recount the defining moment of their round.
Scissortail
Junior Championship
"On the No. 18 tee, I was coming off of a double on No.
16 and a short one on No. 17 for bogey, so things weren't going well, said
Boys Division Champion Donald Stimble of Shell Knob, Mo. I ripped a drive and had a perfect lay
up to six feet away and finished with a birdie putt."
"It was definitely a lot better than the first two
days, said Michael Werenski of South Hadley, Mass., of his 3-under-par 69
round. It helped get my confidence up and led me to a lot of birdies."
"When I came to No. 9 and hit my approach shot to five
feet I thought to myself 'You know, I can do well on this back nine,' said Jordan
Lippetz of Bradenton, Fla., after a 2-under-par 70 that gave her a runner-up
finish. It kind of gave me some momentum going into the back nine."
AJGA
Junior at Wenatchee
"I made a 20-foot slider for birdie on No. 15 and felt
pretty confident for the rest of my round," said David Won of Bothell, Wash.,
who fired a 6-under-par 66 in the final round.
"The highlight of my round was on No. 11 when I hit my
8-iron from 130 feet to about four feet, said Betty Chen of Castro Valley,
Calif., after posting a 2-under-par 70.
"That kept everything going on the back nine for me to shoot 34.
CorseMax / Philadelphia Runner Junior
"It makes it really special because there are so many
great people that have played on the AJGA and it really means to world to me,
said Sam Bernstein of Riverdale, N.Y., who won the Boys Division after a
sudden-death playoff.
"I stuck to my plan and put the ball where I needed
to," said Aurora Kan of Boothwyn, Pa., after claiming the Girls Division
title by 15 strokes. "I didn't
worry about other things."
AJGA Apawamis
Junior
"I played really solid," said Charles Edler of
Fair Haven, N.J., who shot a 2-under-par 70 to finish second. "On No. 14 I
rolled in a 35-footer for birdie and that gave me a real chance to possibly
have the win today. That was definitely a confidence booster for my
round."
"I made a
scary long putt on No. 12," said Juliet Vongphoumy of Providence, R.I.,
who claimed her third straight AJGA title with a win at The Apawamis Club. "I hit a solid shot past the hole.
I had a little more than a 20-foot double breaker down the hill. I just tapped
the ball and thought it was going way by, but it hit the hole and it dropped,
which was big."
AJGA
Houston Junior
It was only the second hole-in-one I have ever had, said
Boys Division Champion Juan Benitez of Puebla, Mexico, after his ace on No. 16
and 6-under-par 66 round. It is a great feeling. It feels better than the
first one because the yardage on this one was much longer.
I putted really well today and that definitely saved me on
a lot of holes, said Tezira Abe of Angleton,
Texas, who posted an even-par 72 to finish in second place. My driver was
working well for me too. I hit it too well on No. 18, right through the
fairway. I was just trying to shoot even par this round, which I did. Im
really happy with my performance, even though a win would have been nice.