Hometown Advantage Lifts Carreon to First AJGA Title at Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout Presented by Pepsi
Navarro successfully defends her title in front of friends and family at The Club at Sonterra's South Course

SAN ANTONIO — The saying goes, “Don’t mess with Texas.” Nothing could have been closer to the truth as, for only the second time ever, two hometown players took home the championship at the Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout presented by Pepsi. Andrew Carreon of San Antonio shot a tournament total 4-under-par 209, a four-shot advantage over the rest of his competition. In the Girls Division, Marijosse Navarro of San Antonio repeated as champion on her home course with a tournament total 4-over-par 217.

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout presented by Pepsi was a 54-hole stroke play event held at The Club at Sonterra's South Course in San Antonio. The 120-player field featured junior golfers from 6 states, Colombia and Mexico. The Boys Division played the par-71 course at 6,640 yards while the Girls Division played from 5,923 yards.

Carreon may have lead the tournament field through the first two rounds, but the start to his final round was anything but routine. After his first tee shot went out of bounds on No. 1, Carreon found himself in a hole at 3-over-par through four holes. An aggressive game plan, combined with a stretch of birdies on Nos. 5, 6, 8 and 10, were enough to get him back into contention for the championship.

“On No. 5 I sank a 35 foot putt for birdie and just started rolling from there,” Carreon said. “In all I had six birdies and it was enough to get me back to even-par for the day. If you play aggressively on this course, you're going to be able to jump right back into things. There a lot of options out there and it can be very rewarding if you take those chances instead of sitting back on your irons all day long. Sometimes there may be a lot of mistakes playing that style but it can also pay off.”

Carreon, who was playing in his final AJGA tournament, found the moment to be bittersweet.

“I am extremely happy to have won my final AJGA tournament, especially in my hometown,” Carreon said. “It is kind of a bittersweet moment knowing I will never play AJGA again, but I am looking forward to college ball at Notre Dame.”

Dylan McClure of Argyle, Texas, finished the tournament at an even-par 213 to take home second place honors. In third place was Chris Contreras of San Antonio with a 1-over-par 213. Kolton Crawford of Mansfield, Texas, and Curtis Reed of Castroville, Texas, tied for fourth place to round out the Boys Division leaders with scores of 3-over-par 216s.

Navarro, who recently placed third at Rolex Tournament of Champions and is ranked No. 16 in the Polo Junior Golf Rankings, was comforted by the thought of returning to her home course.

“I played well at Rolex Tournament of Champions but the Blessings course is very difficult,” Navarro said. “It was nice to come home and be surrounded by my family for this tournament. I really want to thank my brother and his family for coming all the way from Mexico to watch me play in my final tournament of the year. It was motivating and a big inspiration.”

Navarro, who shot a final round low 1-under-par 70 in the Girls Division, used strong putting to take home her third AJGA tournament championship.

“I was proud of my putting,” Navarro said. “It was good all three rounds and helped me a lot. The greens here allowed me to putt very well. I felt comfortable putting out there.”

Rounding out the Girls Division leaderboard tied in second place with tournament totals of 6-over-par 219 were Kayli Quinton of Cypress, Texas, and Mariana Simms of Austin, Texas.

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 countries. To ensure scholarship opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial assistance to young players in need.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 400 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.

For more information about the Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout presented by Pepsi, please contact National Headquarters at (770) 868-4200.