Green Takes Two Stroke Lead at Scissortail Junior Championship
Lin, Jennifer Park and Kaitlin Park Tied for Lead at the Golf Club of Oklahoma
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Matthew Green of Lenexa, Kan., took the early lead at the Scissortail Junior Championship by turning in a 3-under-par 69 for the first round. Three are knotted up at 2-over-par 74 in the Girls Division at the Golf Club of Oklahoma, including Kaitlin Park of Tustin Ranch, Calif., Christine Lin of Austin, Texas and Jennifer Park of Carrollton, Texas.
The Scissortail Junior Championship is a 54-hole stroke play tournament conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow, Okla. The tournament field consists of 99 boys and girls ages 12-18 from 15 states and Canada. The Boys Division is playing the par-72 course at 6,928 yards while the Girls Division is playing at 6,037 yards.
Green took a look at the course prior to the first round, saw that it was in great shape and thought he would be able to go out and take advantage of the opportunity. He was able to do just that with six birdies on his scorecard, three on each nine, that earned him a two shot lead in the Boys Division.
“I really didn't miss that much, and if I did, I missed in the right places where I could still make par,” Green said. “It really just all went well.”
Donald Stimble of Shell Knob, Mo., Luke Kwon of Carrollton, Texas, and Taylor White of Dakota Dunes, S.D., are locked up in a tie for second place after shooting a 1-under-par 71. Jared Carver of Weston, Fla., and Parker Ramsey of Lafayette, Calif., are tied for fifth place at 1-over-par 73.
Kaitlin Park was happy with her putting stroke all day and it was capped off with a 44-foot putt for birdie on No. 18.
“It was really up and down, I started out 1-under after the front nine so I was feeling pretty good,” Kaitlin said. “Then I had a double and a triple, but my putting saved me after that.”
Lin hit her approach shot on No. 2 to two feet from the hole—a shot that jumpstarted solid iron play for the rest of the day.
“I did pretty well on the front nine, I lit it up, I shot 2-under,” Lin said. “On the back nine, I struggled a little but I tried to still make par. I think my irons were pretty good on the front and I gave myself a lot of birdie chances. I just tried to hit a lot of greens.”
Despite feeling challenged from the course, Jennifer Park was able to play each side at 1-over-par 37 and grab a share of the early lead.
“It was hard—you can't hit it in the rough, Jennifer said. “You need to know where you want to put your ball.”
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.
The second round tee times will run from 7:45 a.m. — 1:05 p.m. off the first tee at the Golf Club of Oklahoma. For more information about the Scissortail Junior Championship contact tournament headquarters at (918) 279-3568 and ask for AJGA.
