JUSTIN LEONARD/DELOITTE JUNIOR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Northwood Club
Dallas, Texas
June 28 – July 1, 2004
SCHULTZ & LEON SHOCK FIELD WITH 6-UNDER-PAR 65 TO WIN AT NORTHWOOD
Barton & Burlison take Girls Division honors handily
DALLAS – Kevin Schultz of Richardson, Texas, and Trent Leon of Dallas, started the day five shots back, but ended it strolling in with a 6-under-par 65, good enough for a five-stroke win Thursday in the final round of the Justin Leonard/Deloitte Junior Team Championship. In the Girls Division, a pair of 14-year-olds, Lila Barton of Dallas, and Sydney Burlison of Monterrey, Calif., coasted through the final round, shooting a 5-over-par 76 for an nine-stroke win.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Justin Leonard/Deloitte Junior Team Championship was held at Northwood Club in Dallas, the site of the 1952 U.S. Open. The 54-hole event featured 72 players from 11 states and Mexico, including 48 players from Texas.
The players competed in an alternate shot format, under which one player hits a tee shot and the players alternate shots until the ball is holed. The players on each team split the tee shots evenly, assigning one player to the even-numbered holes and the other player to the odd-numbered holes.
Schultz and Leon knew they would have to put together an impressive round to catch last year’s defending champions, Will Osborne of Wichita Falls, Texas, and Charlie Holland of Dallas, who led the eventual champions by five strokes after two rounds. After shooting a 2-under-par 34 on the front nine, Schultz and Leon birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine to take command as Osborne and Holland struggled.
“We needed to get off to a good start and we did,” Schultz said. “We knew we had to bust out and go low with a lot of teams close together and Will and Charlie playing well at the top.”
Schultz and Leon finished with a tournament total of 199, and Osborne and Holland carded a 3-over-par 74 to finish second at 203. The win was the third in an AJGA event for Schultz, 17, but the first for Leon, 18, who said the Justin Leonard/Deloitte Junior Team Championship could be his last AJGA event.
“It would be a good way to end it,” Leon said. “I’ve come close many, many times, and it’s nice to get a win like this.”
Jeff Gerlich and Michael Randle, both of Austin, Texas, shot a 3-under-par 68 for the third-straight day to finish third with a tournament total 204. Christopher Ward of McKinney, Texas, and Jordan Cox of Redwood City, Calif., along with Jon McLean of Weston, Fla., and Tom Miles of Dublin, Ohio, finished in a tie for fourth at 206.
In the Girls Division, Barton and Burlison started their round with a bogey on No. 2 and a double bogey on No. 3, but nabbed birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 to steady the ship and maintain a comfortable lead for the remainder of the day.
“We had kind of a rough start,” Barton said. “We just tried to laugh it off and play our best, and eventually it came together for us.”
“Once we made the turn we figured all we had to do was make pars,” Burlison said. “We just tried to play safe and stay consistent.”
Sisters Sarah and Andrea Zwartynski of Allen, Texas, shot 77 in the final round for a tournament total of 222, and Katy Barrett of Las Vegas, and Brooke Todare of Paradise Valley, Ariz., finished third with a tournament total of 224.
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 has a membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and 30 foreign countries.
Titleist, the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, a supporter of the AJGA since 1983, became an AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.
For more information about the Justin Leonard/Deloitte Junior Team Championship, please contact AJGA National Headquarters at (770) 868-4200.
