LESSING'S AJGA CLASSIC
Eisenhower Park Golf Course - White Course
July 11 -14, 2005
LACH'S MOMENTUM NOT PHASED BY RAIN DELAY; LEADS BOYS DIVISION
Grehan surpasses Ellenbogen to lead Girls Division after second round
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Bryant Lach of The Woodlands, Texas, managed a 2-under-par 70 in the second round of the Lessing's AJGA Classic, to lead the Boys Division heading into the final round. Lach stands as the two-day leader after adding to his first-round score of 5-under-par 67. Megan Grehan of Mamaroneck, N.Y., is the Girls Divsion second-round leader after posting a 2-under-par 70.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Lessing's AJGA Classic is being held at the Eisenhower Park Golf Course — White Course. Eighty-four junior golfers from 13 states, including 24 from New York, are competing in the 54-hole stroke play event.
A rain delay ceased play for 3 hours, 49 minutes. After the delay, Lach said he really started to get his game moving in the right direction. Lach, along with all other players, were pulled off the course because of weather in the middle of the second round. Lach's group was on their eighth hole, No. 17, because they started on No. 10. He birdied Nos. 3, 6 and 7 on the front nine.
“I just got off to a slow start; I just bogeyed sixteen,” he said. “I got into more of a groove after the rain delay. I bounced back well.”
Lach said he played the front nine - his last nine holes - great because they fit his game better. He played the front nine at a 2-under-par 34 and was even par on the back nine.
In second place after the second round is Warren West of Chestertown, Md., with a 6-under-par 138. Third, with a second-round score of 69, is Sam DaSilva of Wyckoff, N.J., with a 5-under-par 139. Conor Malloy of Rye, N.Y., finished fourth with a 4-under-par 140. Fifth with a 3-under-par 141 is David Lipsky of La Canada, Calif.
In the Girls Division, Courtney Ellenbogen of Blacksburg, Va., could not hold onto the 1-stroke lead she had after the first round.
Grehan, coming off a second-place finish at the Rolex Tournament of Champions at Hilton Head, S.C., said the highlight of her round was playing her last three holes well. She birdied Nos. 7 and 8 and made par on No. 9 to drop her to a 2-under-par 70. Grehan said the way she hit her driver and irons, compared to the first round, made the difference.
“I started out shaky both days. I hit my driver really bad yesterday, but the fairways started to look a lot wider; they were the size of a rope yesterday,” she said.
Grehan finished with a 2-under-par 142, two strokes ahead of Julie Kim of Bayside, N.Y., who is second in the Girls Division after two rounds with a 2-under-par 70 bringing her to a two-day total of 144. In third place after two rounds is Marlowe Boukis of Lutherville, Md., with a 1-over-par 145.
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, the largest Association of its kind, has a junior 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 the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Mike Weir, Charles Howell III, Jim Furyk, Dottie Pepper, Grace Park, Cristie Kerr and Beth Bauer.
Final-round tee times will run Thursday from 7:30 - 9:27 a.m. off of Nos. 1 and 10.
For more information about the Lessing's AJGA Classic, call tournament headquarters at (678) 227-9191.
|
