Ghim Wins Junior All-Star at The Rail With Birdie on No. 18
Clark Tops Girls Division in a Sudden-Death Playoff at The Rail Golf Course

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Ill., took home the Boys Division title at the Junior All-Star at The Rail Thursday, posting a 4-under-par 68 during the final round and notching a three-day total of 12-under-par 204. Aliea Clark of Carlsbad, Calif., beat out Katie Sharp of Kendalville, Ind., in a sudden-death playoff to win the Girls Division at 4-over-par 220.

The Junior All-Star at The Rail is one of 10 events in the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series. Specifically designed for boys and girls ages 12-15, the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series presents opportunities for younger members to develop their skills and earn entry into AJGA Open tournaments. The Series concludes with the Montverde Academy Junior All-Star Invitational over Columbus Day weekend for winners and top finishers in Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series events.

The Junior All-Star at The Rail was a 54-hole stroke play tournament conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at The Rail Golf Course in Springfield, Ill. The tournament field consisted of 123 boys and girls ages 12-15 from 27 states, Canada and Colombia. The Boys Division played the par-72 course at 6,533 yards while the Girls Division played at 5,809 yards.

Ghim started the day off right, with a birdie on the first hole and a 3-under-par 33 on his first nine. Ghim was not able to pull away though; he entered the final hole one stroke behind Adam Wood of Zionsville, Ind. After Wood hit over the green on his second shot, Ghim nailed his approach shot to 20 feet. Wood took two more shots to reach the green, allowing Ghim the chance to win the event by making a long birdie putt, a putt that Ghim sunk without hesitation.

“I just had to read it and trust it and put a good stroke on it and it will probably go in, and it did,” Ghim said.

Wood ended the day with a 3-under-par 69, finishing one stroke out of the lead with a three-round score of 205, while Davis Riley of Hattiesburg, Miss., finished at 8-under-par 208. Donald Stimble of Shell Knob, Mo., and C.J. Wagner of Clermont, Fla., rounded out the top five with totals of 210 and 211, respectively.

In the Girls Division, Clark entered Thursday's final round eight strokes behind the leader. After making pars on her first nine holes, Clark made her first birdie of the round on No. 11. Though it may have been coincidence, it was the same hole that Clark's Junior-Am teammate, Doug Schuster, started to follow her group. The 2014 graduate finished 2-under-par on the back nine and won with a par on the first hole of the playoff.

It's my first AJGA win—it's my first AJGA top-five finish. So I was surprised, and the last putt on the playoff, which was long and uphill, just kind of finished it off for me.

Sharp finished with a bogey in the playoff and a three-round total of 220, while Cassie Wang of Lenexa, Kan., finished third at 5-over-par 221.

GARY GILCHRIST GOLF ACADEMY, a full-time signature golf instruction program with campuses located in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., and in Arroyo Grande, Calif., began as an Official Partner of the AJGA in 2009. The partnership features an endowment of an Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant and the naming rights to the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series, which provides juniors ages 12-15 access to national competitive golf opportunities.

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 Junior All-Star at The Rail, contact AJGA National Headquarters (770) 868-4200 or visit the AJGA website at ajga.org.

#AJGA#