The day started with a light frost at TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, FL resulting in a one hour delay. Once play began, players were not only challenged by the fierce design of the Pete Dye Championship course, but also had to deal with temperatures that plummeted into the 40's with the wind chill during the day. As the day progressed, the sun broke through, yet windy conditions prevailed. Sixteen year old Hunter Ross of Manakin-Sabot, VA (2007), is out to the first round lead in the TPC Sawgrass girls division on the Valley Course. Hunter, who finished third at Bermuda Run and won at Pine Needles, will have a three stroke advantage over Elisa Aoki and Kate Scarpetta heading into Sunday's final round. Miss Ross, who had 14 pars and 2 birdies on the day finished at 1 over par for her opening round. Miss Aoki already has two top 3 finishes this season with a win at Champions Gate and a 2nd place finish at Naples. Miss Scarpetta, who finished 3rd at Naples, led the girls division in birdies on Saturday with 5. Tied for 4th with rounds of 79 were Courtney Ellenbogen of Blacksburg, VA (2009), who finished 2nd at Bermuda Run in November and Hannah Yun of Bradenton, FL (2010), who won the Grand Cypress event in early December. Fifteen year old Andrew Colvin of Longwood, FL, took the opening round lead in the Boys 13-15 division at the TPC Sawgrass event on the Valley Course. Colvin, carded 3 birdies on his way to a round of 2 over par 74. He leads 14 year old Michael Cromie of Cary, NC, by 2 strokes. Cromie, who has quickly made a name for himself on the FCWT with 2 wins in 2 events, will give the 2004-05 FCWT All-American a run for the title as will those right behind Cromie. Takamasa Ozaki of Chiba, JAPAN, 2009, played one of his best rounds of the season thus far and is tied for third with Tyler McCumber of Ponte Vedra, FL (2009), the winner of the Champions Gate event. Three players are tied for 5th at +7, 5 strokes back of Colvin: 15 year old Mike Smith of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (2008), who won at Amelia Island last week; 14 year old CJ Pellerano of Miami Lakes, FL (2010), who finished T3 at Naples; and 13 year old Cyril Suk of Hewlett, NY (2011), who won at World Woods in November. In the Boys 11-12 division, John Boehme of Jacksonville Beach, FL (2012) and Jay Pinkos of Clifton, VA (2011) are tied for the lead heading into Sunday's final round. Boehme and Pinkos posted opening rounds of 4 over par (76) to lead Marcus Plunkett of St. Augustine, FL (2012) by 2 strokes. Boehme finished 2nd last week at Amelia Island and Pinkos won the season opener at Back Creek. Eleven year old Plunkett is playing in his first FCWT event of the season. Michael Werenski of South Hadley, MA (2012) who won at Amelia will start the final round in 4th place at +9. |
