| After a wash out on Saturday, round one of the Mission Inn Junior Golf Classic was held on Sunday. The 36-hole event was shortened to 18 holes. With temperatures in the 50s the players headed out for what would be an 18 hole shootout. Sixteen year old Lucas Leibel of Richmond Hill, ON, CANADA (2008) earned his first FCWT victory by carding a round of 3 under par 68 and led this division with 6 birdies on the day. Lucas, who previously finished 11th at World Woods and 2nd at Grand Cypress, now has earned an automatic exemption to the National Championship over the Memorial Day weekend. Finishing in second place was Michael Lee of Oklahoma City, OK (2006). This was seventeen year old Lee's best finish of the season after previous finishes of T18 and T35. Lee's round of one under par 70 was the only other sub-par round posted. He tied Ajeetesh Sandhu (T12) for the most pars for the round - both carded 14. Coming in T3 were Robert DeMaio of Weston, FL (2007) and Sean Dale of Jacksonville, FL (2008). For DeMaio, this was his first Top 3 of the season; for Dale it was his fourth, which qualifies him for a nomination to the FCWT All-American team. Timothy Pawul of East Setauket, NY (2007) had his best finish of the season as well, tying for 5th place at +3 (74) with Alexander Sitompul of Bradenton, FL (2008), Bradley Freed of Weston, FL (2007), and Ian Gilley of Howey-in-the-Hills, FL (2007). Aaron Sherry of Fort Myers, FL (2008), Charlie Grace of Windermere, FL (2007) and Jordan Elsen of Kenosha, WI (2006) finished T9 at +4 (75). In the boys 13-15 division after 18 holes, Jack Schroeder of Naples, FL (2008) and Tom Xue of Bradenton, FL (2009) were all tied at 78. Xue, whose previous best finish was 10th, won in a playoff to earn his first FCWT title. Xue tied with ZeYu He of Shen Zhen, CHINA (2009) , who finished 3rd, and Jerome Rappel (T5) for most pars on the day - each carded 11. Schroeder earned his third Top 5 of the season. Michael Tang of Windermere, FL (2008) earned his second 4th place finish of the season while Kevin Benstead of Boxford, MA (2008), Taylor Emmons of Bradenton, FL (2009) and Jerome Rappel of Palm Beach Gardens, FL (2009) finished T5. In the Girls 13-18 division, Hannah Yun of Bradenton, FL (2010) carded a round of 74 to earn her second win of the season. Thirteen year old Hannah, who previously won at Grand Cypress, finished one stroke ahead of Brianna Seo of KOREA (2007) and Meghna Bal of Wesley Chapel, FL (2006). Hannah and Meghna tied for most pars in this division with 13 each, but Hannah's birdie on 11 is what gave her the victory. Brianna and Meghna each earned their second Top 3 and their third Top 5 of the season. Kendra Little of Bradenton, FL (2007), finished in 4th place and earned her third Top 5 as well. Miss Little previously won at World Woods this season. Finishing in 5th place was seventeen year old Elizabeth Alger of Tequesta, FL (2007), the winner of the Duke event. In the Girls 13 and under division, Cindy Tang of Shenzhen, CHINA (2014), earned her 2nd win of the season, finishing one stroke ahead of Simin Feng of Beijing, CHINA (2013), who got her best finish of the season so far. Finishing in third was Ashley Armstrong of Flossmoor, IL (2011), the winner of the Girls 13 and under at TPC Las Colinas in Dallas. |
