Fifteen year old Courtney Ellenbogen of Blacksburg, VA (2009) returned to Tanglewood to defend her title. Miss Ellenbogen who won here at Tanglewood in 2005 carded an opening round of 75 (+4) to have a 3 stroke advantage going into Sunday's final round. An overnight low around the freezing mark and a light but cold wind made for a brisk start to Saturday's round but the sun was out and the temperatures warmed into the 50s. On Sunday Miss Ellenbogen will be paired with Whitney Rhodes of Staunton, VA (2010) and Sarah Whitney of Hingham, MA (2007). Miss Rhodes and Miss Whitney are tied for second at +7. Fourteen year old Whitney previously finished T2 at Pine Needles while 16 year old Sarah has two previous second place finishes at Newport National and Duke. In fourth place is Hunter Ross of Manakin-Sabot, VA (2008), who won at both Pine Needles and the TPC Sawgrass event. Miss Ross will start 2 strokes back of Miss Rhodes and Miss Whitney and 5 strokes back of Miss Ellenbogen. In a tie for fifth are two North Carolinians: Abby Bools of Hickory, NC (2008) and Jordan Ridge of Southern Pines, NC (2007). The Tanglewood Junior Golf Invitational got underway with morning lows in the 30s and a light but brisk northwest wind. The temperatures did warm into the 50s under mostly sunny skies. Two juniors will enter the final round as co-leaders of this event. Aaron Eckstein of Salem, VA and Henry Zaytoun III of Raleigh, NC, both opened with rounds of even par 71. Henry was one of three players to card an eagle during Saturday's round - his came on the par 4 11th hole. Eckstein played a perfectly balanced round of even par on both sides of this difficult Championship Course. In a tie for third and one stroke behind the leaders heading into the final round are Will Collins of Salisbury, NC (2007), who also carded an eagle on Saturday and William Miller of Venetia, PA (2007). Collins, who finished 2nd at Pine Needles in December, made his eagle on the par 4, 11th hole. Five players are tied for 5th, including Jay Vandeventer of Bristol, VA (2009), the only underclassman in the Top 10. Joining Vandeventer at +2 73 are: Michael Gunderson of Duxbury, MA (2007), who tied Vandeventer for the most birdies in the opening round with 5 each; Ramsay Quinn of Wilmington, NC (2007); Scott Juhl of Springfield, VA (2007) and Matthew Kennerknecht of Vienna, VA (2007), playing in his first event of the season. Senior Jack Ulrich of Southern Pines, NC will begin the final round in 10th place at +3, 74. Another big group is tied for 11th, but only 4 strokes back of the co-leaders: Sang Chun of Winter Springs, FL (2006); Cody Paladino of Kensington, CT (2007), who won this event last season; William Park of Chapel Hill, NC (2007); Brendan Gielow of Muskegon, WI (2006); Hunter Howell of Raeford, NC (2007), who won the Duke event in November; and Justin Spray of Colorado Springs, CO (2007). Even the players T17 are only 5 strokes back of the co-leaders with room to move up the board: Jonathan Wade of Greensboro, NC (2007), Matthew Neely of Ashland, VA (2007), Zachary Drescher of Landisville, PA (2007), Bryan Harris of Rancho Santa Fe, CA (2007) and Ben Bellville of Granger, IN (2007). In the Boys 13-15 division, Isaac Spencer of Winston-Salem, NC (2009) leads by two strokes over Michael Cromie of Cary, NC (2010) and Bo Andrews of Raleigh, NC (2009). Spencer led this division in birdies with 5. In fourth place is Richard Werenski of South Hadley, MA (2010) at +8 (79). Will Beard of Rolling Green, KY (2008) is in 5th at +9. In the Boys 11-12 division, Michael Werenski of South Hadley, MA (2012) leads by one over Joshua Lee of Orange Park, FL. |
