Round 1 Recap

Seventeen year old Ryan Thornton from Chattanooga, TN (2008) fired an opening round of 3 under par 69 at the Sun Devil Classic.  Thornton went into his last hole (# 9) at 5 under par, then made a double bogey to finish at 3 under.  He will look to leave that on the golf course as he heads into Sunday's final round.  He has a 2 stroke advantage over

Brandon Jaffe of Scottsdale, AZ (2009), who is playing in his first FCWT event and

Cole Pickavance of San Ramon, CA (2009).  Pickavance, a 4th year FCWT player, was named an All-American last year after winning the Teal Bend event at the 13-15 division.  Jaffe was one of only 3 players to make an eagle in this division on Saturday.  Six players are tied for 4th at even par:  Tad Murray of La Quinta, CA (2010), whose older brother is a past champion of this event;  Alec Pakzad of Bellevue, WA (2009), a 2006-07 FCWT All-American; Brian Walker of Nipomo, CA (2008), an FCWT newcomer;  Grant Rappleye of Elk Grove, CA (2008);  Jordan Adams of St. George, UT (2008) and Maxwell Scodro of Chicago, IL (2008).  Three players are tied for 10th at 73 and 17 are within 5 strokes of the leader.

Parker Middleton of Phoenix leads the boys 13-15 division by 2 strokes.  Middleton opened with a round of 71 in his first FCWT event.  Brett Patterson of McMinnville, TN (2010) and Andrew Cornella of Colorado Springs, CO (2011) are currently tied for 2nd at 73.  Middleton led this division in birdies with 5, followed by Cornella with 4.  Patterson tied Michael Grinnell of Tiburon (2010) for the most pars with 15 for the first round.  Grinnell is currently tied for 5th at 75.

Ethan Freeman of Littleton, CO (2013) and Christopher Petefish of Danville, CA (2014) are currently tied for the lead at 75 in the Boys 11-12 division.  David Snyder of Austin, TX (2016) is 2 strokes back and will begin in 3rd place.

Ashley McKenney of Scottsdale, AZ (2008) fired a one under par 71 with 6 birdies to lead the girls division of the Sun Devil Classic by 3 strokes.   Miss McKenney, a 5th year FCWT player, will be looking for her first win.  Ashley has consistently been a top finisher, but so far the win has eluded her.  Hopefully she will join her older brother Tim in the distinction of an FCWT Champion's title on Sunday.  Challenging her goal will be 14 year old Paige Spirinac of Monument, CO (2011) who won in October at the Castle Pines event.  Starting in 3rd place will be first year FCWT player Jordan Ontiveros of Alamo, CA (2009).  Her round of 75 puts her 4 strokes back of Miss McKenney.  Two players are tied for 4th at 76:  Jackie Chang of Paradise Valley, AZ (2010) and Shelby Phillips of Gilbert, AZ (2011).  Watch Kelsey Vines of St. George, UT (2009) on Sunday - she can go low!