Round 3 Recap

Aoki holds on to win 2nd event of the season

Elisa Aoki of JAPAN (2009) fired an opening round of 1 under par 69 on Saturday to lead all scores in the Girls division.  Miss Aoki, a 5th year player and former FCWT All-American, was well on her way to All-American status again, having won already this season at the PGA National event where she fired a final round of 67.  She didn't repeat her Sunday Low Round performance here at ASU, but she did earn her 2nd win of the season.  On Sunday, Miss Aoki carded a final round of 72 (which used to be par on this course), but is now +2.  In any case it was enough to win by 2 strokes over

Ashley McKenney of Scottsdale, AZ (2008) who won on this course in November, when it was a par 72!  Miss McKenney, who led this division in birdies with 6, also carded a final round of 72 to move from 4th place to 2nd.

Paige Spirinac of Monument, CO (2011), who won at Castle Pines and had two other Top 3s this season, including a 2nd place finish on this course in October at the Sun Devil, finished T4th with

Tessa The of Los Altos, CA (2011) who won last month at Coyote Creek.  Miss Spirinac also led this division in pars with 27.

The Low Round of the day went to

Dottie Ardina of the PHILIPPINES (2012), who began the day 5 strokes back at 74.  Miss Ardina, won at Eagle Creek last month, carded a final round of even par 70 to finish in 3rd place.

Same Course, Different Verse:  not a problem for Kim, who fires a bogey-free final round of 66

The FCWT Sun Devil Classic was held on the ASU Golf Course on November 3-4, 2007.  A little more than a month later, some of the competitors returned to play the course again for the ASU Open - only the course was a bit different.  In November the par was 72, in December it was a par 70.  Needless to say some made the adjustment better than others, but golf is definitely a game of adjustment due to the uncontrollable variables, though this one is unusual for certain.

One player that seemed to make the adjustment effortlessly was Chun Ji Kim of Chandler, AZ (2010) who fired a bogey-free round of 4 under par 66 on Sunday to win his first FCWT event!  Kim, who began the day in a three-way tie for second place, led this division in pars with 27 for the weekend.  Kim, who finished T8 at the Mission Hills Open, has now earned an exemption to the National Championship in May.

Mike Basco of Scottsdale, AZ (2009) finished in 2nd place with a final round of even par 70, matched only by Cameron Rappleye of Elk Grove, CA (2008), one of the 4 Team USA members.  Basco, who led this division in birdies for the weekend with 7, has shown tremendous consistency with a scoring average this season of 74.57 and has now taken his place near the top of an FCWT leaderboard.

Overnight leader Roberto Francioni of SWITZERLAND (2008) finished in 3rd place with a final round of 76.  This is Roberto's third top 5 of the season.  H.J. Roberts of Albuquerque, NM (2008) started the final round in 7th place, 5 shots back of Francioni, but finished tied for 4th at 145 with Cameron Rappleye.  Three players finished tied for 6th at 147:  Richard Lamb of South Bend, IN (2009), who earned his third Top 10 of the season; Team Canada's top player Kody Fawcett of Selkirk (2008) who moved up from 8th place and

Christopher Walker of The Woodlands, TX (2008), a 6th year player, who won this event last year and for the second year in a row helped to lead Team USA to victory.

 Maxwell Scodro of Chicago, IL (2008), who was also part of Team USA, finished T9 with Colton Knedler of Honolulu, HI (2009), playing in his first event of the season;  Grant Rappleye of Elk Grove, CA (2008), also representing Team USA and Petur Petursson of University Park, FL (2009), earning his 3rd top 10 finish of the season.

In the Boys 13-15 division,

David Lowe of Paradise Valley, AZ (2011) and

Nicholas Torrance of East Lyme, CT (2010) battled it out with Lowe winning by one stroke on Sunday.  After Saturday's opening round the two were co-leading at 70.  Torrance led this division in birdies on Saturday with 2, while Lowe led in pars with 16.  On Sunday the two played with Chad Merzbacher of Dublin, OH (2012) and things stayed close all day until Torrance made a bogey on the 8th hole (his 17th hole of the day).   Lowe approached the 9th tee with a two stroke lead only to find himself putting for a bogey on the green.  Making his bogey 5 on number 9 prevented a playoff and gave him his first FCWT win in three seasons of play; it also gave him Low Round honors.

Chad Merzbacher of Dublin, OH (2012) who had two top 3s already this season finished tied for 3rd with 

Parker Middleton of Phoenix, AZ (2010), who finished 2nd on this course in the Sun Devil in October.  Middleton began the day in 4th place, but carded a final round of 72 to catch Chad.

Boys 11-12 division

Due to illness and injury, the Boys 11-12 division was reduced to 2 players, but they enjoyed the event nonetheless.  On Saturday the two finished their rounds tied at 80.  On Sunday,

eleven year old Daniel Jaramillo of Medellin, COLOMBIA (2014) improved his round score by 3 strokes, carding a 77 that allowed him to earn his second win of the season.

Twelve year old Christopher Petefish of Danville, CA (2014), who won on this course in early November at the Sun Devil Classic and then went on to win Coyote Creek last month as well, finished in 2nd place, just 3 strokes back.