News and Blogs
Highlighted Players of the Week: May 12-13, 2012
Northeast Tour
(Hershey Pa.) - On Mother's Day weekend, May 12-13, 2012, The International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT) hosted a Major Championship at the "Chocolate Capitol" of the world, Hershey, Pennsylvania. The junior golfers had the pleasure of playing the East Course at Hershey Country Club, which provided a perfect challenge for the Major Championship. With many golfers at the top of their games in Hershey it was tough to chose only two juniors to have the Highlighted Players of the Week honors. The two golfers that earned that title are Rij Patel and Anina Ku.
Rij Patel of Hunt Valley, Md. was the Champion in the Boys 14 & Under Division with rounds of 80 and 71, for a tournament total of 151. This was Patel's third victory during the 2011-2012 season. The reason why this victory so important was that with this win, Patel is at the top of the Merit Point Scoreboard in his division. Patel has been performing like a champion all year with three wins, two second place finishes, one forth, one fifth, and one tenth place finish.
Over the weekend, Patel had four birdies and 19 pars, he was also 1-under-par for the weekend on the par-3's. Patel's round of 71 on Sunday earned him the Clazic Belts Low Final Round Award. Patel has been a pleasure to watch and follow all season and the IJGT is honored to have such a young talented golfer on tour.
In the Girls Division, Anina Ku of Basking Ridge, N.J. was the Highlighted Player of the Week for her division at Hershey Country Club. This victory has given Ku back-to-back victories with the IJGT. With such a talented field in the Girls Division this win for Anina was very impressive. At 11-years-old Anina can compete with any girl in her division. Anina had rounds of 78 and 80 for a tournament total of 158. She had one birdie and 20 pars all weekend, and she was also only 1-over-par on the par-5's for the event. Like Rij, the IJGT is looking forward to Anina having a strong junior golf career with the IJGT and cannot wait to see her performing at our Bridgestone Golf Tournament of Champions on May 26-28, 2012 at Grand Cypress Resort.
Southeast Tour
(Kissimmee, Fla.) – The International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT) hit the road and headed south for The Florida Swing at Falcon’s Fire Golf Club on May 12-13, 2012. With temperatures in the high 80’s and winds gusting up to 20-25 mph, the IJGT saw some impressive scores from the field. A total of 18 players shot par or under-par and the course stats showed the field had a total of 10 eagles, 211 birdies and almost 940 pars throughout the tournament. This week’s Highlighted Players of the Week are Gonzalo Rubio of Garza Garcia, Mexico and Mallory Etcheberry of Wesley Chapel, Florida. Both Rubio and Etcheberry were crowned champion of their respective field and shot some low scores to get the victory.
Gonzalo Rubio won The Florida Swing by firing low scores of 70 and 68 for a 138 total, which beat the field by two strokes. During the first round, Rubio was 2-under-par through 12 holes until he had his lone bogey for the day on No. 13 then finished with another birdie on No. 15. Round 2 had a bit of a rocky start for Rubio by starting with a double-bogey on the 3rd hole, but Rubio bounced back with an eagle on holes 4 and 7 then finished the front nine with a par and birdie for a 33. Rubio started the back nine at 2-under-par through hole number 16 until he bogeyed No. 17 to finish with a 35 and a 68 total.
Mallory Etcheberry, the Girls Division victor, started the tournament with a 78 but came back with a 2-under-par 70 during the final round to make a 4 person playoff for first place. During Etcheberry’s final round, she had an impressive 6 birdies to help her shoot the 70 which was the lowest round of the field. Etcheberry was joined by Sammi
Lee of Winter Park, Fla., Carolin Schart of Vilshofen, Germany and Ana Paula Valdes of Morelia, Mexico during the 6 hole playoff. After the first hole, Schart made a bogey, which ended her playoff chances as the other 3 finished out with a par. The second playoff hole ended the hopes of Valdes as she also made bogey while Lee and Etcheberry finished out with a par. During the 3rd playoff hole, both Etcheberry and Lee hit the green in regulation and finished with pars. On the 4th playoff hole, Lee hit her tee shot in the bunker on the left while Etcheberry drove the ball down the middle of the fairway. Lee had a great shot out of the bunker but it came up about 15 yards short, while Etcheberry hit her approach shot about 15 feet from the flagstick. Lee got up and down while Etcheberry’s putt slide by meaning both girls finished with another par. During the 6th playoff hole, both girls missed the green on their approach shot, making the championship a simple up and down contest. Both girls had good chips, but Etcheberry came out on top with the par.
