Around the Green

Meissner's 6-under 66 Leads 15th Bluebonnet Championship

BROWNWOOD, Texas – Low scores were plentiful Saturday for the first round of the Bluebonnet Championship, but none lower than McClure Meissner’s red-hot, 6-under-par 66. Cole Sherwood’s 3-under 69 was good enough to lead the Boys 14 & Under division by two shots. Austin’s Sara Camarena carded a 3-under 69 to lead the Girls 12-18 division at Brownwood Country Club.

Known for yielding low numbers, Brownwood Country Club is a player favorite on the Legends Junior Tour schedule. In Saturday’s first round, 40 players shot even par or better. The course, a par-72, is playing 6,266 yards for all boys and 5,733 yards for all girls.

San Antonio’s Meissner, winner of the 2016 James A. Ragan Memorial in February, started out with five straight pars, but back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes got his round going. He birdied the par-5 10^th hole and then eagled the par-5 12^th hole to get to 5-under on his round. He carded one more birdie coming in to cap off his impressive round.

Meissner sits atop the leaderboard, but there are several players within striking distance heading into Sunday’s final round. Dallas’ Andy Lopez sits alone in second place, one shot back, after carding a 5-under-par 67 that included seven birdies.

Christian Fanfelle, Garrett Martin, Trey Bosco, and Holt Miller all carded 4-under 68’s and are tied for third place after the first round. 2015 Boys 15-18 Player of the Year Pierceson Coody, Michael Anthony Rome, and Sixian Guo sit in a tie for seventh, three shots back of Meissner.

In the Boys 14 & Under division, Austin’s Sherwood had a relatively easy front nine, going out in 3-under 32, including a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole. He started his back nine with a bogey, but quickly recovered with a birdie on the next, the difficult par-4 11^th hole. He had a double-bogey on the 16^th hole, but gained confidence going into Sunday, making a birdie on the par-5 finishing hole.

Sherwood leads by two shots over Plano’s Rohan Reddy Aerrabolu. Aerrabolu’s 1-under 71 included a birdie on the opening par-4 first hole. He carded three birdies against two bogeys. Vishnu Sadagopan and Brian Boles sit in a tie for third place, both carding even-par 72’s in their opening round.

In the Girls 12-18 division, Camarena carded three birdies in an early six-hole stretch, including back-to-back birdies on holes three and four that got her off to a great start. She added two birdies against one bogey from there on out to card a stress-free 3-under-par 69.

A crowded leaderboard will be trying to catch Camarena in Sunday’s final round. Austin’s Kaylee Vesely carded a 2-under-par 70 and sits in solo second. Sadie Englemann, also of Austin, and Richardson’s Libby Winans sit one shot back after carding 1-under-par 71’s. Trinity King and Julia Gregg sit in a tie for fifth place, three shots back of Camarena. Three others are tied for seventh place at 1-over 73.

Tee times are scheduled to start at 7:30am off the first tee for Sunday’s final round of the Bluebonnet Championship. For more information on the tournament or the Legends Junior Tour, please visit www.TXGA.org. For first round results, click here.