Around the Green

Jones wins seventh Texas Girls' Invitational

MONTGOMERY, Texas – Dallas’ Hailey Jones has won several Legends Junior Tour events since playing in her first LJT event three years ago right here at the Texas Girls’ Invitational. She captured that one event that she hadn’t added to her resume Sunday afternoon at Bentwater Yacht & Country Club.

The reigning LJT Girls Player of the year fired a 3-under-par 69 final round to finally win her first Texas Girls’ Invitational. Her five-shot victory was impressive, but she’s just happy to get her name added to the ‘Nez Muhleman Trophy.

“Ever since I played this event in 2013, my first Legends Junior Tour event, I knew I wanted to win this championship,” Jones said. “There are a lot of good players that have won this event so it means a lot to have my name alongside those others.”

Conducted by the Legends Junior Tour, The Texas Girls’ Invitational was held on the Weiskopf Course at Bentwater Yacht & Country Club for the fourth time. Bentwater has hosted the championship for five consecutive years. The 2015 Girls’ Invite was hosted on the Miller Course while the Weiskopf course was being renovated.

The 72-player international field played the newly renovated Weiskopf course at 6,083 yards. Sunday’s final round had mostly overcast skies with approximately 10 minutes of a steady rain. With several holes on the Weiskopf’s back nine wrapping around beautiful Lake Conroe, the inward nine played nearly a half-shot more difficult than the outward nine.

Jones, 16, started off her round red hot. She birdied her first two holes, a difficult par-4 opening hole and the 474-yard, par-5 second hole.

“I just wanted to stay aggressive,” Jones said. “After making those birdies, I knew I was one ahead, so I just wanted to continue to attack.”

Attack she did. She birdied the short, 313-yard par-4 fifth hole to get to 3-under on the day and for the tournament. She was three ahead of first-round leader Libby Winans after her third birdie, and then played her remaining 13 holes even-par.

After a first round, 1-under 71, Winans carded a 3-over 75 and finished in a tie for second with Kennedy Swann and Sadie Englemann, both from Austin. Swann fired the low round of the tournament Sunday afternoon with a 4-under 68 to finish at 2-over 146 for the tournament. Englemann shot a 1-under 71 to jump up to a tie for second place.

2015 Texas Girls Invitational Champion Anne Chen and Julia Gregg finished in a tie for fifth place at 4-over 148 for the tournament. Mikayla Bardwell, Gurleen Kaur, and Jensen Jalufka tied for seventh place, eight shots back of Jones.

The Legends Junior Tour will be at Tangle Ridge Golf Club in Grand Prairie October 8-9 for the North Texas Classic, the final ‘Open’ event of the year.

For more information on the seventh annual Texas Girls’ Invitational or the Legends Junior Tour, please visit www.TXGA.org.

​For final results, click here.