Around the Green

Lee's 5-under 67 Leads North Texas Classic

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Mission’s Jun Min Lee fired a bogey-free, 5-under-par 67 in Saturday’;s opening round of the North Texas Classic to lead the Boys 15-18 division. Cole Sherwood and Lucas Borrero are tied at 73 to lead the Boys 14 & Under division at Tangle Ridge Golf Club. Serena Shah and Kaylee Vesely lead the girls division at even-par 72 heading into Sunday’s final round.

The second annual North Texas Classic is being held at Tangle Ridge Golf Club in Grand Prairie, Texas for the second consecutive year. The Legends Junior Tour’s last ‘open’ event of the 2016 season, the North Texas Classic provides one of the last chances for players to earn valuable points towards the LJT Player of the Year, which is how players are chosen for the year-end Jackie Burke Cup.

Lee, who played in last year’s Jackie Burke Cup for the first time, started on the par-4 10^th hole. He birdied the short, par-4 11^th, and then had six straight pars before making a birdie on the par-5 18^th hole. He then had three birdies in a six-hole stretch between holes four through eight to get to 5-under for the day. Lee leads by two shots heading into Sunday’s final round.

Hideaway’s Evan White, two shots back of Lee, was 1-over par on his front nine, but turned it around on his back nine. White birdied the difficult par-4 first hole, his 10^th of the day. That got him rolling, making three more birdies on his back side to close at 69. Richardson’s Tommy Boone, McKinney’s Jc Wigglesworth, and Irving’s Forrest Park sit in a tie for third place after 2-uner 70’s, three shots back of Lee.

In the Boys 14 & Under division, Sherwood, currently sitting in fifth place on the LJT Points List, and Borrero, currently in second place, are fighting for that second spot on the South team for the Jackie Burke Cup. They are tied atop the leaderboard with 1-over 73s. Sherwood carded four birdies while Borrero carded three.

Vishnu Sadagopan, the current LJT Points List leader, and Knox Wagoner sit in a tie for third place, just one shot back of the leaders. Prayaag Oruganti, Andrew Spaulding and Stephen Campbell, Jr. sit in a tie for fifth place.

In the Girls 12-18 division, Carrollton’s Shah and Austin’s Vesely hold a slim lead of one shot heading into the final round at Tangle Ridge Golf Club. Shah had seven straight pars before a birdie. She carded one more birdie in her round to get to even-par 72. Vesely needed three birdies against three bogeys for her 72.

Plano’s Malena Barrientos sits in third place, just one shot back after a 1-over 73. She played a very steady round, carding one birdie against two bogeys. Kennedy Pedigo and Brooke Morales sit in a tie for fourth place after the first round.

Tee times for the final round are scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM off the first and 10^th tees Sunday morning. For more information on the Legends Junior Tour or the North Texas Classic, please visit www.TXGA.org.

Full first round results can be found by clicking here.