Around the Green

Grider and Sinz Win at Collegiate Preview

WACO, Texas – Lewisville’s Ryan Grider shoots 2-under 68 in the Final Round to win the Boys Division of the 2017 Collegiate Preview. Katy’s Elina Sinz won the Girls Division by three strokes at Ridgewood Country Club.

The Collegiate Preview is for players 14 & older and designed to get players acclimated with the collegiate format of play. Competitors played 36 continuous holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday to determine the 54-hole winners.

Grider, who is a three-time winner of this event, played magnificently on Tuesday, making five birdies in his first ten holes and then cruising to a three-stroke victory. The winner of the inaugural Collegiate Preview, which was held at Ridgewood CC in 2014, started the day with back-to-back birdies on holes one and two and added a third on the par-3 fifth. Another set of back-to-back birdies on holes nine and 10, which are the course’s two par 5s, set Grider up for his third win in four years at this event.

Granbury’s Tucker Allen was the 36-hole leader and finished tied for second with San Angelo’s Jansen Smith. Allen posted rounds of 71-70-72 to finish at 3-over 213. He made three birdies in his final round, including the short par-4 11^th, which played as the fifth toughest hole on the day. Smith made two birdies on Tuesday to go with two bogeys for his even-par 70. The lefty birdied two of the courses four par 3s, No. 3 and No. 16.

John Keefer of San Antonio finished fourth in the event at 6-over 216, while Jun Min Lee of Mission finished fifth at 7-over 217 overall. William Moll and Garrison Smith tied for sixth, while Turner Hosch finished eighth and Dawson Lewis and Kyle Robinson finished tied for ninth in the Boys Division.

Sinz’s 75 was the lowest round in the Girls Division for all three rounds. The Katy-native posted rounds of 77-81-75 to get to 233 overall and three strokes ahead of the field. Sinz birdied the difficult par-5 10^th on Tuesday, which is an uphill hole with an elevated green.

Isha Dhruva, also of Katy, finished second in the Girls Division at 236 overall. Dhruva shot 83 in the final round to get to 236 overall. Austin’s Young Shin Kim finished tied for third with Carrollton’s Serena Shah at 241 overall, while Madelyn Jones rounded out the top five.

Ridgewood Country Club hosted the Collegiate Preview for the second time in the tournament’s four-year history. After spending the last two years at Hurricane Creek Country Club, the event was brought back to Ridgewood CC. Ralph Plummer designed Ridgewood CC, which is a par-70 layout and was opened in 1947 and features some of the best greens in the state.

The top finishers in this event earned points towards the LJT Player of the Year Awards as well as to their respective Jackie Burke Cup Teams. AJGA Stars were up for grabs as well as exemptions into LJT Invitationals such as the Byron Nelson Junior Championship, the Texas State Junior Championship, the Texas Girls’ Invitational and the Texas Cup Invitational.

For more information about the Collegiate Preview, click here. To see all the scores from this week’s tournament, click here.