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Strydom Leads Crowded Group After 6-under 66 at Bluebonnet Championship
BROWNWOOD, Texas – Kingwood’s Damin Strydom sits atop a very crowded leaderboard after Saturday’s first round at the Bluebonnet Championship. His 6-under-par 66 leads a pack of 18 other players that are within five shots of his lead.
In the Boys 14 & Under division, Austin’s Evan Vo carded an even-par 72 to lead by one stroke at Brownwood Country Club. In the Girls 12-18 division, there is a three-way tie for first. Bentley Cotton, Jackie Barry, and Elina Sinz all carded 3-under 69s heading into Sunday’s final round.
On a day with very minimal wind at a course that is usually windy, conditions were ideal for low scores. Brownwood Country Club yielded 19 rounds under par in the Boys 15-18 division. Strydom’s 66 included eight birdies against two bogeys. On a course where scoring low on the par-5’s is key, Strydom went 4-under on the day.
Strydom’s 66 only leads by one shot over Arlington’s Caleb Hicks. Hicks birdied the opening hole, a 391-yard par-4, and never looked back. He was 4-under through seven holes before he cooled off, then had two bogeys in a row on the 13th and 14th holes. He righted the ship and carded birdies on three of his final four holes to get to 5-under 67.
Nathan Petronzio, Andre Jacobs, Luke Dossey, Tucker Allen, Matthew Reidel, and Tommy Boone are all tied for third place after carding 4-under 68s. Jun Min Lee and Brian Boles are tied for ninth place after 3-under 69s, three shots back of Strydom.
Austin’s Vo, winner of the 2016 Texas State Junior Championship in the Boys 14 & Under division, had a very consistent day, carding 16 pars, a birdie and a bogey. He bogeyed the difficult par-3 13th hole, before making a birdie on the final hole, the 542-yard par-5.
Vo heads into Sunday’s final round with a one-shot lead over Shaheen Momin, winner of this year’s Jimmy Demaret Junior Classic and Dallas’ Jack Watson. Momin had a bogey on the first hole, but made up for it on the short par-4, fifth hole. He had one more birdie on the difficult par-4, 11th. Watson carded back- to-back birdies on the final two holes to get back to 1-over-par
73 for the day.
Matthew Comegys, Andrew Spaulding, and Minas Manias, are tied for fourth place heading into Sunday at Brownwood Country Club. Sebastian Moss is alone in seventh place.
In the Girls 12-18 division, Cotton, Barry and Sinz found different ways to each shoot their respective 69. Cotton carded five
birdies against two bogeys. Barry, had a bogey-free round, making birdie on her two of three holes and then the final hole. Sinz started out red-hot, carding birdies on four of her first eight holes.
The trio leads by one shot over defending champion Sara Camarena. She started out hot, making three birdies in her first five holes. She carded four more birdies in her round to finish at 2-under 70. Libby Winans and Macy fox are tied for fifth place after each shooting 1-under 71.
Following the conclusion of the first round, the Legends Junior Tour hosted a social activity for all the players and families. Players participated in the Great Golf Ball Race where teams of four competed to see who could play two holes the fastest. The team of Dallas Hankamer, Nathan Petronzio, James Perry and Jake Holbrook won with a total time of one minute, 20 seconds.
Sunday’s final round for the Bluebonnet Championship are scheduled to begin at 7:30 AM off the first tee. For more information on the event or the Legends Junior Tour, please visit www.TLJT.org.
For first round results, click here.
