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Clark, Nguyen, O’Rear Lead Divisions at Flodder Financial Shootout

Briefly: Christian Clark of Dallas carded seven birdies on the day en route to a 6-under 66 in the opening round of the Flodder Financial Shootout to lead the Boys 15-18 Division by one stroke. Katy’s Lauren Nguyen leads the Girls 12-18 Division after a round of 4-under 68, while Rhett O’Rear of Plano leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by two shots at the Club at Falcon Point.

Leaderboard:

Boys 15-18 Division

1.Christian Clark, Dallas – 66
2. Ben Gregg, Mt. Dallas – 67
T3. Rohit Madireddi, Flower Mound – 69
T3. Kaelen Dulany, Keller – 69
T3. Jack Gilbert, Houston – 69

Girls 12-18

1.Lauren Nguyen, Katy – 68
2. Maelynn Kim, Katy – 69
T3. Bentley Cotton, Austin – 71
T3. Mimi Burton, Austin – 71
5. Natalie Cao, Sugar Land – 72

Boys 14 & Under

1.Rhett O’Rear, Plano – 72
2. Bowen Ballis, Shenandoah – 74
3. Braidy Bains, Montgomery – 75
T4. Austin Hofferkamp, The Woodlands – 77
T4. Finn Burkholder, The Woodlands – 77

In Contention: Ben Gregg of Dallas trails Clark in the Boys 15-18 Division by one after carding seven birdies on the day to post a round of 5-under 67. Rohit Madireddi of Flower Mound, Keller’s Kaelen Dulany, and Houston’s Jack Gilbert all sit three shots back and are tied for third at 3-under 69. Katy’s Maelynn Kim is one stroke behind Nguyen in the Girls 12-18 Division. Austin’s Bentley Cotton and Mimi Burton are tied at 1-under par for third, while Natalie Cao is in fifth after an even-par round of 72. Bowen Ballis of Shenandoah shot 2-over 74 in the first round and trails O’Rear by two in the Boys 14 & Under Division. Brady Bains of Montgomery is alone in third place at 3-over par, while The Woodlands’ Austin Hofferkamp and Finn Burkholder are tied for fourth at 5-over par.

Golf Course: The Club at Falcon Point is hosting the Flodder Financial Shootout for the third year in a row. The duo of Bruce Devlin and Robert von Hagge designed the par-72 layout, which features 18 holes that tests the full bag of each golfer.

Weather: The first round consisted of partly cloudy skies and a light breeze. The temperature climbed up towards 92 degrees in the early afternoon.

Tournament Format: The Flodder Financial Shootout is a 36-hole stroke-play event for players ages 12-19 that have an active membership with the Texas Junior Golf Alliance. The event is divided into three divisions: Boys 15-18, Boys 14 & Under and Girls 12-18.

Tournament History: This is the eighth year of the Flodder Financial Shootout, but the list of past champions is one of the strongest on the Legends Junior Tour. Walker Lee and Cole Hammer are past champions of this event and have both gone on to qualify for and compete in a U.S. Open Championship. Other past champions include Travis Vick, Isha and Ashni Druva, Scott Roden, Michael Perras, Garrett Martin, Macy Fox, Treed Huang, and Elina Sinz.

Tournament Exemptions: All players that finish in the top half of each division will earn points towards the LJT Player of the Year Standings. The event is ranked by Junior Golf Scoreboard and Golfweek and AJGA Stars will be handed out as well.

Next Up: The final round of the Flodder Financial Shootout is scheduled to start at 7:30 am off the No. 1 tee on Tuesday, June 16. Following play, the top finishers of each division will be awarded trophies with the winners earning Flodder Financial Shootout custom-made belt buckles.

For more information on the Flodder Financial Shootout, click here. To see all the scores from Monday, click here.