Around the Green

Stout Maintains Veritex Byron Nelson Junior Championship Lead

DALLAS – Preston Stout, a rising junior from J. J. Pierce High School in Richardson, closed Round 2 on Wednesday at the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship with an eagle on No. 17 and a birdie on No. 18 at Lakewood Country Club. Stout finished with a 2-under-par 69 to extend his overall lead and total score to 7-under 135 for the tournament.  

Stout took off early in the round, carding three birdies to shoot a to 3-under on his front nine. His score soared to 8-under, but Wednesday’s round wasn’t without its battles. On his back nine, Stout stumbled with four bogeys; suddenly he was 1-over par through 16 holes on his second round.

“I had a little trouble reading some of those putts early on the back nine,” Stout said of his early back-nine struggles. “I lost a couple iron shots to the right and couldn’t get up and down.”

Stout fought back, however, and answered with an eagle on 488-yard, par-5 17th hole.

“I hit a really good drive down there and had about 175 yards in,” Stout said. “I hit a cut 7-iron to about 6 feet and made the putt.”

With the momentum coming off 17, Stout then birdied the final hole at Lakewood, a 416-yard rollercoaster of a par 4. Stout said he never gave up and trusted his game.

“I just told myself to stay in it, you’re always in the golf tournament,” Stout said. “There were a lot of holes left to play. I just tried to stay in it and hit some good golf shots coming down the stretch.”

Stout said he plans to get in some more practice later today and then rest for the final round tomorrow.

“I’ll get a good night’s rest and be ready to come to play tomorrow,” Stout said.

That’s a good thing, too, because Keller’s Jase Summy is just two shots back from Stout. Summy fired a 4-under 67 in the second round to climb to 5-under 137 for the tournament.

“Nothing’s really going to change from what I did today,” Summy said regarding his final round game plan. “I just have to play smart and hit more smart shots.”

Sharing third place through two rounds of the 54-hole championship are Ben Gregg from Dallas and Plano’s Matthew Comegys. They both grinded Wednesday to finish at 4-under 138. Gregg shot 1-under 70 in the second round; Comegys came in 3-under 68.

Not far behind and tied for 5th place at 139 are Ben Delarosa from Dallas and Jack Beauchamp of Westlake.

Thirty-five players survived the championship’s 36-hole cut at 4-over 146. They’ll get going for the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship’s final round Thursday at 8 a.m. For more information, including complete scoring, click here.