Around the Green

Mierl, Kaur and O’Rear Lead James A. Ragan Memorial

Briefly: Trenton Mierl shoots 3-under 69 in the opening round of the James A. Ragan Memorial at Corpus Christi Country Club and leads the Boys Division by three strokes. Ashleen Kaur leads the Girls Division at 2-over, while Rhett O’Rear leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by two strokes.

Full Leaderboard

Leaders: Austin’s Trenton Mierl made six birdies on the day and was the only player that finished under par. Mierl is seeking his first victory with the LJT in 2021. Houston’s Ashleen Kaur made four birdies in the first round and leads the Girls Division by one stroke. Plano’s Rhett O’Rear leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by two strokes after shooting 2-over 74 on Sunday. O’Rear, who is the reigning Boys 14 & Under Division Player of the Year, made three birdies on the day and seeks his fourth win this season.

In Contention: In the Boys Division Southlake’s Palmer Valdez trails Mierl by three strokes at even-par and is joined in the final group by Austin’s Andrew Tan, who won this event in 2019 and is at 1-over. Levi Keith, Cory Abbott and Braden Baize are tied for fourth at 2-over, while four players are tied for seventh. In the Girls Division Yvonne Chamness trails Kaur by one stroke at 3-over, while four players are tied for third in the division at 5-over. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, Asher Vargas of Spring and Shiv Parmar of Selma are tied for second at 4-over. The duo will join O’Rear in the final group tomorrow as they both chase their first win with the Legends Junior Tour. Abhay Duggal of Spring and Dylan Ma of The Woodlands are tied for fourth at 6-over, while Jaxon Bandelier and Nicholas Logis are tied for sixth at 7-over. 

Course: Corpus Christi Country Club has hosted the James A. Ragan Memorial since 2017. The Club was originally opened in 1909 but a hurricane destroyed the original course in 1919. John Bredemus designed the new layout in 1922 and the club expanded to 18 holes in 1938. Robert Trent Jones Sr. was tasked with a redesign in 1964 and the course reopened January of 1965 and has hosted numerous top-level amateur events along the way. Corpus Christi Country Club features an open layout that works its way through a residential area and maneuver its way across hills and bodies of water. Tall palm trees surround the property and the wind plays a huge factor into each shot for the player.

Tournament Format: The tournament is a 36-hole stroke play event for players ages 12-18 that are members of the Texas Junior Golf Alliance. Players completed 18 holes on Sunday and will play the final 18 holes on Monday.

About James: James Ragan started playing on the LJT in 2008 and recorded three top-25 finishes. The Corpus Christi native won the 2010 Jimmy Demaret Junior Classic and earned a spot in the Jackie Burke Cup Matches. He would go on to win the LJT’s first Sportsmanship Award and the next year the award was named after him. Ragan was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in 2006, which is a rare type of pediatric cancer. He founded “Triumph Over Kid Cancer” which is an organization that has raised more than three million dollars for pediatric cancer research. James passed away in 2014 but TOKC has kept going with the help of the Ragan family.

About TOKC: Founded by James Ragan in 2007, Triumph Over Kid Cancer is dedicated to improving the lives of children with cancer by raising their spirits, raising the public’s awareness and funding research to improve the treatment and survivability of pediatric cancers.

What’s Next: The Final Round of the James A. Ragan Memorial is scheduled tee times to begin at 8:00 am off the No. 1 and 10 tees on Monday, October 11. Pairings for the final round were redrawn according to scores from the first round and can be found by clicking here.

For more information on the James A. Ragan Memorial, click here. To see all the scores from Sunday’s play, click here.