Around the Green

Hofferkamp, Ahn, Evans and Lee Lead James A. Ragan Memorial

Briefly: Austin Hofferkamp shot 4-under 68 in the opening round of the James A. Ragan Memorial at Lozano Golf Center and leads the Boys 15-18 Division by one stroke. Lauren Evans and Adrienne Ahn share the lead in the Girls Division at 2-over 74, while Ryan Lee leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by two strokes after an even par round of 72.

Full Leaderboard

Leaders: The Woodland’s Austin Hofferkamp made seven birdies on the day while the afternoon wind picked up and played havoc with the competitors. Hofferkamp finished strong with birdies on holes 15, 16, and 17. He’s looking to improve on his runner-up finish last week at the Fall Challenge. Houston’s Lauren Evans made three birdies in her first round to head into the final round tied with Adrienne Ahn of Dallas. Ahn’s steady round included 14 pars in the windy conditions at Lozano Golf Center. College Station’s Ryan Lee leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by two strokes after shooting even par 72 on Sunday. Lee, who is looking for his first LJT win of the season shot three under par on his final nine to grab the lead.

In Contention: In the Boys 15-18 Division, Fair Oaks Ranch’s Phoenix Guerra sits in second place and trails Hofferkamp by one stroke at 3-under 69. The Hill’s Conner Smith, Richmond’s Eli Walker Campbell, Dallas’ Barret Wisener and Corpus Christi’s Andrew Hill are all in a three-way tie for third at 2-under par 70 and sit only 2 strokes back. In the Girls Division, Leya Glazer of Dallas trails the two leaders by one stroke at 3-over par. Castroville’s Destiny McNeil sits 3 strokes back in fourth. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, Justin Garza of Laguna and Aadi Parmar of Selma are tied for second at 4-over par. The duo will join Lee in the final group tomorrow. Garza will be attempting to win his second LJT event in a row as he won the Fall Challenge last week in Granbury. Houston’s Brandon Wu is in fourth place with a 5-over par 77.

Course: Lozano Golf Center is hosting the James A. Ragan Memorial for the first time. Lozano Golf Center, named after its original owner Gabe Lozano, is home to an 18 Hole, Par 72 Championship Golf Course measuring 7,027 yards from the professional tees, and a 9 Hole, Par 30 Executive Course measuring 1,947 yards. Lozano GC is traditionally known as the most popular among all golf facilities in Corpus Christi and the surrounding areas. The course was built by Leon Howard in 1965 and renovated in 1983 by Finger Dye Spann, Inc. The course features water on most holes. The fairways provide wide landing areas which help when the wind is blowing hard off the Gulf. Recent renovations have drastically improved the overall condition of the golf course and facilities. Lozano Golf Center is owned by the City of Corpus Christi and managed by Foresight Golf.
Weather: The temperatures today in Corpus Christi reached the upper 80’s under sunny skies. The winds started out calm but picked up throughout the day as players were faced with 15 mph sustained winds throughout the afternoon.

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 to begin at 8:00 am off the No. 1 and 10 tees on Monday, October 10th. 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.