Around the Green

Hofferkamp, Mierl, Brown, and Jackson lead at Spring Preview

College Station, Texas – Trenton Mierl and Austin Hofferkamp both fire a 7-under par 64 in the opening round of the Spring Preview to lead the Boys 15-18 Division at The Golf Club at Texas A&M. Shyla Brown leads the Girls 12-18 Division at 4–under par 67, while Henry Jackson leads the Boys 14 & Under Division at 2–under par 69. 

Leaders: Mierl of Austin and Hofferkamp of The Woodlands tied for the best round on Saturday at The Golf Club at Texas A&M. Mierl’s round consisted of seven birdies and zero bogeys, while Hofferkamps scorecard had a little bit of everything. He tallied a total of one eagle, seven birdies, and two bogeys. Dallas’s Brown leads by three strokes in the Girls 12-18 Division after shooting 67 in the first round. Brown had a clean card with no bogeys and 4 birdies, with her last one coming on her final hole of the day, the par 4 ninth.  Jackson of Lantana leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by two strokes after shooting a 2-under par 69. He tallied three birdies and one lone bogey, coming on the par 4 16th. 

In Contention: Andrew Petruzzelli of Dallas sits two strokes behind Mierl and Hofferkamp heading into Sunday’s final round of the Boys 15-18 Division. Rounding out the top 5 include Wimblery’s Jaxon Donaldson and Dallas’s Martin Kemp at 4-under par, three strokes off the lead. Two players are tied for second place in the Girls 15-18 Division. Maelynn Kim and Veronika Exposito will play with Brown in the final ground, sitting three strokes back. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, Ryan (Woojin) Lee and Dylan Knox are tied for second at even par, while there is a three-way tie for fourth place. Declan Dent, Grant Clapp, and Aadi Parmar all sit at one-over par, three strokes off the lead.  

Weather: The morning started off chilly with cloudy skies, temperatures in the 50’s and a brisk wind. As the sun came out, temperatures crept up around 80 degrees in the afternoon with 10 mph winds. 

Host Course: The Golf Club at Texas A&M is hosting the Spring Preview for the second time in the event’s 18-year history. The club took on a $5 million renovation in 2013 and Texas A&M’s own Jeff Blume handled the redesign. The par-71 course is playing at around 6,700 yards in the Boys 15-18 Division, 6,300 yards in the Boys 14 & Under Division and 5,800 yards in the Girls 12-18 Division. 

What’s at Stake: This is the third Open Event on the LJT schedule in 2023 and player of the year points are going to be awarded to the top half of each division. Along with points, the top finishers will get AJGA Stars and exemptions into future LJT Majors like the Bluebonnet Championship, Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship and Texas Junior Amateur. The event is ranked by Junior Golf Scoreboard and Golfweek. 

Next Up:  Pairings for the Final Round of the Spring Preview are available and can be viewed by clicking here. Players will be teeing off of both #1 and #10 tees between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. 

To see all the scores from Saturday’s first round, click here. For more information on the LJT Spring Preview, click here.