Around the Green

WHITNEY – Austin’s Trenton Mierl carded a second consecutive 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s second round of the Texas Junior Amateur to take a two shot lead in the Boys Division. Mierl, a rising senior at Anderson High School, recorded four birdies on the back nine of White Bluff Resort’s New Course to vault into the 36-hole lead. In the Girls Division, Joshua’s Kaylee Yuan fired a second consecutive round of 2-under 70 and will take a two shot lead in Wednesday’s final round.

White Bluff Resort’s Old and New courses again proved to be a stern test for the state’s best in round two. The Boys 15-18 Division are playing the New Course while the Girls 15-18 are playing the Old Course. The Girls 14 & Under and Boys 14 & Under Division’s concluded play on the Old Course on Tuesday.

In the Boy’s 15-18 Division, Mierl tallied five birdies in route to the solid second round score. Mierl leads by two and will look to continue his strategies in Wednesday’s final round.

“It went pretty solid,” Mierl said after the round. “It was a battle out there. The heat was tough and the wind was blowing so it was tough today.”

Mierl is set to begin his senior year of high school in a few weeks and has a great mindset heading into the final round

“Im going to have the same plan tomorrow. Take it one shot at a time and just be patient,” Mierl said.

San Angelo’s Colin Leonard joined Mierl as the only other player to card back to back rounds under par. He sits in solo second at 2-under overall and two back of the lead. Leonard rolled in three birdies on the day to post a 1-under 71. Benbrook’s Colin Price sits at even par and four back of the lead in third place with 18 holes remaining. A 1-under round of 71 pushed him up 18 spots on the leaderboard on Tuesday. 

Day one leader, Price Hill of Boerne, shot a 6-over 78 and sits in fourth at 1-over total. The incoming Texas Tech freshman will look to get his mojo back on Wednesday in hopes of capturing the title.

The division has been cut to the low 45 players and ties heading into Wednesday’s final round.

In the Girl’s 15-18 Division, leader Kaylee Yuan of Joshua will look to battle off a stacked leaderboard in Wednesday’s final round. She leads by two shots over two girls sitting two-under for the championship.

“I wasn’t hitting it solid today but I was able to keep it in the fairway,” Yuan said. “I was able to hit the greens and tell myself there’s still five to ten hours of golf left for me in this tournament.”

San Antonio’s Julia Vollmer and Dallas’ Shyla Brown sit two shots back at 2-under for the tournament. Vollmer carded an even-par 72 while Brown fired a 3-under 69 which is the low round of the Girls 15-18 Division thus far. Sitting in fourth and four shots back of the lead is Lydia Portlock who has put together back to back rounds of even par 72. 

The division has been cut to the low 27 players and ties heading into Wednesday’s final round.

Henry Jackson of Lantana fired a final round 1-under 71 to earn the title of Boys 14 & Under Division Champion. Jackson posted a two day total of 1-under 143. Gaven Hymer of San Antonio claimed runner-up honors by finishing at even-par for the tournament. Plano’s Ryan Lee finished in third place at 1-over 145 total.

“This win has been a little bit of a time coming,” Jackson said of what it meant to win. “I’ve been playing not so good my last couple events. I’ve been really working hard, especially on my putting and it paid off.”

Frisco’s Megan Lee cruised to victory over the Girls 14 & Under with an even par 72 to finish at 5-under for the tournament. Lee finished nine shots ahead of runner-up Daniela Sitompul of McKinney, who finished at 4-over for the championship. Natasha Milinthachinda of Spring and Sage Bearden of Crowell shared third place at 9-over. 

“It feels really great,” Lee said of the victory. “I didn’t really expect it but I did well and I’m proud of myself so I’m very happy.”

Round 3 of the 97th Texas Junior Amateur begins Wednesday at 7:30 a.m.

For more information, including leaderboard and pairings, click here.