Around the Green

O’Rear, Sathish, Parmar Win George Hannon Junior Invitational

Briefly: Plano’s Rhett O’Rear won the Boys 15-18 Division of the George Hannon Junior Invitational presented by Texas Mutual after firing another sub-par round at University of Texas Golf Club. Swetha Sathish of Oakville captured her first victory with the Legends Junior Tour, while Aadi Parmar of Selma won the Boys 14 & Under Division for his third LJT title of the year. 

Leaders: O’Rear picked up his first win in the Boys 15 – 18 Division with the Legends Junior Tour after firing 68 – 69 to finish at 5-under overall and win the division by four strokes. O’Rear had two days of solid play with his last day consisting of three birdies. Sathish’s consistent play and solid putting awarded her the victory in the Girls Division at 2-over 144 after rounds of 72-72 over the two days.  Parmar recorded rounds of 71-70 to get to 1-under 141 overall. Parmar played a consistent game this week, recording five birdies and 4 bogeys.  

In Contention: In the Boys 15 – 18 Division, Preston Hiller of San Antonio and Ryan Lee from Plano finished runner-up with 1-under, 141 total, for the two days. New Braunfels’ Kyle Doolittle finished fourth at even-par 142, while Garrett McMellon and Grayson Sebastian tied for fifth in the division with overall scores of 1-over 143. In the Girls Division, Austin’s Isabel Emanuels and Mimi Burton tied for second at 4-over 146 and Danica Lundgren and Lydia Portlock tied for fourth at 5-over 147. Henry Jackson of Lantana and Ainslie Stanford III tied for second in the Boys 14 & Under Division at 5-over 147, while Cameron Lewis finished fourth at 6-over 148 and Dylan Knox and Luke Olive tied for fifth at 8-over 150.  

Golf Course: The University of Texas Golf Club was designed by Bechtol Russell and opened in 2003. The course is set along the Colorado River and features stunning Texas Hill Country views along with a challenging par-71 layout.  

Weather: Temperatures reached 100 again on Tuesday with steady winds out of the south at 12 miles per hour with gusts around 20 mph which offered a challenge for the field.  

Player of the Year Points:  Rhett O’Rear, Aadi Parmer, and Swetha Sathish all earned 1500 points in the Player of the Year Point Race.  Points are awarded at each tournament to the top half of each age division.  2023 LJT Player of the Year Points Standings   

About George Hannon: George Hannon, who was affectionately called “Coach”, coached the University of Texas golf team for 18 seasons. Coach Hannon saw his Longhorns win two National Championships in 1971 and 1972, 12 Southwest Conference Titles and three individual titles. Hannon’s Horns included Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Mark Brooks, Phil Blackmar, Brandel Chamblee, Rik Massengale and Paul Thomas. 

Hannon Cup Association: The Hannon Cup Association contributes to golf scholarships, supports the Austin Junior Golf Academy and hosts the George Hannon Junior Invitational and Hannon Cup Matches. Mark Coward and Brent Buckman were instrumental in conceiving the idea and in organizing and forming the initial committee for the Hannon Cup. Support was provided by a group of individuals and businesses that became known as the Hannon Society. To date the Association has distributed more than $145,000 worth of secondary education scholarships through the Southern Texas PGA Foundation.  

Texas Junior Golf Alliance: The Alliance is a joint venture between the Texas Golf Association, Northern and Southern Texas PGA and Houston Golf Association. The goal of the Alliance was to allow junior golfers a clear path to the best tournaments in Texas. Each of the three tier-two organizations (STPGA, NTPGA, HGA) conduct events that serve as qualifiers into the statewide tier-one events run by the Legends Junior Tour (LJT). This allows players to compete in local events in which they can earn spots to play in statewide tournaments.  

Tournament History: The George Hannon Junior Invitational finished it’s 14th year on the Legends Junior Tour schedule and features past champions such as Maxwell Miller, Cole Hammer, Chandler Phillips, Tayler Termeer, Hailee Cooper, Joe and Julia Beck, Matthew Comegys, Keaton Vo, Henry Guan and Nicole Vivier. This event has been held at UT Golf Club for the last six years.  

Next Up: The Legends Junior Tour heads to Indian Creek Golf Club in Carrollton for the North Texas Classic on September 9-10. The George Hannon Junior Invitational caps off a busy and exciting summer for the Legends Junior Tour. 

For more information on the George Hannon Junior Invitational, click here. To see all the scores from UT Golf Club, click here.