Petruzzelli, Brown and Jackson Win at Spring Preview

College Station, Texas – Andrew Petruzzelli fired a blistering 8-under par 63 in the Final Round to win the Spring Preview’s Boys 15-18 Division at The Golf Club at Texas A&M. Shyla Brown captured the Girls 12-18 Division, winning in a four-hole playoff while Henry Jackson won in the Boys 14 & Under Division.

Winners: Dallas’s Petruzzelli trailed by two strokes heading into Sunday’s Final Round. He finished with rounds of 66-63 to get to 13-under 129 overall and three strokes ahead of the field. Andrews’ round came together on the back nine as he fired a 7-under par 29 coming in.  The almost course record 63 was an amazing score as the leaders fought 20-30 mph winds throughout their round.  Shyla Brown of Dallas captured the Girls 12-18 Division winning in a 4-hole playoff over Maelynn Kim. She overcame a rough mid round stretch to claim her first LJT victory in her first start. Henry Jackson of Lantana won the Boys 14 & Under Division holding onto his first round lead and claiming his 2^nd LJT victory. Roberts finished the tournament at 3-over par 145.

Top Finishers: Austin’s Trenton Mierl followed up his first round 64 with a final round 68 to finish second behind Petruzzelli by 3 strokes. Katy’s Shauak Nair matched the low score of the day with an 8-under par 63 of his own to climb the leaderboard all the way up to third place.  First round leader, The Woodland’s Austin Hofferkamp fought through an illness and held on for a 4^th place at 6-under par.  Montgomery’s Tyler Sanford finished up his tournament in 5^th place after a final round 5-under par 66. In the Girls 12-18 Division, Katy’s Maelynn Kim finished runner-up in the Spring Preview for the second straight year.  Maelynn started the day 3 shots behind the first round leader Brown.  That deficit quickly turned into 6 shots through the first 3 holes, but Maelynn fought back to post a final round 72 to force the 4-hole sudden-death playoff. The Woodland’s Veronika Exposito finished third finishing at 4 over par for the tournament.  Austin’s Claire Wan and Mansfield’s Lauren Madson finished in a tie for 4^th at 5-over par. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, College Station’s Ryan (Woojin) Lee finished second, one shot behind Jackson and Austin’s Dylan Knox finished third, two shots behind the leader.  Selma’s Aadi Parmar finished fourth at 6-over with Prosper’s Grant Clapp rounding out the top 5 at 8-over par.

Weather: Sunday’s weather started with temperatures in the mid-60s and calm winds.  Conditions would quickly change by the time the leaders teed off as the temperature rose into the low 80’s and the calm wind transformed into very gusty conditions with winds topping of over 30 mph at times.

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.

Tournament History: The Spring Preview has been played every year since its inception in 2006. Past champions of this event include William Zalatoris, Maddie Szeryk, Stratton Nolen, Brad Dalke, Nathan Weant, Brendan Redfern, Travis Vick, Julia Beck, Cole Hammer, Hailee Cooper, Kyle Hogan, Turner Hosch and Hanna Alberto.

Next Up: The Legends Junior Tour heads to Gladewater on March 13-15 for the Texas Cup Invitational. Tempest Golf Club is hosting the first Boys Major event in 2023 and the 84-player field will be set on March 2.

To see all the scores from the Spring Preview, click here. For more information on the LJT Spring Preview, click here.

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. 

LJT Spring Preview Heads to College Station

ADDISON – After a frigid cold hit the state of Texas, the Legends Junior Tour’s Spring Preview heads to The Golf Club at Texas A&M on Feb. 27-28 for the first time in the tournament’s 16-year history.

“This event has always been popular but this year we exceeded the number of signups which allowed us to increase the field size as kids are ready to get back to playing competitive golf,” said Tournament Director Kevin Porter.

The Spring Preview typically boasts a 90-player field, but this year’s event saw more than 250 players sign up to compete. The Legends Junior Tour expanded the field to accommodate the growing demand and now features a 120-player field spread across three divisions.

The Golf Club at Texas A&M opened for play in 1951 and was originally designed by Ralph Plummer. The course sits on the campus at Texas A&M University with Kyle Field in the background of most of the holes. The course took on a complete renovation in 2013 by Texas A&M’s own Jeff Blume and the par-71 course can stretch out to a little more than 7,000 yards.

The tournament has previously been held at The Wilderness at Lake Jackson (2020), Quail Valley Golf Course (2019), BlackHorse Golf Club (2014-18), Woodforest Golf Club (2011-13), The Golf Club at Twin Creeks (2009) and Cimarron Hills Country Club (2005-06).

In last year’s event there was a tie atop the Boys 15-18 Division following 36 holes. Houston’s Jack Gilbert defeated Austin’s Drew Wagner with a birdie on the first playoff hole to capture the title. Houston’s Zoe Slaughter won the Girls 12-18 Division by two strokes, while Austin’s Trenton Mierl emerged victorious in the Boys 14 & Under Division.

Past champions of this event include William Zalatoris, Maddie Szeryk, Stratton Nolen, Brad Dalke, Nathan Weant, Brendan Redfern, Travis Vick, Julia Beck, Cole Hammer, Hailee Cooper, Kyle Hogan, Turner Hosch and Hanna Alberto.

The Spring Preview will be ranked by Junior Golf Scoreboard and Golfweek. AJGA Performance Stars will be awarded to top finishers in both the Boys 15-18 Division and the Girls 12-18 Division. All three divisions will hand out exemptions into future LJT Invitationals.

For more information on the Spring Preview at The Golf Club at Texas A&M and to follow along with live scoring for the weekend, click here.