AT 79TH OREGON JUNIOR AMATEURCHAMPIONSHIP
LAKE OSWEGO, ORE. (Friday, July 3, 2009) - The week started with more than 200 kids age 8-17 vying for a title in their division, culminating with finals matches today at the Oregon Junior Amateur Championship at Oswego Lake Country Club in Lake Oswego, Ore. with only 14 contestants left remaining to battle it out for their respective crowns in championship flights.
The principal 18-hole matches of the day, Girls (15-17) and Junior (16-17), teed off last with Sharon Shin of West Linn, Ore. taking on Morgan Thompson Tualatin, Ore. and Sam Mendez of Portland, Ore. facing Blake Jones of Camas, Wash.
Having won the 6A High School State Championship, Shin becomes an elite part of Oregon Golf history of players having won both the High School State Championship as well as the Oregon Junior Amateur Championship.
Shin and Thompson who competed on the West Linn High School Girls Golf team had an intense battle all day. After finding herself 2-up after the first 7 holes, Shin made a few bogies while Thompson steadied her game with back-to-back pars, leaving Thompson with a 1-up advantage.
By 18, Thompson continued to hang on to her 1-up lead until burying her approach deep into a greenside bunker. A resulting double bogey and Shin making par had the match all-square and requiring extra holes
.
"It was pretty dramatic, I was hoping to finish a little easier," said Shin of the match. "We didn't talk all that much because we were both so focused on our games."
After finding the rough off her drive on their 19th hole, Shin managed to stick a wedge to 10-feet and sink it for birdie and the win over Thompson.
The Junior (16-17) Division also held a fierce battle. Blake Jones of
Camas, Wash. and Sam Mendez of Portland, Ore. took it all the way to the
18th hole as Mendez was able to make a come-back from 5 down after 10
holes. Jones was dormie after the 16th hole, but Mendez snaked in a
45-foot putt for birdie to keep the match alive. Looking as if it was Mendez with the advantage after he exploded his drive on 18, Jones put his approach 20-feet above the hole, while Mendez's wedge ended up on the front edge of the green, leaving him with a long putt to force extra holes. Jones' 2-putt was good enough to remain 1-up and claim victory in his first ever Oregon Junior Amateur Championship.
"I played really well on the front nine," Jones commented of his round. "I think I was 1 or 2 under par. Then I started making mistakes that Sam was able to capitalized on."
"He (Mendez) dropped a bomb on me at 17 with that long putt." Jones said.
"I really like playing match play because we don't get to do it that often," he continued. "It's a good change from the norm."
Also a good change for Jones was his decision to compete in Oregon Junior Golf. After playing the past few seasons in Washington, he chose to compete this summer in Oregon, stating, "its more competitive here." Junior Golf and he has only begun to leave his mark with his first title of 2009 Oregon Junior Amateur Champion.
In the Boys Division (14-15), despite back-to-back birdies at 13 & 14, Sulman Raza of Eugene, Ore. fell to Zach Foushee of Tigard, Ore. who brought the match to the end by chipping in at the 15th hole.
In the Intermediate Boys (12-13) contest, Dylan Wu of Medford, Ore., last years Pee Wee Boys titleholder defeated West Linn's Cole Madey 3 & 2. Wu's younger brother Jeremy was defeated by Kevin Geniza of Corvallis, Ore. 3 & 2 in their first 18-hole match of the week. Geniza commented, "He [Jeremy] was getting tired and I wasn't so I was able to take advantage of that."
Among the remaining girls divisions, Gigi Stoll of Portland, Ore. new to the Intermediate Girls (12-14) Division, turned on her short-game on the back nine to defeat Monica Vaughn of Reedsport, Ore. Last years Pee Wee Girls Junior Amateur champion managed to drain a chip from just off the green on the par 5, 10th to lead her to the par 3, 17th where she would sink a long putt from the fringe to secure her victory.
"I was really nervous on the first tee," commented Stoll. "But once I hit my drive, I was pretty calm for the rest of the day." Stoll will be traveling to Southern California to compete in the Junior World Championship as well as the Big "I" at the end of the month.
Rounding out the championship finals, Ellie Slama of Salem, Ore.
defeated Jennifer Krause of Eugene, Ore., 1 up, as Krause found trouble
in the trees, carding a 6, at the par 4, 9th.
"I was really nervous the whole round, especially that last putt," the
10-year old grinned. Sporting a bandage on her right elbow, after
accidentally tripping out of a golf cart at the 8th hole, Slama managed
a laugh, "I'm really, really happy, it was a ton of fun out there!"
Also announced at the end of the championship, was Oregon's selection to the Boys and Girls Junior Americas Cup Teams. The Boys team will include Bobby Monaco, Tye Gabriel, Sam Mendez and Jones. The Girls team will include Amy Beth Simanton, Sharon Shin, Kendall Prince and Seshia-Lei Telles.
The Junior Americas Cup is an elite international competition with the top junior golfers representing 18 western region associations including Mexico, British Columbia and Alberta Canada.
In addition to the championship flights, a total of 22 other match play finals were also contested with winners and runners-up trophies awarded to 58 junior golfers.
FINAL RESULTS - CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHTS
JUNIORS (16-17) CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINALS
Blake Jones (Camas, Wash.) def. Samuel Mendez (Portland, Ore.) 1 up
GIRLS (15-17) CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINALS
Sharon Shin (West Linn, Ore.) def. Morgan Thompson (Tualatin, Ore.) 19th hole
BOYS (14-15) CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINALS
Zachary Foushee (Tigard, Ore.) def. Sulman Raza (Eugene, Ore.) 4 & 3
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS (12-14) CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINALS
GiGi Stoll (Portland, Ore.) def. Monica Vaughn (Reedsport, Ore.) 2 & 1
INTERMEDIATE BOYS (12-13) CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINALS
Dylan Wu (Medford, Ore.) def. Cole Madey (West Linn, Ore.) 3 & 2
PEE WEE GIRLS (8-11) CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINALS
Ellie Slama (Salem, Ore.) def. Jennifer Krause (Eugene, Ore.) 1 up
PEE WEE BOYS (8-11) CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT FINALS
Kevin Geniza (Corvallis, Ore.) def. Jeremy Wu (Medford, Ore.) 3 & 2
FINAL RESULTS - ALL OTHER FLIGHTS
JUNIORS (16-17) 1ST FLIGHT FINALS
Will Guitteau (Portland, Ore.) def. Thomas Arand (McMinnville, Ore.) 3 & 2
JUNIORS (16-17) 2ND FLIGHT FINALS
Davis Wolfe (Tualatin, Ore.) def. Jake Irving (Albany, Ore.) 2 & 1
JUNIORS (16-17) 3RD FLIGHT FINALS
Mitchell Stewart (Springfield, Ore.) def. Andrew Mohr (Tigard, Ore.) 7 & 5
JUNIORS (16-17) 4TH FLIGHT FINALS
Jonathan Zeleznik (Portland, Ore.) def. Seth Reynolds (Klamath Falls, Ore.) 6 & 4
JUNIORS (16-17) 5TH FLIGHT FINALS
August Klingman (Eugene, Ore.) def. Spencer Gordon (Columbia City, Ore.) 6 & 5
GIRLS (15-17) 1ST FLIGHT FINALS
Juhee Lee (Wilsonville, Ore.) def. Katie Zajicek (Corvallis, Ore.) 5 & 3
GIRLS 2ND FLIGHT FINALS
Caroline Inglis (Eugene, Ore.) def. Dalton Meade (Sandy, Ore.) 7 & 5
GIRLS 3RD FLIGHT FINALS
Katie Craven (Portland, Ore.) def. Cassidy Huun (Salem, Ore.) 1 up
BOYS (14-15) 1ST FLIGHT FINALS
Conner Kumpula (Albany, Ore.) def. Nate Krause (Eugene, Ore.) 4 & 2
BOYS 2ND FLIGHT FINALS
Mark Geniza (Corvallis, Ore.) def. Peter Davis (Portland, Ore.) 5 & 4
BOYS 3RD FLIGHT FINALS
Stuart Nosler (Tigard, Ore.) def. Thomas Hoffman (Salem, Ore.) 6 & 5
BOYS 4TH FLIGHT FINALS
Tanner Chambers (Sandy, Ore.) def. Andrew Wrenn (Lake Oswego, Ore.) 19th hole
BOYS 5TH FLIGHT FINALS
Hogan Arey (Corvallis, Ore.) def. Daniel Schuler (Medford, Ore.) 6 & 5
INTERMEDIATE BOYS (12-13) 1ST FLIGHT FINALS
Andrew Armstrong (Salem, Ore.) def. Joseph Knight (Gresham, Ore.) 4 & 2
INTERMEDIATE BOYS (12-13) 2ND FLIGHT FINALS
Eddie Abellar (Vancouver, Wash.) def. Mason Rodby (Redmond, Ore.)2 & 1
INTERMEDIATE BOYS (12-13) 3RD FLIGHT FINALS
Austin Yeo (Clackamas, Ore.) def. Austin Owen (Eugene, Ore.) 3 & 1
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS (12-14) 1ST FLIGHT FINALS
Hannah Swanson (Forest Grove, Ore.) def. Haleigh Krause (Eugene, Ore.) 3 & 1
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS (12-14) 2ND FLIGHT FINALS
Krissy Peterson (Canby, Ore.) def. Sarah Archuleta (West Linn, Ore.) 6 & 4
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS (12-14) 3RD FLIGHT
Dana Hannibal (Salem, Ore.) def. Sarah Craven (Portland, Ore.) 2 & 1
PEE WEE BOYS (8-11) 1st FLIGHT FINALS
Bryce Wortman (Klamath Falls, Ore.) def. Reese Fisher (Medford, Ore.) 1up
PEE WEE BOYS (8-11) 2ND FLIGHT FINALS
Andrew Eyre (Salem, Ore.) def. Michael Townsend (Woodland, Wash.) 10th Hole
PEE WEE BOYS (8-11) 3RD FLIGHT FINALS
Trey Wortman (Klamath Falls, Ore.) def Connor Drath (Eugnene, Ore.) 3 & 1