Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at First Flight Tournament III Championship at Coyote Creek Golf Club
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (June 29, 2023) –The 2022-2023 Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions Sunday during the First Flight Tournament III Championship at Coyote Creek Golf Club’s Valley Course in Morgan Hill.
Molly Liu and Jaxen Castillo both finished strong on their final nine holes to win their respective flights during the First Flight Tournament III Championship at the always challenging par-72 Valley Course at Coyote Creek Golf Club.
In the Boy’s First Flight, Jaxen Castillo snatched up his second winners medal on the Junior Tour for the 2022-2023 season. Castillo’s final six holes helped propel him to victory after the championship ended in a three-way tie for first. The tie included himself, Hayden Thill, and Carson Varney who were all square at even-par 72 after the single day event concluded. Castillo finished off his round with two birdies on the final three holes and ultimately defeated Hayden thill in a card-off where his final six holes were one stroke better than Thill. The motto of the day for Castillo was minimizing mistakes and capitalizing on fantastic approach shots, he would card four birdies and twelve pars as he concluded his final nine holes with a score of 33. This is Jaxen’s fifth time placing in third or better during the 2022-2023 Junior Tour season. Hayden Thill of Mill Valley earned runner-up honors as he missed out on first place via a card-off, Thill conjured up a back-nine push where he carded a 2-under 33 with three birdies and one bogey on his card. Hayden put together nines of 39-33 that included four birdies and four bogeys.
Third place went to Carson Varney after drawing the short end of the stick in a three-way tie for first, Varney carded three birdies during his round but a final nine of 34 hindered him in the card-off with Castillo and Thill. Fourth place ended in a two-way tie between the likes of Priyank Sharma-Tiwari and Arno Wehle, who both shot impressive rounds of 1-over 73. This is Priyank’s first top-five finish on the Junior Tour this season, having previously competed in eight of our championships!
In the Girls’ First Flight, Molly Liu of San Jose won her second JTNC event of the 2022-23 season, producing a solid front nine of even-par 37 to confirm her spot at the top of the leaderboard with a final score of 4-over 76. Liu posted two birdies and twelve pars during the single-day Championship; off to a flashy start on her front nine after carding two birdies on her first eight-holes of play, Liu would eventually suffer a few setbacks to her game, ultimately finishing one stroke above the next closest player. Coming in second place was Eubeen Ko, finishing the round at 5-over 79 and carding three birdies. Ko had the advantage over the third-place finisher thanks to her final nine spree where she carded a 1-over 36 to earn her first medal on the Junior Tour for 2022-2023, beating her next closest competitor, Julie Hu, by one shot.
Julie Hu placed third after a card-off, Hu carded a 6-over 78 but couldn’t have finished the round any better as she made consecutive birdies during the final two holes of play. This stretch of holes proved pivotal in giving her an advantage during the card-off versus Isabella Zhou, as the final nine score would be the tie breaker between the two First Flight girls. Isabella Zhou earned fourth place after posting a 41-37 78, carding just one birdie on the day.
The next event on the JTNC calendar is our Summer Series III Championship at Spring Creek Golf & Country Club on July 16th & 17th in Ripon.
Media Contacts:
Kurtis Bettencourt
Northern California Golf Association
831.622.8294 | kbettencourt@ncga.org