Junior Tour of Northern California Fall Series II & First Flight IV
August 26, 2024 / by Kurtis Bettencourt
Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Fall Series II Championship & First Flight Tournament IV.
Fall Series II Pairings/Results
First Flight IV Pairings/Results
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (August 26, 2024) –The 2024-2025 Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions Thursday during play of both Fall Series II Championship at Micke Grove Golf Links & First Flight Tournament IV at Dry Creek Ranch Golf Course.
Ayden Fynaut set a JTNC record shooting 15-under par 129 and Abigail Lin shot 8-under par 136 to win their respective divisions at the Fall Series II Championship at the par-72 Micke Grove Golf Links. Kelly Zhang came in at 10-over par 82 and P.J. Clausing carded a 6-over par 78 to win their respective divisions during the single day First Flight Tournament IV event.
Ayden Fynaut is rewriting the record books after this recent performance where he carded a phenomenal two day total of 15-under par, topping the charts for the Boy's lowest JTNC two day tournament total since its inception in 2008. Fyanut grabs his first winners medal of the 2024-2025 season with rounds of 65-64, including twelve birdies, two eagles, and one bogey as he capped off a near perfect weekend! The recent Fresno State Bulldog commit won this event with a comfortable six shot lead over runner-up Ben Friedman, last weeks champion at Cypress Lakes.
Friedman took second place honors with rounds of 68-67 finishing at 9-under par 135 where he carded a total of ten birdies and one eagle, making eagle on the par-4 13th hole during round one. Third place ended in a three-way tie as Everest Williams, Aidan Sweeney, and Alejandro Formosa finished their second day with identical totals of 5-under par 139. Everest Williams would sneak out of the tiebreaker with a winners medal as he shot the lowest score out of the trio for round two, carding a 69.
In the Girls’ Championship, Abigail Lin wins with a total of 8-under par 136 as she comfortably closed out the Championship with a five shot buffer between her and second place. Lin was practically untouchable versus the rest of the field as her mistake free golf aided her in dominating the Girls Championship field, Lin produced just one bogey through 36-holes including seven birdies and one eagle. Lin posted back to back under par rounds of 69-67, highlighting her weekend during round two as she eagled the par-5 7th hole.
Second place was settled via a card-off between Erin Lee and Lilly Peng since the pair were tied at 3-under 141 after two rounds. The lower second round score of 67 from Erin Lee was plenty to see out Lily Peng's total of 2-under 70. Lee finished with eight birdies over the weekend, having made six of those birdies throughout round two. Third place subsequently went to Lily Peng after she lost out in the card-off, Peng carded rounds of 71-70 with a tournament high eleven bridies. Fourth place was awarded at 1-over par 145 to Erin Le Nguyen of San Jose, finishing with seven birdies.
First Flight Tournament IV - Dry Creek Ranch Golf Course
In the Boys’ First Flight Championship, P.J. Clausing came out victorious picking up his first winners medal of the 2024-2025 season winning by one shot over his closest competitors. Clausing needed to maintain his composure during play of the final two holes and he did just that, carding successive pars on holes 17 and 18 helping cement his spot at the top of the leaderboard. Clausing shot a round of 6-over par 78, with a total of thirteen pars to go with his winners medal.
Second place was awarded to Alan Bunchien after his final three holes of 1-over par were enough to see out Thomas Graham for the silver medal. Bunchien carded one birdie, turning in a scorecard of 7-over par 79. Third place eventually went to Thomas Graham of Tracy who shot 9-over par 79 which also included one birdie to show for his medal.
In the Girls’ First Flight Championship, Kelly Zhang picked up another medal for the JTNC 2024-2025 season carding a 10-over par 82. Zhang's previous medal came at Fall Series I where she earned runner-up honors. Kelly's two birdies on holes 8 and 9 proved vital in the end as she won the competition by just one shot over Amy Lin, who carded an 11-over 83 to earn silver.
Third place in the Girls First Flight was awarded to Yilin Xia of San Ramon, Yilin finished at 12-over 84 and just two shots behind Lin.
The next event on the JTNC calendar is the Fall Series III Championship at The Golf Club at Moffett Field on August 31st and September 1st.