Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Fall Series V Championship at Bay View Golf Course.
Pairings/Results
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (September 26, 2024) – The Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions at the Fall Series V Championship at Bay View Golf Club.
Mark Zhou and Victoria Cui both win their respective divisions during play of the Fall Series V Championship at Bay View Golf Club in Milpitas.
In the Girls’ Championship, Victoria Cui claimed the spotlight with a victory which needed a playoff to decide the winner, making this her first win of the 2024-2025 season. Facing a hilly and quite difficult golf course layout, Victoria would go on to card rounds of 72-75 that included 7 birdies throughout the weekend. Victoria's seventh and final birdies came at the most crucial time as she was able to convert a mid-range putt during the playoff versus Madalynn Lee to claim her win. Victory here at Bay View Golf Club takes her to 2nd overall on the Girls' JTNC Player of the Year standings, this win surpasses her previous best finish of 2nd place during play of Fall Series IV at DeLaveaga.
Madalynn Lee earned an honorable runners-up medal after missing out in the playoff versus Cui, Lee carded rounds of 74-73 making 7 birdies throughout the weekend. Third place was awarded to Anita Lumpongpoung, shooting rounds of 73-75 to finish at 4-over par 148. Fall Series V is Anita's first medal of the 2024-2025 JTNC season.
In the Boys Championship flight, Mark Zhou makes it his first win on the Junior Tour this season with steady rounds of 70-74, winning by just one shot over Giacomo Gaggero. Zhou had four birdies during play of round one, with an additional four coming during round 2 helping him keep his slim lead over the Boys Championship field. Zhou's best stretch of golf was displayed day one as he went 3-under par from hole number five until hole number fifteen which included three birdies and no bogeys. Mark is now T-9th on the 2023-2024 JTNC Boys Player of the Year rankings, 500 points off of the leader.
Second place went to Giacomo Gaggero with rounds of 70-75, finishing with a final tally of 1-over par 145 for the tournament. Giacomo carded 6 birdies throughout the 36-holes, with the highlight of his weekend being the two eagles he made during round one, on the par-five 2nd hole as well as the par-five 15th hole. Third place ended in a three-way tie between Nathaniel Lee, Alex Chou, and Arden Xu as all players were level at 2-over 146. A card-off was needed to separate the triplet of players, where Nathaniel Lee eventually came out on top with the lowest second-round score of 72 and earning his first medal of the season!
In the Boys’ First Flight Championship, Cole Cainey wins his first tournament of the 2024-2025 season finishing off the weekend with a steady 79 on his scorecard after the final round. The win did not come easy as Cole needed to deliver during the final holes of the competition as there was Zack Lin hot on his heels down the stretch. Cole went on to deliver the goods as he made five pars and one birdie on his final six holes, sealing victory for himself at Bay View Golf Course. Cole ended with one birdie throughout the event and 27 pars, proof of his consistent play throughout this championship!
Runner-up went to Zack Lin who carded rounds of 79-77, coming up just short of Cainey in the hunt for a winners medal. Third place eventually went to Vivek Yella, earning a his first medal for the 2024-2025 JTNC season. Fourth place was claimed by Benjamin Ma at 24-over par, Ma finished with rounds of 83-85 for 168.
In the Girls' First Flight Championship, Hea Jung earned her first win of the 2024-2025 JTNC with a ten shot lead over Irene Kim. Jung carded rounds of 77-84 for 161 and saved her best golf for the end as she made par on her final four holes of the competition. Second place went to Irene Kim who put up a respectable fight in pursuit of a medal spot, Irene turned in scorecards of 76-95 for 171. Anna Le Nguyen took 3rd place with rounds of 89-85 to round up the Girls' First Flight for the Fall Series V Championship.