Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Fall Series VIII Championship at Corica Park Golf Course
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (October 24th, 2023) – The Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions at the Fall Series VIII Championship at Corica Park Golf Course.
Matthew Lin shot 9-under par 135 and Asterisk Talley shot 7-under par 137 to win their respective divisions at the Fall Series VIII Championship at par-72 Corica Park’s South Course in Alameda.
Lin picked up his first win of the 2023-2024 season with repeat under-par rounds of 66 and 69, beating out Luke Brandler for the first-place medal. In the opener, Lin carded a stunning 6-under 66 which featured eight birdies and just two bogeys. In round two Matthew went on to card five more birdies with the most important stretch of holes coming during the final six holes of the competition. Lin birdied holes 14, 15, and 17 as he conjured up a comeback that sparked a wire-to-wire finish between himself and Brandler for the top spot of the Boys Championship flight. Brandler’s bogey on hole 16 during the final round proved pivotal as Lin finished his final six holes blemish free, securing the winners medal for the tournament. Luke Brandler was the eventual second place medalist finishing at 136 with rounds of 66-70, playing some lights out golf to show for it. Brandler registered ten birdies and made an albatross on the par-5 17th hole during play on day one, where he only carded one bogey for the day.
Third place went to Cambron Nevill after a comfortable two-shot lead over Christian Maggard. Nevill carded rounds of 67-71 while making 13 birdies over the weekend, this outing is Cambron’s third top-five finish of the JTNC season. Fourth Place went to Christian Maggard of Turlock, Maggard finished the weekend at 4-under par with rounds 68-72 marking this as his first top-five finish of the season.
In the Girls’ Championship, Asterisk Talley remains 2nd on the JTNC Girls all-time win list after securing her 23rd JTNC tournament win. Talley makes it back-to-back wins on the Junior Tour, a feat she has made commonplace the past few seasons, coming in with rounds of 68-69 to finish at 137. In terms of the leaderboard, Talley was in cruise control after round one as she finished the day with a two-shot lead over Emma Wang, carding six birdies and only two bogeys to start. Talley stacked up twelve birdies over the two-day tournament, earning her fourth win of the 2023-2024 JTNC season. Talley, 14 years old, is now only 6 wins back of Sabrina Iqbal’s JTNC Girls all-time winning record that stands at 29 wins.
Emma Wang earned a runner-up medal as she finished 3-under par with scores of 70-71 and a total of 141, carding seven birdies. Wang has placed in the top-five of all four JTNC tournaments she has played in for the 2023-2024 season. Third place went to Ayssa Lim who finished the weekend at 143 after scoring 71-72 over the weekend, this is Lim’s first medal of the 2023-2024 season as she beat her next closest competitor by six shots. Coming in at fourth place was Smantha Chiou of Orinda, Chiou carded rounds of 77-72 finishing at 149.
In the Boys’ First Flight Championship, Khai deSpretter had a final round 76 to come in at 149, carding three birdies and two eagles on his way to victory in his first win of the 2023-2024 season. deSpretter defeated runner-up Ben Thomson by one shot, Thomson finished the weekend at 6-over par 150 after rounds of 76 and 74 where he came out on top during a card-off versus Maxime Pocat as the two were tied at 6-over.
Third place eventually went to Maxime Pocat as his final round of 76 was not enough to see out Thomson’s 74. Despite this, Pocat earns his first medal of the 2023-2024 season.
In the Girls’ First Flight Championship, Annie Lu shot 154 with rounds of 75-79, defeating her next closest competitor by six shots. Lu carded three birdies over the weekend and earned her first winners medal of the season. Second place was awarded to Audrey Yang after she finished the tournament at 160 with identical rounds on either day, carding back-to-back 80’s.
In third place was Rachel Lee at 163. Eubeen Ko was fourth after rounds of 85-79 164.
Next Tournament on the JTNC 2023-2024 calendar season is Fall Series IX, taking place at Poppy Ridge GC on October 14-15.
Media Contacts:
Kurtis Bettencourt
Northern California Golf Association