Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Holiday Series II Championship at Hunter Ranch Golf Course.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (December 12, 2024) – The Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions at the Holiday Series II Championship at Hunter Ranch Golf Course.
Asterisk Talley and Drue Henry Sanchez both shoot under par to win their respective flights during play of the Holiday Series II Championship at par-72 Hunter Ranch Golf Course.
In the Girls’ Championship, Asterisk Talley made a surprise entry into the playing field and picked up her 31st all-time win as she added to her Junior Tour Girls' win record. Victory at Hunter Ranch is Talley's first win of the 2024-2025 JTNC season, carding rounds of 68-66 finishing at 10-under 134 and six shots ahead of her next closest competitor. At the conclusion of round one Asterisk and Madalyn Lee were level at 4-under par as the pair were scheduled to play alongside one another for round two, this is where Asterisk began to separate herself from the Girls Championship field carding a front-nine 33 and establishing her dominance. Asterisk ended the tournament carding 13 birdies, with the most impressive stat line being that she made three consecutive birdies during both rounds over the weekend. Talley now sits at 7th on the 2024-2025 Girls JTNC Player of the Years standings as she looks to add to her points total at the turn of the new year.
Anita Lumpongpoung earned a comfortable runners-up medal after carding back to back scores of 70-70 while making 7 birdies along the way to finish at 4-under par. Anita's performance at Holiday Series II helps add to her lead as being the current best ranked player on the 2024-2025 Girls JTNC Player of the Year standings, she now has a 95-point lead over Madalyn Lee. Third Place was awarded to Madalynn Lee of Milpitas, shooting rounds of 68-75 to finish at 1-under par 143. Holiday Series II marks Madalynn's fifth medal of the season with her previous best performance coming at Fall Series VII, a tournament where Lee finished as the runner-up.
In the Boys Championship flight, Drue Henry Sanchez carded rounds of 70-69 and finishing with a total of 139 to make it back to back wins on the Junior Tour this season! Sanchez was off to a quick start during round one as he was 3-under through his first sixteen holes all while going bogey-free. Round two could not have started any better for the Oakley talent, going 3-under through the first thirteen holes including an impressive eagle on the par-5 sixth hole. Drue would eventually seal his victory as he carded a crucial birdie during play of the competitions penultimate hole, a 538-yard dog log right par-5. With his recent stellar performances Drue is now ranked at the 4th best player on the Junior Tour and only 17 points outside of the top three, with this tournament being his third medal of the season.
Second place went to local emerging talent Owen Bousman with rounds of 75-65 and a final tally that ended at 4-under par, 140 for the tournament. Owen carded a tournament high 12 birdies throughout the 36-holes, with his best stretch of play being done during round two as he carded eight birdies during play of his final 14-holes. Bousman is ranked 27th on 2024-2025 Boys JTNC Player of the Year Standings with 200 points. Third place would be awarded to last year's runner-up Ayden Fynaut, the most-recent JTNC Player of the Year recipient, who finished at even-par with rounds of 71-73. Ayden's highlight of the weekend was driving the 10th green on the 325-yard par-4 and sinking his eagle putt as he looked to gain ground on the Boys Championship field. Fynaut is currently ranked 2nd on the 2024-2025 Boys JTNC Player of the Year standings, 150 points back of leader Ben Freidman.
In the Boys’ First Flight Championship, Dylan D'Ambra finished off the weekend strong as he won his flight by one shot, carding rounds of 79-81 with a total of 160. Victory at Hunter Ranch marks Dylan's first JTNC tournament win for the 2024-2025 season, finding his rhythm early on carding two birdies on front nine during play of the opening round. D'Ambra eventually sealed his victory thanks in part to his final stretch of holes where he made four straight pars on his way to claiming a winners medal.
Runner-up went to Ethan Mouanoutoua who carded rounds of 82-79, coming up just one shot shy of D'Ambra's tally of 160. Third place subsequently went to Max Ahlswede, earning his first medal for the season as well as his second top-ten finish for the 2024-2025 JTNC season. Fourth Place was awarded to Braden Fong of Morgan Hill, as he carded rounds of 83-82 and missing out on a podium place by three shots.
Next up on the Junior Tour of Northern California's schedule is Holiday Series III held at both Del Monte Golf Course and Poppy Hills Golf Course on the Monterey Peninsula.