Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Spring Series II Championship at Bay View Golf Club
Pairings/Results
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (April 24, 2024) –The 2023-2024 Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions during the Spring Series III Championship at Bay View Golf Club.
Nakul Shrivastava and Cathy Zhang both won their respective flights during the Spring Series III Championship at par-72 Bay View Golf Club in Milpitas.
In the Boys' Championship flight, Nakul Shrivastava picked up his first winner's medal on the Junior Tour for the 2023-2024 season. Shrivastava now sits 25th on the Junior Tour Boys' Player of the Year rankings, Nakul beat his previous best T10 finish which came during the Spring Series I event. Nakul's first round started off ideal as he carded three birdies during play of the first nine holes, ultimately going on to shoot an even par 72 with a tally of four birdies. Round 2 would see Shrivastava struggle on a couple of difficult par 4's, as the rain started to influence the playing field's scorecards, making double bogey on holes 4 and 10. However, Nakul fought back against the playing conditions and his competitors as he made birdie on holes 9 and 17, giving himself a fighting chance to rise up the leaderboard and reach an eventual three-way playoff for 1st place. All tied at 5-over par for the tournament, Nakul Shrivastava, Mark Zhou and Kyle Lam dueled it out in a sudden death playoff to see who will be crowned a champion. Nakul eventually prevailed in the playoff, with Mark Zhou taking 2nd place and Kyle Lam taking 3rd place.
Mark Zhou had rounds of 74 and 75, carding a total of four birdies over the two day event to secure 2nd place. Kyle Lam carded a 77 during round one alongside an impressive even-par 72 to conclude his second round, Lam made five birdies throughout the 36-hole event.
Fourth place was awarded to Alex Chou who shot 76-74 over the weekend, missing out on the chance for a championship medal by one shot.
In the Girls’ Championship flight, Cathy Zhang won her 9th JTNC event of all-time, and her 1st of the 2023-2024 season, playing phenomenal golf in the second round where she posted a 2-under 70 and carding four birdies on her final six holes! Zhang forced a playoff between her and Asterisk Talley as the pair were tied at 145 on the leaderboard, with Zhang eventually ousting Talley in the in the playoff to claim quite the win. Cathy ended the weekend with a total of seven birdies, six of those coming during the 2nd round of the competition. Cathy is now ranked 3rd on the Girls' Player of the Year Rankings for the 2023-2024 season, 337 points ahead of the next closest JTNC Girls' player.
Coming up just shy was the eventual second-place medalist Asterisk Talley, who finished 75-70 that earned her and unusual 2nd place finish. Talley had had five birdies for the tournament, three of them posted during round two as she almost carded a near perfect round despite making only one bogey on the par-4 12th hole.
Paavni Behl placed third after she couldn't capitalize on her outstanding first round performance where she shot 2-under 70 with three birdies to show for it. Fourth place went to Lily Peng who ended the event with a total of 7-over par 151, carding three birdies and missing out on a medal spot in the Girls' Championship Flight by just one shot.
In the Boys' First Flight Championship, Abhi Patel finished with rounds of 81 and 73 to earn his first-place medal at 10-over 154. This is Patel's first win with the JTNC this season, carding an outstanding total of 7 birdies. Patel's lead on the Boys First Flight field greatly expanded after he went 4-under through twelve holes during play of the final round on Sunday. Abhi went on to win this event by 8 shots over his closest competitor Priyank Sharma-Tiwari, who finished at 18-over 162 securing his 2nd place medal for the weekend.
Third place was awarded to Kashyap Rayamajhi at 163, beating the next best player by three strokes. In fourth at 166 was Agilan Ramakrishnan with rounds of 84-82.
In the Girls’ First Flight Championship, Alexis Chu picks up her first victory of the year with rounds of 80-82 to finish at 162. Alexis had 3 birdies during play of round 1, a tied tournament high for this flight. Alexis' final round saw her play well enough to see out runner-up Katelyn Zhang by four shots, Zhang finished at 166 with a total of 3 birdies to equal Alexis' total for the weekend. Third place was awarded to Victoria Hang, carding rounds of 90 and 85, earning herself a third meal for the 2023-2024 season.