Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Spring Series VII Championship at Coyote Creek Golf Club
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (May 14, 2024) –The 2023-2024 Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions during the Spring Series VII Championship at Coyote Creek Golf Club.
Asterisk Talley and Ben Friedman both win their respective flights during the Spring Series VII Championship at Coyote Creek Golf Club's Valley Course. .
In the Boy’s Championship flight, Ben Friedman picked up his second winners medal on the Junior Tour for the 2023-2024 season. Ben posted a spectacular 4-under par 68 during round one, featuring just one bogey, followed up with an even-par 72 on day two securing his winners medal by one shot over Henry Chen. Friedman's finishing holes during round two provided an uncomfortable scare, carding a double bogey on hole twelve accompanied by a bogey on the par-3 thirteenth making him move down on the leaderboard. Friedman eventually found his rhythm and made sure to capitalize on play of the par-5 fourteenth making a much needed birdie to retain his lead on the Boys Championship field, Ben carded a total of 10 birdies over the two rounds. This victory now has Friedman ranked 3rd on the 2023-2024 JTNC Boys Player of the Year Standings.
Runner-up was awarded to Henry Chen who carded rounds of 71-70, making a total of seven birdies during the two-day championship event. Third place went to Kailer Stone of Alameda, coming in at 142 after rounds of 73-69, Kailer had a superb front-nine during round two as he went 6-under par during play of the opening holes. Alex Thu earned fourth place at 1-under par with rounds of 73-70.
In the Girls’ Championship flight, Asterisk Talley triumphs in victory and sets the Girls' record for most wins all-time on the Junior Tour! With this win Talley now moves to 1st at 30 wins and finally leapfrogs Sabrina Iqbal becoming the winningest Girls' player the Junior Tour of Northern California has seen in its history. The Girls Championship Flight was reduced to an 18-hole event due to unplayable conditions during what was scheduled to be the initial round of the tournament on Saturday. Talley's star still shined bright with just one round of golf, carding an unbelievable round of 7-under par 65 including seven birdies and eleven pars. Victory here at Spring Series VII came with a two shot cushion over Ashley Gettleman making it 11 wins for Talley on the season, increasing her lead over the next closest girl on the JTNC Player of the Year Standings.
Ashley Gettleman placed second after posting an impressive 5-under 67, narrowly missing out on first place by two shots as she made a double bogey during her final hole of play. Ashley carded eight birdies on the day, taking her to 25th on the JTNC Girls' Player of the Year Standings. Third place ended in a five-way tie between the following junior players: Victoria Cui, Caroline Gao, Lexi Lowe, Sai Kaneshiro, and Emily Guan as the group all carded 1-over par 73. A card-off was needed and to determine the final medal spot, ultimately going to Sai Kaneshiro picking up her first medal of the 2023-2024 season.
In the Boys’ First Flight Championship Flight Julian Koehler wins with a score of 1-under par 71 beating out his next closest competitors by two shots. Due to the inclement weather, the Boys First Flight was also was reduced to an 18-hole tournament come Sunday morning. Julian came out ready to play the opening eleven holes where he was 3-under par and atop the leaderboard, eventually Koelher would lose steam as he made a pair of bogeys on the remaining seven holes. His early hot streak was plenty to see off the nearest competition as the three closest players were fighting just to keep their scorecards around even-par. Julian wins his second tournament of the year taking him to 17th overall on the Boys' JTNC Player of the Year Standings, this result makes it his fifth top-five finish this season!
Second place ended in a three-way tie at 1-over par between Enoch Shi, Inho Park, and Agilan Ramakrishnan who all carded 73 for the round. Enoch Shi took second place via a card-off with his back-nine total being the lowest of the triad. Third place went to Inho Park who carded four birdies on the day. Fourth place subsequently went to Agilan Ramakrishnan who missed out on podium spot via the three-way card-off.
In the Girls’ First Flight Championship, Hailey Li wins first place with impressive rounds of 75-71 146, triumphing over her next closest competitor by five shots. Lily accomplishes her second win of the 2023-2024 JTNC season, having previously won the Holiday Series I tournament in December of 2023. Hailey carded six birdies and one eagle to cap off a stunning display of golf, she has now moved up to 19th on the Girls' Player of the Year Standings. Second place went to local talent Myla Havarangsi of Morgan Hill, coming in at 78-73 and finishing six shots better than third place. Myla's highlights were the five birdies she picked up during play of the 36-hole event, making this her first medal of the 2023-2024 season. Third place was decided by a card-off between Janae Reese Galo and Lauren Kim, where Kim earned the spot after her second-round total of 81 was sufficient to earn her third place over Galo. Both Kim and Galo ended the event with a total score of 157.