Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Spring Series VIII Championship at Rooster Run Golf Club.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (June 13, 2024) – The Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions at the Spring Series VIII Championship at Rooster Run Golf Club in Petaluma.
Kailer Stone and Lily Peng both scored under par over the two days to win their respective divisions at the Spring Series VIII Championship at par-72 Rooster Run Golf Club.
Stone picked up his first win of the 2023-2024 season with rounds of 73 and 68, beating out Richard Ding by one shot for the winner’s medal as he birdied the final hole of the competition. In the opening round, Stone put together an up and down performance that saw him end the day at 1-over par 73. Stone's opening round included five birdies, four bogeys, and a dreaded double bogey during play of the par-4 14th hole. The highlight of Kailer's weekend came during play of round two where he carded an outstanding 4-under par 68 with six birdies to show for his stellar play. As all great champions do, Kailer proved to have ice in his veins as he marched down the 18th fairway on his final hole of play looking to make birdie and win the competition outright versus Richard Ding. Kailer did just that, carding a four on the par-5 18th hole at Rooster Run Golf Club to secure his winners medal at 3-under 141. Victory at Spring Series VIII has moved Kailer to 4th on the Boys Player of the Year rankings with 870 points, this makes it four top-five finishes for Kailer during the 2023-2024 season so far.
Second place went to Richard Ding of Pleasanton who finished at 2-under par 142, Ding made an impressive comeback on day two bouncing back from his 3-over 75 on day one as he went on to shoot 5-under 67 on day two. Third place was awarded to Ethan Cheng at 2-over par 146, Ethan has rounds of 74-72 that included six birdies over the weekend.
In the Girls’ Championship, Lily Peng took the field by storm as she won the competition by six shots with rounds of 74-66, ending the tournament at 4-under par on the leaderboard. Lily started off round two a few shots off the lead and with this in mind she knew she needed to make a second day push to climb back up the standings. That's exactly what Peng did as she dialed in her game with seven birdies and an eagle on the par-5 18th hole, leaving virtually no chance for any other girl to catch her as she comfortably earned her third winners medal of the 2023-2024 season. Peng remarkably carded a total of 13 birdies and one eagle on the weekend, taking her to 2nd on the Girls Player of the Year rankings at 3,138 points. It should be mentioned that Lily has been nothing short of spectacular this 2023-2024 JTNC season with this finish at Spring Series VIII being her 12th medal finish of the campaign.
Caroline Gao earned a runner-up medal as she finished 2-over par with 75-71 for 146, carding four birdies throughout the two rounds. Third place ended in a card-off between Kelly Zhang and Stevie Umali as the pair were all square at 3-over par 147, this resulted in Kelly Zhang winning the bronze medal as her second round of 1-under par 71 was enough to see out Umali's even par 72. Stevie would take 4th place due to the card-off, she would make four birdies over the two days taking her up to 225 points total for the Girls Player of the Year Standings.
In the Boys’ First Flight Championship, Julian Koehler had a final round 71 to come in at 145, carding seven birdies on his way to his third win of the 2023-2024 season! Koehler had rounds of 74 and 71 while defeating runner-up Pavan Shah by five shots, Shah finished the weekend at 7-over par 151 after rounds of 77 and 74 as he beat his next closest competitors by four shots.
Third Place ended in a four way card-off for the final medal spot with Jon Rasso, Elijah Shi, Dawson McWhorter, and Enoch Shi as the group were tied at 11-over par. Ultimately Jon Rasso took the 3rd place medal as his second round total was the lowest out of the foursome, Rasso carded a smooth 1-over 73 earning his first medal of the season.
In the Girls’ First Flight Championship, Victoria Hang shot 161 with rounds of 84-77, carding four birdies during the tournament!. Second place went to Danica Hidayat, rounds of 83-79 to finish at 162 for the weekend as she was only one shot off the lead. Third place went to Anna Le Nguyen at 163 with rounds of 86-77 that included two birdies.