Junior Golf Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners at Summer Series II Championship at Poppy Ridge.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (June 16, 2023) – The 2022-2023 Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions Thursday at its Summer Series II Championship at Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore.
Lily Peng shot an even-par 133 and Ryan Herbst shot 6-under par 138 to win their respective divisions at the Summer Series II Championship at Poppy Ridge Golf Course, where all three 9-hole courses were in use. Both players earned a qualifying spot into the Junior PGA Championship come August 2023, with this tournament serving as the PGA Junior qualifier for its Northern California section.
Ryan Herbst’s wins his first event on the JTNC, shooting a 32 on his final nine holes allowing him a comfortable two shot buffer over the next best player. Herbst posted rounds of 69-69 to finish at 138 on the leaderboard, carding 11-birdies during the tournament, with four of those taking place during the final nine holes round two. Herbst fended off close competitors Matthew Almajano and Jaden Dumdumaya to book his ticket to the Junior PGA Championship later this summer.
Second place ended in a close race with Almajano and Dumdumaya both finishing the tournament at 4-under par, 140. Almajano won the silver medal via a card-off that saw him shoot a lower round on day two, with his 3-under par versus Dumdumaya’s 2-under par being enough to clinch runner-up. Alamajano earns his first medal of the 2022-2023 season after carding four birdies during Thursday’s round. Third place ultimately was awarded to Jaden Dumdumaya, who had a mind-boggling 36-hole bogey free tournament, carding four birdies and thirty-two pars.
Fourth place resulted in a tie between Chad Flory and Edan Cui who both ended their tournaments at 2-under par 142, respectively.
In the Girls’ Championship, Peng won her fifth event of the 2022-23 season after a favorable second round where she carded a 4-under 68 that featured five birdies. In Wednesday’s opener Peng would struggle to gain any momentum after shooting a 4-over 76, mustering up just one birdie. In her previous nine JTNC events Peng has finished in the top five, her play in round one was putting both this streak and a spot in the Junior PGA Championship at risk. In due time Peng would persevere and storm back on day two with an almost mistake free round of golf, securing her winners medal and sustaining her record which is now ten consecutive top-five finishes on the Junior Tour.
Emma Wang had rounds of 76-69 to come in at 145 to earn her runners-up medal. Wang carded six birdies on day two, ending her tournament in style with a 33 on the final nine holes. Third place went to Victoria Cui who shot a 73-73 and finished at 146, this is Victoria’s first medal in the Girls Championship flight after having played in the Girls First Flight in 2022, evidence that her golf game is on the rise and the hard work is trending in a positive direction.
In the Boys’ First Flight Championship, Daniel Dong won his first tournament of the 2022-2023 JTNC season. Daniel missed out on a winner’s medal last weekend after he came up short in a three-way playoff at the JTNC Summer Series I tournament, however he made sure this event had a different ending. Dong finished at 1-over par after shooting a 73-72 145, carding 9 birdies and winning by six strokes over runner-up Karl Besinga.
Second place was awarded to Karl Besinga, shooting 74-77 over the two rounds for a 151. Besinga now had two top-five finishes for the 2022-2023 season on the Junior Tour, at Poppy Ridge he carded four birdies that featured a 36 on his first nine holes of the tournament. In third place was Brady Moore who ended with score of 8-over 152, missing out to Besinga by one shot. This is Brady’s first spot on the podium for a JTNC event during the 2022-2023 season.
In the Girls’ First Flight Championship, Alexis Lee had a final round 76 to come in at 151, defeating runner-up Isabelle Duan by three shots. Lee carded an impressive six birdies on her way to a winner’s medal, this is Alexis Lee’s third time earning a medal spot on the Junior Tour this season. Runner-up Isabelle Duan carded 80-74 on her way to a second-place finish after a card-off versus Naomi Rut Raymundo. Duan’s second round total of 74 was enough to give her the edge over Raymundo, who shot 76 during round two. Raymundo was awarded the third place spot, this is Raymundo’s third top-five finish on the Junior Tour.
Fourth place went to Molly Liu at 158. Giana Main and Vivien Li tied for fifth place at 162.
Hole-out highlight!
Ayden Fynaut made an eagle at the ninth hole on the Zinfandel course, using a sand-wedge from 115-yards out.
The next event on the JTNC calendar is the First Flight Tournament III at Coyote Creek Golf Club – Valley Course, on June 25th in Morgan Hill.
Media Contacts:
Kurtis Bettencourt
Northern California Golf Association