ASPEN, Colo. -- David Oraee of Greeley, Colo., went down in the American Junior Golf Association record books after shooting a 16-under-par 200 three-day total at the Junior All-Star at Aspen and winning the event by 18 strokes, the largest margin of victory in AJGA history. Marijosse Navarro of San Antonio, Texas, secured her first AJGA victory after a final-round 4-over-par 76, winning the Girls Division at Aspen Golf Club with a tournament total 8-over-par 224.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Junior All-Star at Aspen was a 54-hole stroke play event at Aspen Golf Club. The field was made up of 81 top juniors from 17 states, Mexico and Canada. The Boys Division played the par-72 course at 6,706 yards, while the Girls Division played at 5,826 yards
The Junior All-Star at Aspen was one of 11 events in the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series, which is specifically designed for boys and girls ages 12-15 and presents opportunities for younger members to develop their skills and earn entry into Open tournaments. Juniors are limited to a maximum combination of five AJGA Open and Junior All-Star Series events during a calendar year. The series concludes with the Junior All-Star Invitational over Columbus Day weekend for winners and top finishers in the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series events.
Oraee, 15, commanded the lead of the final round with a 13-stroke advantage after recording his personal best score of 8-under-par 64. His 2-under-par 70 final-round score had him seated in the No. 1 spot, 18 strokes ahead of the second-place finisher. He started his round with a birdie and finished the front nine even-par. He had three bogeys on the day, with the last one coming on No. 10, but he quickly made up for it with back-to-back birdies on the next two holes.
"I was pretty confident coming into today," Oraee said. "The course is set up how I like to play, but I bogeyed Nos. 7 and 8. I just wanted to go out and play my best."
Myles Miller of Wellington, Kan., rose from fifth place after the second round to finish in second with an even-par 72 on the day and a 2-over-par 218 tournament total. Blake Pugh of Southlake, Texas and Daniel De La Garza of Monterrey, Mexico, tied for third with a 4-over-par 220. Cameron Harrell of Colorado Springs, Colo., rounded out the top five in the Boys Division with a total score of 5-over-par 221.
Navarro, 12, led the girls field heading into the final round after shooting a 2-under-par 70 in the second round. She had a rocky start, sitting at 4-over-par after her first six holes, but she bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 No. 7 and had ten pars on her remaining 11 holes for a final-round score of 4-over-par 76.
"I wanted to chip and putt better this round," Navarro said. "I think I did that, and it feels great."
Emily Haas of Nicholasville, Ky., pulled out of her second-round tie for third to finish five strokes behind Navarro in second with a 13-over-par 229 tournament total. Marissa Dodd of Allen, Texas carded a final-round 5-over-par 77 for a tournament total of 14-over-par 230, earning her the third place spot on the leaderboard.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and 30 foreign countries.
Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 200 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 350 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy, a full-time junior golf training and development program, enters its first year as an Official Partner of the AJGA. The partnership features an endowment of an Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant and the naming rights to the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series, which will provide juniors access to national competitive golf opportunities.
For more information on the Junior All-Star at Aspen, contact AJGA National Headquarters at (770) 868-4200 or visit ajga.org.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Final results from the Colorado Junior at Flying Horse conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at The Club at Flying Horse.
Par: Boys: 36-36—72; Girls: 36-36—72.
Yardage: Boys: 7,242; Girls: 6,364.
Rating/Slope: Boys: 73.7/138; Girls: 76.1/151.
BOYS DIVISION
David Oraee, Greeley, Colo. 66-64-70—200
Myles Miller, Wellington, Kan. 75-71-72—218
Blake Pugh, Southlake, Texas 73-75-72—220
Daniel De La Garza, Monterrey, Mexico 76-67-77—220
Cameron Harrell, Colorado Springs, Colo. 70-75-76—221
Chase Hanna, Leawood, Kan. 78-76-69—223
Walker Huddy, Studio City, Calif. 77-72-75—224
Zachary Toste, Pembroke Pines, Fla. 74-73-78—225
Eric Hallberg, Castle Rock, Colo. 78-74-74—226
Clayton Crawford, Aspen, Colo. 72-77-78—227
Charlie Benell, Pacific Palisades, Calif. 75-74-79—228
Taylor McCullum, Hoover, Ala. 77-72-79—228
Danny Ochoa, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. 78-74-77—229
Brandon Pierce, Covington, La. 80-74-75—229
Thomas Lim, Moorpark, Calif. 73-72-84—229
Tee-k Kelly, Wheaton, Ill. 80-76-74—230
Sanjay Lumpkin, Wayzata, Minn. 75-78-77—230
Matt Krutz, Norman, Okla. 81-77-73—231
Brandon Smith, Parkland, Fla. 74-75-82—231
Spencer Mikles, Santa Barbara, Calif. 77-74-81—232
Scott Scheffler, Dallas, Texas 78-76-79—233
Conner Schrock, Shawnee Mission, Kan. 81-75-79—235
Nicholas Weidner, Edina, Minn. 81-79-76—236
Christian De La Cruz, San Antonio, Texas 79-81-76—236
Osama Khan, Bradenton, Fla. 79-77-80—236
David Dworsky, Los Angeles, Calif. 75-82-81—238
Trey Kidd, Honolulu, Hawaii 84-77-77—238
Randy Ross, Phoenix, Ariz. 82-74-82—238
Kale Davidson, Peoria, Ariz. 84-76-78—238
Garrett Lynch, Austin, Texas 77-79-83—239
James Leadbetter, Orlando, Fla. 80-79-81—240
Chris Babcock, Shoreline, Wash. 77-80-83—240
Daniel Jaramillo, Bradenton, Fla. 81-81-80—242
David Marshall, Sacramento, Calif. 84-77-81—242
Daniel Haas, Nicholasville, Ky. 82-82-80—244
Ethan Park, Boulder, Colo. 81-84-81—246
Connor Knabe, Leawood, Kan. 77-85-85—247
Austin Lopez, Albuquerque, N.M. 77-85-85—247
Justin Hauth, Frisco, Texas 84-83-80—247
Cole Cunningham, Centennial, Colo. 84-81-82—247
Caleb Barker, Highlands Ranch, Colo. 84-84-80—248
Nick Spalding, Eagle, Idaho 82-87-83—252
Richard Zhang, Bradenton, Fla. 90-79-83—252
Jesse Beetham, Woody Creek, Colo. 86-83-83—252
Calvin Dorsey, Denver, Colo. 83-86-84—253
Steven Guerra, Colorado Springs, Colo. 79-88-86—253
Cristian DiMarco, Heathrow, Fla. 84-81-90—255
Drew Ferguson, Belgrade, Mont. 88-88-80—256
Jonathan Dresnick, Miami, Fla. 84-81-91—256
Nicholas Meads, Tyler, Texas 87-87-87—261
Samuel Aronoff, Santa Monica, Calif. 88-92-84—264
Austin McGrane, Highlands Ranch, Colo. 91-88-85—264
Dakota McGarrity, Colorado Springs, Colo. 89-89-87—265
Joseph Kistner, Aspen, Colo. 97-92-104—293
Omri Gildor, Aspen, Colo. 100-96-105—301
Andrew Howe, Longmont, Colo. DQ - Rule 6-3a (NS)
Cameron Ortega, Aspen, Colo. 90-103 DQ (15-3b)
Liam Snyder, Stuart, Fla. 82-92 DQ (15-3b)
GIRLS DIVISION
Marijosse Navarro, San Antonio, Texas 78-70-76—224
Emily Haas, Nicholasville, Ky. 80-73-76—229
Marissa Dodd, Allen, Texas 78-75-77—230
Xin Wang, Howey In The Hills, Fla. 74-79-79—232
Shannon Lubar, Littleton, Colo. 73-82-77—232
Kendall Dusenberry, Newhall, Calif. 78-77-77—232
Allie Johnston, Castle Rock, Colo. 76-77-79—232
Alix Kong, West Vancouver, Canada 78-76-79—233
Lindsay McGetrick, Highlands Ranch, Colo. 81-71-82—234
Grace Chua, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada 81-76-79—236
Stephanie Liu, Lakewood Ranch, Fla. 77-78-82—237
Mackenzie Boydston, Keller, Texas 85-76-76—237
Alexa Schendelman, Gilbert, Ariz. 79-80-80—239
Katy Dyachkova, Centennial, Colo. 83-79-78—240
Sarah Schmelzel, Phoenix, Ariz. 78-85-79—242
Cherie Chua, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada 81-81-84—246
Claudia Davis, Centennial, Colo. 83-85-80—248
Helen Kim, Chandler, Ariz. 84-78-92—254
Michelle Woods, Manhattan, Kan. 87-85-86—258
Alexis Sadeghy, Edmond, Okla. 89-86-87—262
Cheryl Chua, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada 89-87-88—264
Lena Andreas, Pacific Grove, Calif. 96-83-100—279
Rachael Henry, Pleasanton, Calif. 96-93-91—280
