Sargent, Raines win AJGA event
RINGGOLD, Ga. — The way Gordon Sargent showed improvement as the American Junior Golf Association’s Evitt Foundation RTC Junior All-Star tournament went along, had it been a four-day event instead of three, he might have become the new course record-holder at WindStone.
Sargent went from shooting an opening 1-over par 72 to shooting 67, which landed him in Thursday’s final group. Then he closed with a round of 6 under and a 204 total for the boys’ championship in the tournament that featured 54 players ages 12 to 15 from across the globe.
Leila Raines, who was tied for the girls’ lead at 1-under 70 after the first day, saw her scores increase daily, but in the end it didn’t matter. Her 71 and 72 on Wednesday and Thursday were good enough for her to finish ahead of the other 22 girls.
Sargent, from Birmingham, Ala., had a simple explanation why his opening round wasn’t under par like the others.
“I hit the ball OK,” he said, “but I did not putt as well as I did the last two days.”
Sargent said the eagle he registered on No. 14 in his second round provided a big spark in his comeback. And as instrumental as that was, he had a more timely eagle in the final round.
Cohen Trolio, from West Point, Miss., and Narayan Mohan, from Charlotte, N.C., were tied for the lead at 137 heading into the final round. Sargent began the day two back.
Sargent was within one stroke of the lead after he made birdies on Nos. 9 and 10, setting the stage for his whirlwind finish that started with consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 through 16. He then went to the par-5 17th,
where he stuck an approach shot within two feet of the cup, sank that for eagle and took a twoshot lead to the final hole.
“It feels great,” Sutton said about winning the prestigious junior tournament. “I wasn’t expecting to win coming into today, but then I had that hot stretch and ended up winning.”
Trolio finished second among the boys at 206, and Mohan’s 211 left him in fourth. Singapore’s Hiroshi Tai matched Sargent’s closing 65 and ended up third at 210. Bruce Murphy, from Johns Creek, Ga. rounded out the top five at 212.
Dawson Garrett and Harrison Davis, both from Fort Payne, Ala., each totaled 220 and tied for 19th. Garrett shot a finalround 69.
Bennett McNabb from Ringgold and McCallie student Joe Carter from Chattanooga shot 75 and 74 on Thursday. McNabb (229) tied for 37th and Carter (230) tied for 39th.
Raines, from Galena, Ohio, ended up edging Amanda Sambach, from Davidson, N.C., 213 to 214. Third-place finisher Karoline Tuttle, from Lake Mary, Fla., wound up eight shots back of Sambach.
Raines’ bogey-bogey start, coupled with Sambach’s par on No. 1 and birdie on No. 2, left them tied for first early in the final round. Raines went back ahead with a birdie on the par-3 No. 6. But after making a 6 on the par-4 No. 8, she found herself a shot behind Sambach, who remained 1 under for the day to that point.
Things changed on the par-5 No. 9 when Raines birdied and Sambach bogeyed.
“She was striking it great,” Raines said of Sambach. “She had one not-so-great hole. It was back and forth.”
Raines chipped in for birdie on No. 10, then made a long putt on No. 13 that started a string of three birdies in succession. She said overall she made three putts in the 20-to-30-foot range, which helped overcome the double-bogey shortly before the turn.
“That put me one or two back, when I had a three-shot lead to begin with,” said Raines, who bogeyed the final hole but had a two-shot cushion going in. “Those three birdies got me back in front. My putter was really doing well.”
The victories were the first for Sargent and Raines in AJGA tournaments.
“It was definitely nerve-racking coming down the stretch,” Raines said. “I’m just glad I finally got a win.”
Ellen Dong, from Beijing, China, finished fourth among the girls at 224. New York’s Soona Lee-Tolley completed the top five at 225.
Hannah Nall, from Cleveland, Tenn., was the top finishing area girl. She totaled 230 and tied for ninth.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.