Hua, Lee advance to AJGA main draw
Jenny Hua of Boyds, Md., and Kaitlin Lee of Scarsdale, N.Y., survived the American Junior Golf Association Championship qualifier to advance into the main event for the championship sponsored by Princeton University grad Stuart Francis.
Hua shared medalist honors with Princeton resident Julia McLaughlin as both posted 2-over-par-73 at Springdale Golf Club. McLaughlin dropped out due to participation in another tournament which allowed Lee (74) to join the 54-hole competition.
Finn McGarry claimed the boys’ qualifier with a 4-under-par 66, three shots better than Calen Sanderson (Skillman), Liam Larkin (Green Brook) and Matthew Thomas (Mount Laurel), in with 69. Daniel Suter (Gaithersburg, Md.), Ian Larson (Far Hills), Peter O’Rourke (HoHoKus), and Adam Varela (Tinton Falls) tied for fifth-place with 1-over-71. Joseph Morganti (Havertown, Pa.) gained a final top-8 qualifying spot after Sanderson withdrew.
Play continues today with 84 contestants scheduled for 36 holes followed by a cut and 18-hole finale on Wednesday. Jenny Hua of Boyds, Md., tied for medalist honors during an AJGA Monday qualifier for the Stuart Francis Championship at Springdale Golf Club in Princeton.
— L.A. Parker Keith Stewart, Springdale Golf Club head pro, noted that former Harvard standout Tiffany Lim holds the women’s course record of 4-under-par 66, produced during the 2013 University of Princeton Invitational.
Penn State’s Josh Dawes posted a 63 en route to his individual title at the men’s Princeton Invitational in 2002.
Sixty-three ranks as a steep challenge here for boys. Yes, they bomb drives all around Springdale GC but nuanced greens produce challenges.
Springdale GC includes highly educated members, yet, even those here for decades struggle reading greens.
A female record seems possible but that will require a near-perfect performance.
— L.A. Parker