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Another
Exciting Season Comes to a Close |
A
look back at a year that will never be forgotten |
By
John Egnot
Manager of Media Relations
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| Pressel
completed the "career slam" at the McDonald's
Betsy Rawls Girls Championship. Here, LPGA Tour hall of
famer Betsy Rawls (right) congratulates her. |
It
seems that every AJGA season has its fair share of spectacular
shots, miraculous putts and stories of junior golf’s best
making names for themselves at the highest level of competition.
The 2005 campaign was no exception, with a number of players
breaking through as individuals and as teams. 2005 saw one AJGA
star make a run at history at one of women’s golf’s
greatest championships. Conversely, 2005 also saw Mother Nature
play a significant role in the AJGA’s schedule, and as
we all saw in late August, a devastating role in the lives of
hundreds of thousands of people along the Gulf Coast.
Of
course, you can’t begin to talk about the 2005 season
without mention of the incredible run made by Boca Raton, Fla.,
native Morgan Pressel. Now set to compete in the final stage
of LPGA Tour Qualifying School, Pressel completed the AJGA Invitational
“career slam” with victories at the Thunderbird
International Junior, Rolex Girls Junior Championship and McDonald’s
Betsy Rawls Girls Championship. These three victories came on
the heels of wins at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the
Polo Golf Junior Classic in 2004. Additionally, Pressel compiled
a 2-0-1 record while helping the United States recapture the
PING Junior Solheim Cup. Outside the AJGA, Pressel notched a
victory at the U.S. Women's Amateur and hovered near the top
of the leader board at the U.S. Women’s Open, just missing
out on becoming the youngest player in history to win a professional
golf major.
Early in the year, Bronson Burgoon of The Woodlands, Texas,
was on a tear, winning one of the AJGA’s prestigious Easter
Weekend events, the PING Junior at The Woodlands, by three shots.
After capturing his first AJGA victory in his hometown, Burgoon
took his game to the Thunderbird International Junior, where
he broke through with his first AJGA Invitational victory by
making a ferocious comeback from six shots behind in the final
round to defeat Jamie Lovemark on the first hole of a sudden-death
playoff. Burgoon is now competing at Texas A&M.
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| Kyle
Stanley lines up a putt on the 72nd hole at the HP Boys
Junior Championship. |
After claiming her first career individual AJGA victory at the
Hiwan Junior presented by Stonecreek Funding, 16-year-old Esther
Choe of Scottsdale, Ariz., found herself in a race to the finish
at the rain-shortened final round at the Rolex Tournament of
Champions. A number of players went low in the Girls Division
to stake their claim for the title. However, Choe’s 4-under-par
32 was enough to edge out three players by one shot.
If you’re looking for a story of triumph over disappointment,
you need look no further than Kyle Stanley of Gig Harbor, Wash.
After missing a one-foot putt to earn a spot in a sudden-death
playoff at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, Stanley responded
with a phenomenal performance at the HP Boys Junior Championship.
Held at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club, home of the PGA
TOUR’s Bay Hill Invitational, Stanley blistered the golf
course with a 12-under-par tournament total, defeating his closest
competitor, 2008 high school graduate Josh Jones, by five shots.
Speaking of going low at a world-class golf course, Arnond Vongvanij
of Bradenton, Fla., is one AJGA star who is becoming well known
for his ability to take it deep, and sometimes very deep, on
a regular basis. In 2005, Vongvanij fired a second-round 63
at the Ringgold Telephone Company Junior Classic en route to
his third career AJGA victory. He would follow that up with
an amazing 8-under-par 64 during the third round at Bay Hill,
a round that catapulted him near the top of the leader board.
“Bank” would go on to finish third, his best showing
at an AJGA Invitational.
As it pertains to finishing strong, it may be some time until
we see a player finish not just a tournament, but a career,
in such dramatic fashion as James Lee of La Habra, Calif. Now
competing as a freshman at UCLA, Lee earned his fourth AJGA
victory in a little over a year at the Family Honda/Family Toyota
Junior presented by The First American Corporation in resounding
fashion. With a chance to break 200 squarely in his sights,
Lee stepped up to the 17th tee needing a birdie and an eagle
to accomplish that feat. Lee ripped driver on the short par-4
and made a short putt for eagle. He wasn’t done yet. The
La Habra native would go on to hit the par-5 18th green in two,
making another short eagle putt to finish with an 18-under-par
198 and an 11-shot victory.
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| Weather
played a significant role in the 2005 AJGA season, as
is seen here during the Hiwan Junior presented by Stonecreek
Funding. |
Of
course, you can’t wrap up a review of the 2005 AJGA season
without mentioning the weather that wreaked havoc with the schedule
throughout the year. Beginning in March, the Mizuno Junior at
Chateau Elan had its final round shortened to nine holes due
to approaching thunderstorms. Four other tournaments (Ashworth
Junior at Cannon Ridge, Nike Golf Junior at Fort Myers, Wildcat
Golf/Wichita Junior Championship, Hiwan Junior presented by
Stonecreek Funding) all had an entire 18-hole round canceled
due to inclement weather conditions.
For the first time in its illustrious history, the Rolex Tournament
of Champions was shortened by nine holes to avoid nasty conditions
on Hilton Head Island, S.C. The First American Title Junior
Classic at the Westin Innisbrook Resort saw its final round
reduced to 16 holes after two holes were flooded by torrential
rainfall.
Without question, none of these events were affected as much
as the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Junior and the Audubon
Golf Trail Top 100 presented by: Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
None of us will ever forget the numbing and surreal images resulting
from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The inaugural Top
100 event was canceled due to the horrific damage caused by
the storm, while the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Junior, held
in Mobile, Ala., was postponed for more than a month.
Without question, 2005 was one of the most eventful and exciting
years in the AJGA’s long history. As the season comes
to a close and preparation begins for 2006, we will all be looking
forward to another spectacular season in the new year! |
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