volume 3/ issue 10/ 12.8.04
 
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One Word: Phenomenal

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One Word: Phenomenal
A recap of the 2004 Polo Golf Junior Classic
 
By John Egnot
Manager of Media Relations

As the sun rose on Monday, November 20, there was the feel of something special in the air. For the first time, the Polo Golf Junior Classic was held at the Plantation and Seaside Courses at Sea Island Golf Club in beautiful Sea Island, Ga. Much like the scenery, the action could be described with one adjective.
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Phenomenal.
The stroke play portion of the tournament began with a bang as Mina Harigae, a 2008 high school graduate from Monterey, Calif., took the Seaside Course by storm, firing a competitive course record 8-under-par 62. Harigae not only captured a four-shot lead going into the second round, she also etched her name in the AJGA record books, tying the all-time record-low 18-hole score set by Leigh Anne Hardin and later tied by Amie Cochran.
Mina Harigae tied the all-time AJGA record-low 18-hole score with a first-round 62. The 15-year-old would advance to the round of eight before being eliminated.

Harigae would go on to earn medalist honors by five shots, joining Roberto Galletti, Jr., of Vallejo, Calif., as the No. 1 seeds in the match play portion of the tournament.

On Wednesday morning, 64 players took to the Seaside and Plantation courses for the first round of match play. In the Boys Division, upsets were the norm as the No. 1 seed Galletti and No. 2 seed Blake Trimble of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., were eliminated, both in extra holes.

Harigae survived a valiant first-round challenge by Ashley Freeman of Belleville, Ill., 1-up, while No. 2 seed Catherina Wang needed 20 holes to defeat Kristina Wong of Vestal, N.Y.

As the tournament went on, the field narrowed, the winds picked up and the drama increased. On Thursday, each division was down to their respective final four. And, in the Girls Division, an epic battle was staged.

A head-to-head match-up between Rolex Junior Player of the Year Julieta Granada and First-Team Rolex Junior All-American Morgan Pressel is one that would bring about a lot of excitement under any circumstance. In this case, a birth in the championship match was on the line.

Granada jumped out to an early lead by winning the third hole. The Asuncion, Paraguay, native led all the way up until the 18th, where the stage was set for one of the most dramatic shots in the history of the Polo Golf Junior Classic.

With Granada leading the match 1-up, both players were safe off the tee. At this point, Granada knocked her second shot about 25 feet left of the flag, leaving herself a fairly straight uphill birdie putt. Pressel stepped up to her second shot, desperately needing to, at the very least, hit the green to give herself a shot at making birdie. However, the Boca Raton, Fla., native left her second shot short and right in a greenside bunker. It looked like the match was all but over.

And then, the drama began. Barely visible to the spectators standing behind No. 18 green, Pressel lofted the ball beautifully out of the bunker. The ball slowly trickled closer and closer to the hole, and deep down you knew that it had to fall. Surely enough, the ball died into the hole, giving Pressel a birdie and pushing the match to extra holes.

Morgan Pressel outlasted Julieta Granada, finally defeating the Rolex Junior Player of the Year on the 21st hole. Pressel would go on to defeat Marika Lendl, 3 and 2 in the championship match.
The players would match scores on the 19th and 20th holes. Standing on the third tee, the player’s 21st hole, the match was postponed until Friday morning due to darkness. It was only fitting that a match between these two would take two days to complete.

At 7:30 a.m. Friday, play resumed on a cold morning in Sea Island. Both players would miss the green with their tee shots; however, Pressel was able to get up and down for par. Granada would go on to miss an eight-foot par putt, sending Pressel to the championship match.

The match was everything it was built up to be and then some. The best part was, the fun wasn’t over yet.

Pressel would face Canon Cup teammate Marika Lendl, a 2008 high school grad from Goshen, Conn., in the championship match. Lendl led the entire front nine. However, Pressel would rally, grasping momentum and winning hole Nos. 13, 15 and 16, enough for a 3 and 2 victory.

The championship match in the Boys Division pitted James Lee of La Habra, Calif., and David May of Auburn, N.Y. Once again, drama abounded on the 18th green.

With the match all square, both players faced long birdie putts. After pouring his birdie putt in on top of Lee’s, May forced extra holes. The players would battle it out until their 23rd hole, where May would miss a short par putt, allowing Lee to claim victory in what turned out to be the longest championship match in the history of the Polo Golf Junior Classic.

And what a Polo Golf Junior Classic it was. Low scores, clutch shots, sudden-death playoffs. It was everything it was built up to be – a top-notch golf tournament at one of the greatest facilities in the world.

How does it get better than this, you ask? It will all happen again next year at the 28th installment of the Polo Golf Junior Classic at Sea Island Golf Club.