The AJGA’s Canon Cup, celebrating its 17th anniversary,
brought together the nation’s top 40 juniors in an
East versus West (divided by the Mississippi River) Team
match play tournament July 31-Aug. 3. Each squad consisted
of 20 players – 10 boys and 10 girls – who were
selected based on an AJGA points system that rewarded them
for top finishes in national junior golf events. The event
was held at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Ill.
 |
| AJGA Executive
Director Stephen Hamblin addresses the crowd at the
opening ceremonies for the 17th annual cup. |
In 1990, the inaugural
Canon Cup featured then rising stars Tiger Woods and Emilee
Klein representing the West Team, squaring off against Stewart
Cink and Vicki Goetze defending the East. Since then notable
juniors to represent the East include Charles Howell III,
David Gossett, Casey Wittenberg and Morgan Pressel. Alumni
of the West Team include Ryan Moore, Grace Park, and Paula
Creamer.
Day 1
Spectators and juniors
alike were entertained throughout the first day, watching
as the East and West Teams battled back and forth for the
lead. It came down to the final hole of the day, and the
West stepped up to the challenge, taking a one-point lead
ending the day at 8-7.
Beginning with four-ball matches, the East
Team took an early hold in the morning by earning the first
two points. Isabelle Lendl of Bradenton, Fla.,
and Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, Fla., remained strong throughout
the round by making eight birdies as a tandem to close out
Taylore Karle of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Kimberly Kim of Pahoa,
Hawaii, of the West Team 4 and 3.
“It’s always good to have someone there (playing
with you) because it’s okay if you make a mistake,” Lendl
said. “We knew we’d be good together.”
Peter Uihlein and Arnond Vongvanij, both of Bradenton, Fla.,
sealed the second point of the morning for the East, winning
their match 5 and 4 over Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Calif.,
and Kyle Stanley of Gig Harbor, Wash. The lopsided victory
came as a surprise, with each of the four players being ranked
in the top 15 of the AJGA rankings.
When the third match was halved, the West Team countered
the first two East victories with two of their own.
“We just told ourselves that anything can happen,” said
Andrew Yun of Tacoma, Wash., who with Richard Lee of Chandler,
Ariz., won the first point for the West Team. “We’ve
just got to stay in the moment.”
The result of the final five matches mirrored that of the
first five, with both the East and West Teams taking two
additional points and halving a second match. They were all
tightly contested, going 16 holes or longer to determine
the winners. The four-ball matches ended in a tie, 5-5.
The pace changed in the afternoon, with five mixed foursome
matches. However, this time it was the West Team that took
the first point of the round. Stephanie Kono and Tadd Fujikawa,
both of Honolulu, grabbed an early lead, winning their match
2 and 1 over In-Kyung Kim of Marriottsville, Md., and David
Yujin Chung of Fayetteville, N.C.
“It was fun,” Kono said. “We play together
a lot and we know each other’s game. It feels good
to contribute to your team.”
Once again it was tied with both the East and West Teams
holding two points. Crowded around No. 18 green, the red
of the East and the blue of the West sat divided, anxiously
awaiting the final match of the day. The crowd fell silent
as Jane Rah of Torrance, Calif., sank a par putt that won
the match and gave the West the lead heading into Wednesday.
Her partner, Cody Gribble of Dallas, was elated with the
win.
“It just felt like we were in control,” he said, “putting
pressure on (the East Team).”
Day 2
After starting day two with a one-point lead, the West Team
came out in full force expanding their lead by gaining 7.5
points in the morning matches and four points in the afternoon
matches. The West finished the second day with a nine-point
lead, 19.5-10.5
Beginning with foursome matches (alternate shot), the West
Team dominated the morning, winning 7.5 of the 10 morning
points. At the close of the morning matches, the West Team
led the East Team 15.5 to 9.5.
The West Team started the day strongly with Mindy Kim of
Diamond Bar, Calif., and Sydney Burlison of Salinas, Calif.,
scoring the first point of the day. Kim and Burlison won
their match 3 and 2 over Isabelle Lendl and Hurst.
“This was my first time with the alternate shot format
and I loved it,” Kim said. “We were just a good
combination.”
The afternoon consisted of five mixed four-ball matches.
The West Team won four of the five afternoon match points.
The first afternoon point for the West Squad was captured
by Fowler and Sydnee Michaels of Temecula, Calif., who defeated
Mu Hu of Celebration Fla., and Park, 6 and 5. Fowler and
Michaels made six consecutive birdies on hole Nos. 4 thru
9 to take command of the match.
“Those six holes gave us a jump start to win the match,” Fowler
said. “This format is fun because you bond with your
teammates and get to know the best players out there.”
Scoring points for the East Squad were Uihlein and Hurst
who won over Stanley and Karle after taking the lead on hole
No. 6 and building upon that lead to win 6 and 4.
 |
| Andrew
Yun clinched the West Team's second straight Canon
Cup victory. |
The day ended with arguably the most exciting
match with Josh Jones of The Colony, Texas, and Tiffany Lua
of Rowland Heights, Claif., of the West Team defeating Ji
Moon of Lake Mary, Fla., and Natalie Sheary of West Harford,
Conn., 1-up. Coming into hole No. 17, the West Team was dormie
after Jones carded four consecutive birdies. However, the
East Team made a strong comeback with Moon chipping in from
35 yards to birdie No. 17 to extend the match. On hole No.
18, Lua made a 12-foot birdie putt to solidify another point
for the West Team, much to the excitement of her teammates
gathered around the green.
Day 3
Day three saw steady rainfall and overcast skies emerge
as the theme of the day. The gloomy weather didn’t
deter the West Team, however, as they retained the Canon
Cup, winning the event 31-19. With a nine-point cushion heading
into the third day, the West quelled an East Team rally by
winning nine and halving three of its singles matches to
clinch the cup.
Heavy rains delayed tee times for an hour, and play was
suspended for 53 minutes later in the morning while players
took shelter from the storm. When play resumed, the East
Team found themselves in an uphill battle toward the Canon
Cup.
The West eventually secured the title when Andrew Yun of
Tacoma, Wash., got up and down on his last hole of the day
to defeat Chung, 1-up. Yun, who won the FootJoy Boys Invitational
in June, never trailed in his deciding match versus Chung.
“I just wanted to win my match,” Yun said. “Clinching
the cup like that is an extra bonus.”
The West was anchored throughout the week by its girls,
six of whom went undefeated for the week, including Burlison,
Kim, Kono, Michaels, Rah and Esther Choe of Scottsdale, Ariz.
Choe, Kim, and Kono were all 4-0 for the week.
“All that team spirit let me win my matches,” Mindy
Kim said. “They picked me up when I was down.”
Kim identified the importance of changing her strategy between
stroke play competition and match play.
“You have to be more aggressive in match play,” she
said. “You have to go for more pins and not be conservative.”
Other stand-out matches included a showdown between second-ranked
Uihlein and third-ranked Fowler, according to the AJGA rankings.
Uihlein, who was last year’s Rolex Junior Player of
the Year, birdied No. 1 and never looked back. He made six
total birdies en route to defeating Fowler, 5 and 4.
“He’s obviously one of the best players in the
country,” Uihlein said, “and this gives me a
lot more confidence after Rickie thumped me at [the HP Boys
Junior Championship].”
Fowler picked up his first major victory in July when he
and Uihlein played in the final pairing on the last day of
the HP Boys Junior Championship. Fowler shot 67. Uihlein
shot 75.
“Basically, Peter and I are squared up now,” Fowler
said, grinning. “He redeemed himself against me today.”
With the win, the West Squad tied the all time series at
8-8-1. |
