UP-AND-DOWN LAWNIN MOVES TO THE FRONT
Espinosa shoots 69, overtakes Hines

BOERNE, TEXAS - Carter Lawnin, of Kingwood, Texas, struggled at times but turned in a solid round and leads by one shot in the Boys Division after the second round of the Randall Parker San Antonio Shootout presented by Parker's Express on Thursday.

Lauren Espinosa, who began the day in second place, fired a 3-under-par 69 and surpassed first-round leader Caney Hines, of San Antonio, Texas, in the Girls Division.

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Randall Parker San Antonio Shootout presented by Parker's Express consists of 120 players from 10 states, including 103 from Texas. The tournament is being contested at the Lakes and Valley courses at Tapatio Springs Golf Resort. The course plays to a par-71 for the boys and par-72 for the girls. Past winners of the event include Tiger Woods, who won in 1992.

Lawnin, who began the day in second place, had to battle early to keep himself afloat. Only six holes into his round, Lawnin was 3-over-par; however, he righted himself and got back to even-par 71 by the end of the day. He leads by one stroke.

"I knew there was a lot of golf left," Lawnin said about his shaky start. "If I just made a couple birdies, got around even-par, one-over (for the day), I'd be in an all-right position."

Dos Goldsmith, of McAllen, Texas, also fired a round of even-par 71, and is 2-under-par for the tournament.

"I really didn't play that well, but I did just that; I kept it at even-par," Goldsmith said. "I made a couple good birdies, and I didn't really make any big mistakes. I kept it in the fairways for the majority of the holes."

Ryan Kornmann, who is tied for second after shooting a 1-under-par 70, will join Lawnin and Goldsmith to form an inexperienced final group. None of the three competitors have ever experienced the pressure of the final grouping of the final round in an AJGA tournament.

Chad Follett, of El Paso, Texas, turned in the shot of the day on the par-4 16th hole. Standing in the rough 145 yards away, he punched a shot below an over-hanging tree, and it rolled in for an eagle. Follett is alone in fourth, 1-under-par for the tournament. Tom Gillebeau, of Hockessin, Del., rounds out the top-five after shooting a 72. He is even-par for the tournament.

Despite trailing by five strokes after the first round, Espinosa, of Irving, Texas, played the only round under par in the Girls Division to vault past her good friend Hines. Espinosa's charge to the front of the pack included four birdies, three of which came on the back nine. She finished her day strong with a birdie on No. 18 and had only one blemish, a bogey on the 381-yard 14th.

"I'm impressed with (my round), but I think I could have shot lower," Espinosa said. "I could have made more putts because I was hitting everything good."

Espinosa is 1-under-par for the tournament, two shots better than Hines, who faltered to a 3-over-par 40 the back nine on Thursday. Hines bogeyed No. 11 through No. 13 as well as No. 17 and finished with a 4-over-par 76. Espinosa and Hines played together at the Justin Leonard/Deloitte & Touche Junior Team Championship last week in Dallas.

Carling Coffing, of Middletown, Ohio, represents another challenger to Espinosa. Coffing stands in third, eight shots off the pace. She shot a 2-over-par 74 and is 7-over-par for the tournament.

Tee times will begin at 7 a.m. on Friday and conclude at 12:51 p.m. For more information on the Randall Parker San Antonio Shootout Presented by Parker's Express, contact tournament headquarters at 1-800-999-3299, ext. 181.