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AJGA NIKE GOLF JUNIOR ALL-STAR SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP
Langdon Farms Golf Club
Aurora, Oregon
August 29 – September 1, 2003
CALIFORNIANS LEAD BOYS DIVISION AFTER
ONE ROUND AT LANGDON FARMS
International player sits atop Girls Division at AJGA
Nike Golf Junior All-Star Series Championship
AURORA, Ore. — After one round of
play at the AJGA Nike Golf Junior All-Star Series Championship,
three Californians, Sihwan Kim of La Mirada, Daniel Miller
of Santa Maria, and Alex Resurreccion of Long Beach, fired
69s to lead the Boys Division. Ami Nakagawa of Osaka, Japan,
controls the Girls Division by one-stroke.
The 54-hole national golf tournament, conducted by the American
Junior Golf Association, features 77 boys and girls (13-15
year olds) representing 26 states, Canada and Japan. To qualify
for this season-ending championship, the participants needed
to garner top finishes in 2003 Nike Golf Junior All-Star Series
events.
Coming off a win at the AJGA PING Phoenix Junior Championship,
Kim recorded four birdies to finish with a 2-under-par 69
in the opening round. Kim found success on both nines, finishing
1-under-par on both the front and back nines.
“My shots were good, but the greens were fast and I
struggled with my putting,” Kim said. “I didn’t
have any really good shots, but I didn’t have any really
bad shots either.”
After making a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 1, Miller kept
up the charge with a birdie on No. 3 and an eagle on the 516-yard,
par-5 seventh hole.
Miller hit driver off the tee, and an 8-iron left him 90-yards
shy of the hole.
“I hit my sand wedge well,” Miller said. “The
ball hit the green, took a high hop and dropped right in the
hole.”
Adding his name to the list of contenders in the Boys Division,
Resurreccion carded seven birdies to finish the first round.
The 2006 high school graduate fired an impressive 4-under-par
31 on the front nine.
Rounding out the top five in the Boys Division are Jonathan
Khan of Tucson, Ariz., and Kevin O’Connell of Raleigh,
N.C. The two are tied for fourth after finishing with opening
round 70s.
In other highlights in the Boys Division, Jared Shepherd
of Kingwood, Texas, provided the Championship’s first
hole-in-one on the 122-yard par-3 No. 6.
Nakagawa finished the day with two birdies to lead the Girls
Division heading into the second round. After a 4-over-par
performance on her first nine, she got in a groove after the
turn. With only one bogey on her last nine holes, Nakagawa
captured the lead by garnering two birdies on her the last
three holes.
Alina Lee of Bradenton, Fla., trails Nakagawa by one stroke
with a 75, while fellow Japan native Yuki Sakurai of Kyoto,
sits at third with a 77.
Tied for fourth with 78s, Kathryn Detlefsen of Eagan, Minn.,
and Ashley Lance of Franklin, Tenn., round out the top-five
in the Girls Division.
Second-round action begins Sunday at 8 a.m. off the Nos.
1 and 10 tees. The tournament concludes Monday with final-round
tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees.
For more information on the AJGA Nike Golf Junior All-Star
Series Championship, please contact tournament headquarters
at (503) 678-3262 ext.105, or visit the American Junior Golf
Association’s Web site at ajga.org.
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