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PETE AND ALICE DYE AJGA CLASSIC
Pete Dye Golf Club
Bridgeport, West Virginia
July1-4, 2002
STEADY PLAY REIGNS AS BARR SEIZES LEAD
BY TWO STROKES
Nakazaki steadies the pace in the Girls Division and leads
by one stroke
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. - Consistency was the key for Dustin
Barr of Mooresville, N.C., as he carded a 71-72-143 to lead
the Boys Division by two strokes in the Pete and Alice Dye
AJGA Classic Wednesday. In the Girls Division, Noriko Nakazaki
of Hanover Park, Ill., carded the Girls low of 2-over-par
74 (75-74-149) to stand in the lead by a stroke.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the inaugural
championship features 84 players from 16 states, Washington,
D.C., and Canada, including ten West Virginia natives.
Realizing the challenge of playing at Pete Dye Golf Club,
Barr decided to exercise his intellect and skills in minimizing
his errors for the second round. While his risks were minimal,
he currently has a stranglehold on the lead heading into the
final round.
"I wanted to stay out of all bunkers and I didn't want
to three putt, which ended up being my goals for the day,"
Barr said. "I played solid today, and my putter worked
really well. I made a lot of five-and six-footers and I feel
I needed to do that to play well out here."
Through the first two rounds, Barr has three-putted once,
and has found himself in only one bunker. Rather than swinging
for the fences or take needless risks in the final round,
Barr is planning to keep his game simple.
"I'm going to keep the same strategy out here, which
is to stay out of trouble and make a lot of pars," Barr
said. "I think par is a good score here."
Tony Dibitetto of Rochester, N.Y., stands alone in second,
while first round co-leader Ryan Siekmann of Dublin, Ohio
is third and three shots off the pace. Nathan Kinker of Barboursville,
W. Va., and Thomas Feldman of Washington, D.C. round out the
top-five boys.
Similar to Barr, Nakazaki has played a cerebral game that
has yielded very few mistakes.
"My goal today was to not make more than one bogey,"
Nakazaki said.
The weather on Tuesday was debilitating, but the heat and
humidity subsided somewhat for today's second round.
"The weather doesn't really affect me," Nakazaki
said. "It's been pretty hot and humid out, but I've been
able to not let it affect my game."
For the girls, the 17-year-old Nakazaki continues her quick
ascent in the ranks of the AJGA, as she will play in the final
girls group for the third time in four weeks. Up until this
year
Nakazaki had never played in a leader group, but her excellent
play of late and her career-high second place finish in the
AJGA Golfweek Chicago Junior has collectively boosted her
confidence.
"My goal for the final round is to shoot 72," Nakazaki
said. "What I need to do tomorrow is simple. I need to
hit my driver on the fairway, lay it up on the green and two-putt
at the most."
Christie Reed of Coral Springs, Fla., Rachel Smith of Powell,
Tenn., and Dayna Burleigh of Horsham, Pa., round out the top
three positions in the Girls Division.
Final round action will run from 7:30 - 9:27 a.m. off the
No. 1 and No. 10 tees at Pete Dye Golf Club.
For more information on the Pete and Alice Dye AJGA Classic,
please contact tournament headquarters at (304) 842-2801 ext.
307.
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