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The
NCAA Championships
Nirapathpongporn, Matteson Lead AJGA Alums
By Brett Goering
If you
take a look at the AJGA mission statement, it reads: The AJGA
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth
and development of young men and women who aspire to earn
college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf.
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Virada
Nirapathpongporn (top) and Troy Matteson have followed
up outstanding AJGA careers with similar success in
college.
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Of these
young men and women aspiring for a chance to play college
golf, roughly 75 percent of the juniors that play in the AJGA
receive some form of scholarship. So it's no surprise that
when you glance at the 2002 NCAA Division I Men’s and
Women’s Golf Championship leaderboard, you see it littered
with former AJGA stars - now some of college golf’s finest.
Out of
the top 50 places at this years’ NCAA Women’s Championships,
nearly half were former AJGA members, including six that finished
in the top 10. The men were equally impressive with six former
members finishing in the top 10.
Not impressed
yet? Well, the individual medalists in both the men’s
and women’s fields were at one time members of the AJGA.
Led by
former AJGA standout Virada Nirapathpongporn, Duke broke away
from the pack to win the NCAA women’s title, outlasting
Arizona, Auburn and Texas. The 20-year-old Nirapathpongporn,
only a sophomore, grabbed the individual title with a 9-under-par
279, edging out three others, including the National Golf
Coaches Association’s Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa
(also an alum) by five strokes. Also finishing in a tie for
second was Arizona junior Danielle Downey, another former
AJGA star and a two-time AJGA All-American.
Nirapathpongporn’s
Blue Devil teammates, sophomore Leigh Anne Hardin and senior
Candy Hannemann, finished tied for 13th and 22nd, respectively.
All three ladies were among 34 golfers selected to the NGCA
All-America teams. Nirapathpongporn was named to the first
team, while Hardin and Hannemann were members on the second
team.
Hardin,
who was a first-team Polo Golf Junior All-American from 1996-2000,
is tied for the most individual AJGA victories with 18 and
holds the lowest AJGA 18-hole scoring with a 8-under-par 62.
Nirapathpongporn owns the lowest AJGA 54-hole tournament total
at 16-under-par 200. Hannemann, who wrapped up her four years
at Duke and will turn professional, was a four-time All-American
selection during her junior golf career.
Georgia’s
Angela Jerman, who racked up AJGA All-America honors from
1996-98, finished sixth with a 3-under-par 285, followed by
Arizona’s Laura Myerscough in seventh.
Myerscough
was selected as an honorable mention AJGA All-American in
1998. Auburn’s Celeste Troche, a two-time AJGA All-American,
finished in a tie for 10th at 289. Troche and Jerman were
also selected to the 2002 NGCA All-America first team.
On the
men’s side, Georgia Tech senior Troy Matteson, who played
with the AJGA from 1995-98, garnered the title with an 8-under-par
276, edging out Texas Christian’s Adam Rubinson and Oklahoma
State’s Hunter Mahon, also former AJGA stars. Rubinson,
who held on to finish second, won the 1998 AJGA Boys Junior
Championship before being selected to the AJGA All-America
First Team. Mahan, only a sophomore, was the 1999 Polo Golf
Junior Player of the Year.
Pepperdine’s
Michael Beard, UNLV’s Ryan Moore and Clemson’s D.J.
Trahan, who tied for eighth at 3-under-par 281, also made
a splash on the AJGA circuit. Beard was a two-time AJGA All-American
selection from 1997-98 while the freshman Moore earned All-America
honors three times while playing with the AJGA. Trahan, who
won four times with the AJGA in 1995, earned the Jack Nicklaus
Award as collegiate player of the year.
The Golf
Coaches Association of America’s All-American first team
featured six former AJGA players - Wake Forest’s Bill
Haas, Georgia’s Ryan Hybl, Florida’s Camilo Villegas,
Mahan, Matteson and Trahan.
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