Sam Choi of (South Korea) Anaheim, California, won the Boys Division at the Hana Financial Group Se Ri Pak Junior Championship by three strokes. Choi opened the tournament with a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 that was good enough for a one-stroke lead. The 2017 Rolex Junior All-American didn’t have time to savor that round however, as he and the rest of the field had to play the second round in the afternoon. That had no effect on Choi, who went out and added to his lead behind a 2-under-par 70 that included four birdies. He secured his second AJGA victory with a final-round 3-under-par 69 for a tournament total of 11-under-par 205. He is No. 30 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Yealimi Noh of Concord, California, outdueled Amari Avery of Riverside, California, for the Girls Division title at the Hana Financial Group Se Ri Pak Junior Championship. Noh carded a first-round 2-under-par 72 that left her three strokes off the lead. By the end of the day Noh managed to climb within one stroke of the lead after firing a second-round 4-under-par 70 that included two eagles on the front nine. The 2017 Rolex Junior All-American came back for the victory after carding seven birdies in the final round for her second-consecutive round of 4-under-par 70. Noh defeated Avery by two strokes at a tournament total of 10-under-par 70. Noh, who is No. 5 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, owns four AJGA victories and is verbally committed to UCLA.
Reid Baker of Statham, Georgia, defeated J. Holland Humphries of Austin, Texas, in a sudden-death playoff at the AJGA Junior All-Star at Watters Creek. Baker carded a first-round total of 2-over-par 74 that included two birdies. That left him three strokes off the lead. The 15-year-old opened the final round with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 1 and 2. Baker added consecutive birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 as well. He made the turn at 3-under-par 33 and secured his spot in the playoff with a birdie on No. 18. Baker won the playoff with a birdie on the first hole of sudden-death. The sophomore finished at 1-under-par 143. This was Baker’s first victory with the AJGA in his third-career start.
Yunxuan Zhang of Shenzhen, China, won the Girls Division at the AJGA Junior All-Star at Watters Creek by one stroke. The 13-year-old’s first-round 3-under-par 69 was the lowest of the tournament. Zhang held onto the one-stroke victory after carding a final-round 1-over-par 73 for a tournament-total of 2-under-par 142. She was one of two juniors to finish under-par in the Girls Division. Zhang has competed in three AJGA events, finishing T15 or better in all of them.