The Woodlands, Texas - After the first round of competition Logan Reilly of Lovettsville, Virginia, Smith Summerlin of Raleigh, North Carolina, Matthew Diehl of Redlands, California, and Boston Bracken of Saint George, Utah, all shot 2-under-par 70 to sit in a tie for first place at the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods.
Conditions for the first round proved challenging with temperatures in the low 40s and sustained winds of 20+ mph. Despite the difficult conditions, nine players carded rounds under par. Additionally, three of the four leaders teed off No. 10 to start their rounds.
The AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods is one of the longest-running events on the AJGA schedule. Originally played in 1987, the tournament settled at The Club at Carlton Woods in 2009. The event has a storied past with champions such as Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth.
Reilly came into the event at No. 90 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. He carded a clean first nine holes, featuring no bogeys and a birdie on No. 17 (his eighth hole). After making the turn he added two more birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 before finishing the round with two bogeys and another birdie.
Reilly is an Auburn verbal commit and is playing in his second AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. He is coming off a 2023 season where he had one victory at the AJGA Junior at Penn State and competed in five AJGA Invitationals.
Summerlin came into the event at No. 61 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. He started on No. 10 and came out hot with birdies on No. 11 and 12. He went on to complete and up and down first nine with two bogeys and two more birdies. After making the turn he made seven pars before carding a birdie and bogey to finish out the round.
Summerlin was a 2023 Rolex Junior All-American and is playing in his second AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. He is coming off a 2023 season where he had three top-10 finishes.
Diehl came into the event at No. 63 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. He carded the only bogey-free round of the day. He started on No. 10 with eight-straight pars before a birdie on No. 18. He made the turn with five more pars before his second birdie of the day on No. 6.
Diehl has signed a National Letter of Intent to Grand Canyon University and is playing in his first AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. He is coming off a 2023 season with two runner-up AJGA finishes, at the Ping An Bank Junior Open and the K.J. Choi Foundation Junior Championship presented by Overnight Printing Seattle.
Bracken came into the event at No. 21 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. He began his round on No. 1 and got off to a quick start with five birdies on his first nine holes before running into some trouble on the back nine with five bogeys to pair with two birdies.
Bracken has signed a National Letter of Intent to Arizona State University. He is playing in his second AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. He finished T3 in 2023 and also claimed another AJGA Invitational top 10 at the Wyndham Invitational presented by Odyssey.
Sitting one-stroke back at 1-under-par 71 are Sterling Hurd of Austin, Texas, Sohan Patel of Weston, Florida, Wheaton Ennis of Litchfield Park, Arizona, Daniel Zou of The Woodlands, Texas, and Bowen Ballis of The Woodlands, Texas.
Second-round tee times begin Sunday at 8:30 a.m. off Nos. 1 and 10.