2008 Junior Sectional Challenge Match

Southwest Section Comes Away with GSGA Junior Sectional Challenge Match Title

LAGRANGE, Ga. - The Southwest section, anchored by strong play out of the Boys 12-13 age bracket and Boys 14-15 division, tallied a tournament total of 41.83 points to hold off the defending Middle Section by five points at the 35th annual GSGA Junior Sectional Challenge Match, which was played at Overlook Golf Links, July 28-29. The Southeast Section finished third with 34 points.

The Southwest's success was led by Turner and Hobby, who each finished second overall in their respective age divisions. Hobby posted 73 in the opening round to tally an early six points for the Southwest and Turner closed his tournament with a 72, the low score for the Boys 12-13. Also representing the Southwest Section in the Boys 14-15 was Jake Flynt of Tifton who took home medalist honors for the division. Albany's Joshua Crews, winner of the Boys 12-13, also collected points for the Southwest.

Other division winners included: Kelby Burton of Evans (East), who posted rounds of 73 and 70 in the Boys 16-17; Joe Philaphet of Riverdale (Middle), who carded 36-36 in the Boys 11 and Under group; Lauren Smith of Powder Springs (Northwest) carded 84 and 85 to take honors in the Girls 14-17 and Dylan Kim of Centerville (Middle) carded 41 and 38 to win the Girls 13 and Under.

At the conclusion of play on Monday afternoon, the contestants returned to the course to compete in long drive and putting competitions within each age division.  The long drive of the day came from Scott Wolfes of St. Simons Island, playing out of the Boys 14-15 age division, with a drive of 316 yards. Derek Watson of Gainesville, representing the Northeast squad, had a 312-yard drive to take the title in the Boys 16-17 division. Adam Kim of Centerville out drove the Boys 12-13 division with a 266-yard launch. The Boys 11 and under group was won with a 228-yard drive by Brady Cliett of Metter. The 14-17 girls division was won by Metter's Alex Hendricks with a drive of 229 yards and Katy Harris of St. Simons Island drove the ball 221 yards to take the Girls 13 and Under group.

The putting competition took place on a four-hole putting course setup on the Overlook Golf Links practice green. Derek Watson, who earlier won the long drive competition, posted the low score of the day with just eight putts. Austin Vick of Evans (Boys 14-15), Howard Hickey of Savannah (Boys 12-13) and Tifton's Austin Strippling (Boys 11 and Under) each won their age bracket with a score of 9. Lauren Smith of Powder Springs captured the Girls 14-17 division after shooting 11 and Hannah Barger of Elberton rolled the ball 12 times to take the Girls 13 and Under group.

The Junior Sectional Challenge Match is a statewide competition that brings together the top performers from the summer-long GSGA Junior Sectional Program. Participants earned the opportunity to compete and represent their section in the tournament by accumulating points in their section's qualifying events. Each of the seven geographic sections sends their top four point earners from each boys age division and the top two from each girls division to the Challenge Match. The team winner, or winning section, is determined by cumulative points earned based on order of finish in each round within the various age divisions.

The Junior Sectional Program began in 1974 and was established by the Georgia State Golf Association as a grassroots effort to provide juniors across the state with the opportunity to experience competitive golf.

Final Results

Team Points
Southwest - 43.83
Middle - 36.83
Southeast - 34
East - 30.83
Northwest - 21
Northeast - 15.5
West - 12.5

Boys 16-17
1 Kelby Burton, Evans E 73 70 143
2 Dustin Allen, Savannah SE 76 70 146
3 Trey McQuaig, Valdosta SW 77 71 148
4 Jacob Tilton, Evans E 74 76 150
5 Wes Olley, Woodstock NW 76 75 151
T6 Nate Gahman, Albany SW 80 73 153
T6 Tyler Erickson, Bonaire M 85 68 153
T8 Brant Patton, Evans E 79 76 155
T8 Randy White, Canton NW 75 80 155
T8 Taylor Welborn, LaGrange W 75 80 155
11 Derek Watson, Gainesville NE 77 80 157
12 Ritchie Wiltfang, Brunswick SE 85 74 159
T13 Kyle Mimbs, LaGrange W 82 79 161
T13 Michael Akin, Blairsville NW 84 77 161
T13 Shiloh Snow, Blackshear SE 79 82 161
16 Ben Floyd, Hinesville SE 82 80 162
T17 Cole Raley, Cochran M 84 80 164
T17 Dillon Bowers, Hartwell NE 82 82 164
19 Spenser Ferrell, Albany SW 86 79 165
20 Austin McNeill, Douglas SW 84 86 170
21 Tyler Padgett, Cochran M 89 83 172
22 Daniel Duncan, Hephzibah E 90 83 173
T23 Matthew Peeler, Williamson W 95 89 184
T23 Tyler Brantley, Demorest NE 93 91 184
25 Jonathan Wilkes, Macon M 99 95 194
26 Austin Norris, Cataula W 101 103 204
27 Richard Thomas, Monroe NE 82 WD WD

 

Boys 14-15
1 Jake Flynt, Tifton SW 75 77 152*
2 David Hobby, Valdosta SW 73 79 152*
3 Scott Wolfes, St. Simons Isl SE 79 74 153*
4 Travis Oestmann, Columbus W 78 75 153*
5 Austin Vick, Evans E 82 72 154
6 John Gordon, Southwest M 79 78 157
7 Will Brackett, Canton NW 76 82 158
8 Hinson Arwood, Thomasville SW 84 76 160
T9 Cates Culpepper, Columbus W 78 83 161
T9 Evan Usry, Evans E 82 79 161
T9 Hunter Davis, Vidalia SE 77 84 161
T9 Will Mobley, Evans E 85 76 161
T13 David Sullivan, Woodstock NW 77 85 162
T13 Hunter Ivins, Pelham SW 87 75 162
T13 Taylor Gove, Evans E 77 85 162
T16 Andrew Melton, Elberton NE 88 75 163
T16 Chase Reeves, Macon M 84 79 163
T18 CJ Arnold, LaFayette NW 83 82 165
T18 Ryan Cunningham, Rome NW 79 86 165
20 Garrett O'Rourke, Carrollton W 82 85 167
21 Tyler Winn, Elberton NE 83 85 168
22 David Harrell, Macon M 83 89 172
23 Westin Rawls, St. Simons Island SE 89 86 175
T24 Justus Wood, Gordon M 85 91 176
T24 Parker Hulme, Elberton NE 85 91 176
26 Stephen McCall, Vidalia SE 91 86 177
27 Andrew Phillips, Madison NE 96 82 178
28 Joseph Chong, Midland W 90 92 182

 

Boys 12-13
1 Joshua Crews, Albany SW 76 74 150
2 Josh Turner, Hazelhurst SW 79 72 151*
3 Dowling Armstrong, Valdosta SW 76 75 151*
4 Howard Hickey, Southeast SE 74 77 151*
5 Jim Henderson, Macon M 76 78 154
6 Adam Kim, East M 79 76 155
7 Claxton Faulkner, Watkinsville NE 75 82 157
T8 Chris Sells, Savannah SE 77 82 159
T8 Eli Crumley, Cleveland NE 75 84 159
10 Tanner Batson, Cornelia NE 77 83 160
T11 Gus Beisel, Savannah SE 84 77 161
T11 Russell Sabol, Martinez E 80 81 161
13 Jacob Joiner, Albany SW 80 82 162
14 Stephen Hill, Evans E 82 81 163
15 David Hemann, Augusta E 79 85 164
T16 Charlie Flowers, Columbus W 78 87 165
T16 Luke Dougherty, Columbusw W 79 86 165
18 James Clark, Columbus W 87 79 166
19 Thomas Davenport, Alpharetta NW 81 86 167
20 Jake Minchew, Waycross SE 84 89 173
21 Max Weyrick, Marietta NW 90 84 174
T22 Henry Persons, Macon M 87 88 175
T22 James Beeland, Perry M 88 87 175
24 Ian Hershkowitz, Evans E 87 89 176
25 Nicholas Coupland, Duluth NW 89 96 185
26 Mason Bunn, Columbus W 95 93 188
27 Alec Wenzel, Woodstock NW 111 101 212

 

Boys 11 & Under
1 Joe Philaphet, Riverdale M 36 36 72
2 Carter Mobley, Evans E 38 43 81
3 Garrett Rowland, Cleveland NE 42 40 82*
4 Tyler Joiner, Albany SW 43 39 82*
5 Will Chandler, Atlanta NW 42 42 84*
T6 Brady Cliett, Metter SE 45 39 84*
T6 Davis Armstrong, Valdosta SW 43 41 84*
T8 Ben Huckaby, Bishop NE 43 42 85
T8 Lee Bennett, Patterson SE 42 43 85
10 Carl Terns, Athens NE 44 43 87
T11 Justin Kim, Centerville M 44 44 88
T11 Wilson Joiner, Albany SW 44 44 88
T13 JP Schlueter, Canton NW 45 44 89
T13 Stanton Schorr, Columbus W 45 44 89
T15 Austin Strippling, Tifton SW 51 39 90
T15 Kevin Burns, Canton NW 48 42 90
T15 Zachary Zediker, Gray M 46 44 90
T18 Jay Mobley, Waynesboro E 50 43 93
T18 Randy Simmons, Blackshear SE 44 49 93
20 Steven Tracy, St. Simons Island SE 48 46 94
T21 Daniel Davis, Columbus W 50 46 96
T21 Robert Shaw, Cumming NW 48 48 96
T23 Jordan Jedneski, Macon M 45 52 97
T23 Muhamed Nu-Man, LaGrange W 45 52 97
25 Bobby Sligh, Bogart NE 47 52 99
26 Devin Bray, LaGrange W 51 53 104
27 Walker Bottomley, Evans E 48 58 106

 

Girls 14-17
1 Lauren Smith, Powder Springs NW 84 85 169
2 Alex Hendricks, Metter SE 88 88 176
3 Dona Kioseff, Valdosta SW 90 88 178
4 Brittany Ferguson, Augusta E 92 87 179
5 Taylor McGraw, Macon M 90 90 180
T6 Carilee Hiers, Quitman SW 96 90 186
T6 Sara Blackmon-Hughes, Warrenton E 96 90 186
8 Cayla Banks, Tyrone W 92 95 187
9 Stephanie Simmons, Rincon SE 98 92 190
10 Ashley Barfield, Sandersville M 97 96 193
11 Kimberley Tucker, Hartwell NE 108 100 208
12 Jennifer Brueshaber, Jefferson NE 105 105 210
13 Ashley McCloskey, Midland W 107 110 217

 

Girls 13 & Under
1 Dylan Kim, Centerville M 41 38 79
2 Sabrina Rumbaugh, Ft. Benning W 40 42 82*
3 Lauren Johnson, St. Simons Island SE 42 40 82*
4 Hannah Barger, Elberton NE 41 43 84
5 Katy Harris, St. Simons Island SE 43 42 85
T6 Courtney Barfield, Sandersville M 49 40 89
T6 Megan Sabol, Martinez E 42 47 89
8 Dallas Vaughn, Calhoun NW 45 49 94
9 Marin Hanna, Moultrie SW 55 51 106
10 Katherine Barnes, Columbus W 52 57 109
11 Abigail Bolt, Woodstock NW 55 59 114
12 Caroline Griffin, Sycamore SW 55 70 125
13 Rylie Marchman, Waynesboro E 74 66 140