2007 Junior Sectional Challenge Match

Middle Section Dominates For First Victory in GSGA Junior Sectional Challenge Match

POOLER, Ga. - The Middle section won three divisions, including the Boys 14-15 age bracket and both Girls' divisions, and collected points in two other divisions to finish with a tournament total of 25 points to hold off the defending Southeast section by five points at the GSGA Junior Sectional Challenge Match, which was played at Savannah Quarters Country Club, July 23-24. The Northeast section finished third with 18 points. This marks the first recorded victory for the Middle section since the Junior Sectional Challenge Match's inception in 1974.

The Middle's success was led by Lacey Fears of Bonaire, who shot a 76 in the competition's opening round and picked up six points for her team by capturing the Girls 14-17 age division with a final-round score of 79, giving her a 155 total. Courtney Barfield of Sandersville, playing in the Girls 13 and under bracket, tallied six points for the Middle section after she posted a final nine-hole score of 41. Cochran's Tyler Tucker, winner of the Boys 14-15 age division, carded rounds of 76 and 71 to take first place in his bracket and overall medalist honors. Griffin's Davin White, also playing in the Boys 14-15, placed fifth – good for one point towards the section total. Joe Philaphet of Riverdale finished second in the Boys 11 and under flight and gave the Middle four extra points. Finishing fourth in the Boys 16-17 division, Bonaire's Tyler Erickson (77-75-152) earned two points. This is the first victory for the Middle section all-time at the GSGA Junior Sectional Challenge Match.

Other division winners included: Savannah's John Skeades (74-76) in the Boys 16-17; Austin Vick of Evans (75-65) in the Boys 12-13; and Bogart's David Mackey (37-37) in the Boys 11 and under.

Proceeding play on Monday afternoon, the contestants competed in long drive and putting competitions within each age division. The long drive of the day came from Albany's Spencer Ferrell of the Southwest section, playing out of the Boys 14-15 age division, with a drive of 331 yards. Stephen Garner, also from Albany and representing the Southwest squad, had a 314-yard drive to take the title in the Boys 16-17 division. Austin Vick of Evans out drove the Boys 12-13 division with a 286-yard drive. The Boys 11 and under group was won with a 255-yard drive by Joe Philaphet of Riverdale. The 14-17 girls division was won by Albany's Kelly Pearce with 262 yards and Megan James of Ila drove the ball 216 yards to take the girls 13 and under group.

The putting competition took place on a four-hole putting course setup on the practice green of Savannah Quarters Country Club. Four players, Kyle Mueller of Watkinsville, Landon Brahn of Warner Robins, Will Mobley Evans and Dublin's Zach Blount posted the low score of the evening with an 8 and won their respective age divisions. Albany's Kelly Pearce captured the Girls 14-17 division after shooting 9 and Megan James of Ila rolled the ball 10 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 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
Middle - 25
Southeast - 20
Northeast - 18
East - 12
Northwest - 9
Southwest - 8
West - 4

B 16-17
1 John Skeades, Savannah Southeast 74 76 150 
T2 David Burns, Canton Northwest 76 75 151 
T2 Sean Bolen, Lawrenceville Northeast 76 75 151 
4 Tyler Erickson, Bonaire Middle 77 75 152 2
5 Jesse Tillman, Pelham Southwest 78 75 153 
6 Mark Rocker, Millen East 78 77 155
7 Dylan Coffey, Dalton Northwest 80 76 156
8 Zack Blount, Dublin Middle 73 84 157
9 Stephen Garner, Albany Southwest 76 82 158
T10 Jacob Tilton, Evans East 77 82 159
T10 Travis Temple, Metter Southeast 82 77 159
12 Kaleb Ingalls, Waycross Southeast 86 75 161
T13 Jake Pendergraft, LaFayette Northwest 82 81 163
T13 Joel Sawyer, Elberton Northeast 81 82 163
T13 Logan Fairley, Girurd East 78 85 163
T13 Taylor Welborn, LaGrange West 81 82 163
17 David Crawford, Blackshear Southeast 84 80 164
18 Eric Hodgson, Marietta Northwest 77 89 166
19 Chase Hankla, Valdosta Southwest 89 80 169
20 Daniel McHugh, Athens Northeast 85 85 170
21 Matt Taylor, Cadwell Middle 94 84 178
T22 Daniel Ayers, Royston Northeast 88 91 179
T22 Will Cranston, Columbus West 99 80 179
24 Eric Boddiford, Sylvania East 92 98 190
25 Andrew Kistler, Moultrie Southwest 100 97 197
26 Taylor Jernigan, Macon Middle 83 WD WD

 

B 14-15
1 Tyler Tucker, Cochran Middle 76 71 147 6
2 Andy Atkins, Savannah Southeast 72 77 149 4
T3 Scott Wolfes, St. Simons Isl Southeast 78 72 150 3*
T3 Trey McQuaig, Valdosta Southwest 73 77 150 2*
5 Davin White, Griffin Middle 82 73 155 1
T6 David Sullivan, Woodstock Northwest 81 81 162
T6 Jake Savant, Dublin Middle 87 75 162
T6 Shiloh Snow, Blackshear Southeast 83 79 162
T6 Todd Dowling, Blackshear Southeast 76 86 162
T10 Hunter Ivins, Pelham Southwest 83 80 163
T10 Neil Bock, Evans East 79 84 163
12 Nate Gahman, Lee Southwest 81 83 164
T13 Andrew Melton, Elberton Northeast 88 79 167
T13 Will Brackett, Canton Northwest 86 81 167
T13 Will Mobley, Evans East 84 83 167
T16 Connor Andrews, Woodstock Northwest 84 84 168
T16 John Hardy, Martinez East 83 85 168
T18 CJ Arnold, LaFayetta Northwest 85 87 172
T18 Shad Tuten, Elberton NE 83 89 172
20 Josh Savant, Dublin Middle 89 89 178
21 Spencer Ferrell, Albany Southwest 86 93 179
22 Travis Oestmann, Columbus West 82 101 183
23 Davis Smith, Clarkesville Northeast 90 95 185

 

B 12-13
1 Austin Vick, Evans East 75 65 140 6
T2 Aaron George, Monroe Northeast 74 71 145 4*
T2 Taylor Gove, Evans East 73 72 145 3*
4 Howard Hickey, Savannah Southeast 74 74 148 2
5 Billy Shuman, St. Simons Isl Southeast 70 79 149 1
T6 Brian Beringer, Macon Middle 79 72 151
T6 Jake Flynt, Tifton Southwest 74 77 151
8 Emmanuel Kountakis, Martinez East 76 77 153
T9 Eric Burns, Canton Northwest 81 75 156
T9 Tyler Vaughn, Douglas Southwest 77 79 156
11 Ben Bishop, St. Simons Isl Southeast 81 76 157
12 Brenden George, Woodstock Northwest 76 82 158
T13 Andrew Phillips, Madison Northeast 81 78 159
T13 Davis Edwards, Moultrie Southwest 78 81 159
15 Emerson Newsome, Dacula Northeast 84 78 162
16 Ryan Cunningham, Rome Northwest 80 83 163
17 Tyler Dorminey, Leesburg Southwest 85 81 166
18 Claxton Faulkner, Watkinsville NE 86 84 170
19 Jordan Byrd, Mt. Vernon Southeast 91 81 172
20 David Harrell, Macon Middle 94 80 174
21 Max Weyrick, Marietta Northwest 95 87 182
22 William Marks, Augusta East 98 88 186
T23 Sam Hatcher, Columbus West 85 104 189
T23 Tyler Woodyard, Bonaire Middle 92 97 189
25 Landon Brahn, Warner Robins Middle 99 91 190

 

B 11 & U
1 David Mackey, Bogart Northeast 37 37 74 6
T2 Joe Philaphet, Riverdale Middle 38 37 75 4*
T2 Kristopher Douglass, Evans East 36 39 75 3*
4 Jack Bishop, St. Simons Isl Southeast 40 36 76 2
5 Kyle Mueller, Watkinsville Northeast 37 40 77 1
6 Russell Sabol, Martinez East 39 39 78
7 Dawson Armstrong, Valdosta Southwest 44 35 79
8 Carter Mobley, Evans East 42 39 81
9 Gus Beisel, Savannah Southeast 44 38 82
T10 James Clark, Columbus West 45 38 83
T10 Matthew Beringer, Macon Middle 42 41 83
12 Davis Armstrong, Valdosta Southwest 41 44 85
13 Tyler Dallas, Valdosta Southwest 47 39 86
14 Kevin Burns, Canton Northwest 47 42 89
T15 Jacob Joiner, Albany Southwest 49 41 90
T15 Mercer Clark, Columbus West 47 43 90
17 JP Schleuter, Canton Northwest 47 44 91
T18 Carl Terns, Athens Northeast 47 45 92
T18 Lee Bennett, Patterson Southeast 44 48 92
T20 Garrett Rowland, Cleveland Northeast 46 48 94
T20 Grayson Hammond, LaFayette NW 48 46 94
T20 Jake Minchew, Waycross Southeast 45 49 94
23 Keith Pridgen, Columbus West 51 47 98
24 Jay Mobley, Waynesboro East 47 53 100
25 Stanton Schorr, Columbus West 47 55 102
26 Daulton Taylor, Ringgold Northwest 56 47 103
27 Gabe Holt, Bonaire Middle 56 52 108
28 Hank Riley, Macon Middle 48 61 109

 

G 14-17
1 Lacey Fears, Bonaire Middle 76 79 155 6
2 Kelly Pearce, Albany Southwest 81 82 163 4
3 Rachel Mason, Rock Springs Northwest 89 87 176 3
4 Brittany Hickey, Savannah Southeast 88 89 177 2
5 Dona Kioseff, Valdosta Southwest 91 87 178 1
6 Brittany Ferguson, Augusta East 90 89 179
7 Camryn Cole, Gainesville Northeast 94 88 182
8 Katarina Hodge, Dublin Middle 93 92 185
9 Ciera Bagley, Baxley Southeast 101 95 196
10 Kimberley Tucker, Hartwell Northeast 110 96 206
11 Lauren Hubert, Ft. Benning West 106 102 208
12 Lauren Weyrick, Marietta Northwest 113 96 209
13 Sara Hughes, Warrenton East 109 105 214
14 Blair Hubert, Ft. Benning West 129 100 229

 

G 13 & U
1 Courtney Barfield, Sandersville Middle 43 41 84 6
2 Sabrina Rumbaugh, Ft. Benning West 48 41 89 4
T3 Jessica Walker, Marietta Northwest 51 48 99 3*
T3 Megan James, Ila Northeast 49 50 99 2*
5 Hannah Barger Northeast 47 55 102 1
6 Mary Ellen Shuman, St. Simons Isl Southeast 54 51 105
7 Megan Sabol, Martinez East 51 57 108
8 Carilee Hiers, Quitman Southwest 57 59 116
9 Annie Strickland, Smyrna Northwest 111 80 191
10 Brittany Jarrett, Tifton Southwest 43 DQ DQ