Meekhof birdies last for victory
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – August Meekhof birdied the final hole to pull out a 1-shot victory over Alek Mauro in the Boys 16-19 division at Radrick Farms Golf Course.
Meekhof fired rounds of 72-71—143, overcoming a 1-shot deficit entering the final round. The victory, Meekhof’s first on the GJT, came after two top-5 finishes in September.
Meekhof trailed Will Verduzco by one shot after the final round then made his move with a birdie on the opening hole of Sunday’s first round. He then went on a string of 10 straight pars before a birdie at the 12th. After stumbling with consecutive bogeys at 14 and 15, Mauro drew even as he and Meekhof had separated themselves from the field.
Mauro made bogey at 16, but caught Meekhof again with a birdie at 17, setting up Meekhof’s heroics at the final hole.
Mauro finished with rounds of 74-70—144 for sole possession of second place. Evan Johnson finished alone in third place with rounds of 75-74—149.
Verduzco shot 71-80—151 to finish in a tie for fourth place with Cameron Cowland (77-74—151).
Zhu claims 3-shot victory in Boys 14-15
Neil Zhu fired rounds of 73-75—148 to claim a 3-shot victory in the Boys 14-15 division at Radrick Farms.
Zhu started the final round one shot behind Oscar Feschuk then recovered from two early bogeys to pull away. His birdie at the fourth engineered a 2-shot swing in his favor and put him in front for good. Zhu would add a birdie at the 15th in playing the final five holes in bogey-free 1-under-par.
The victory was Zhu’s first in five GJT appearances.
Feschuk finished with rounds of 72-79—151 to claim sole possession of second place while Justin Sui placed third at 78-74—152.
Fennell wins two-player duel in Girls 15-19
Elise Fennell shot 82-91—173 to beat Sabel Imesch by five shots in a two-player field in the Girls 15-19 division at Radrick Farms.
Fennell shot 3-over-par 39 to open the tournament on Saturday, staking her to a 6-shot lead that she would never relinquish.
The victory came in Fennell’s GJT debut.
Miller notches second victory in Boys 13-and-Under
Drew Miller posted rounds of 75-73—148 to post his second victory of the season at Radrick Farms.
Miller trailed Leuan Jones by one shot heading into the final round then made birdies at Nos. 1 and 3 to surge ahead Sunday. He made pars on 12 of the final 15 holes to separate himself from the field as Jones struggled at the finish.
Landen Howard made a nice run Sunday, finishing alone in second place with rounds of 78-74—152 while Jones finished third at 74-80—154.