Belleair, Fla. – It was another day of fierce competition as the 65th Girls’ Junior continued. In typical Florida fashion, play got suspended before all tee times could hit it off at the commencement of round two. However, the rest of the day brought clear skies and the players were able to finish out their rounds.
What Happened?
Hannah Hall sits at the top of the leaderboard after shooting a 66 despite early afternoon wet conditions. Her first-hole birdie kicked things off where she would go on to make four more birdies to finish her round 4-under. In a deadlock tie for second sits Emma McKoan and Sara
Vitasek. McKoan, despite bogeys on hole two and four shot a 68, highlighted by a bogey-free back nine and a total of four birdies. Vitasek had an even par front nine, and came out swinging on the back to birdie three out of four of her last holes.
Yesterday's leader, Olivia Hasselbach, is now tied for fourth place with Siuue Wu. Hasselbach started strong with a birdie on the first hole but encountered challenges on holes four and six. Wu had a rocky start with three bogeys on the front nine but recovered with three birdies on the back, finishing the day with a 71.
In the 13-15 division, Emma Mckoan holds a two-stroke lead over the field. In second is 15-year old Miranda Lu. Lu had three consecutive birdies on holes 12, 13, and 14 to finish her day 2-under par. Ava Zhang, who was in second place yesterday, now shares fifth place after shooting a 73.
What’s Next?
The final round of the Girls’ Junior Championship will begin Friday at 8:00 A.M. with tee times off of holes #1 and #10. The leaders will tee off at 10:06 A.M. off #1. At day’s end, we will crown our 65th Girls’ Junior Champion.
Notable
- Hole 18 played the hardest at Pelican Golf Club with 21 double bogeys or higher while hole 1 and 14 played the easiest, both with 20 birdies.
- Sixteen players shot below par
- Hannah Hall and Alexandra Snyder shared the low round of the day shooting a 4-under 66
Quotable
“I think today I got a few putts to fall and I had a lot of up and downs even though I wasn’t hitting as many greens as I wanted to. But, I just feel like making putts and keeping it in play helped me go low.” – Hannah Hall, leader, on second-round 66
“I think my mindset just stayed the same, just keep it on the fairways and get it on the greens and two-putt. The course is definitely challenging, but I got around. The pins were definitely tougher today but I managed.” – Sara Vitasek on her mindset through Round Two
“I think some were easier and some were more difficult. Eighteen was pretty friendly so I liked that. Hole seventeen definitely wasn’t friendly but I stayed out of the back bunker which I was happy about, but there were a lot of friendly pins.” – Emma Mckoan on today’s pin locations
