BOWLING GREEN, Fla. – The first round of stroke play seeding started today at Streamsong Resort for the Junior Amateur Match Play Championship. The Boys (16-18) Division competed on the Red Course for the first round while the Boys (13-15) Division and the Girls (13-18) Division competed on the Blue Course.
Boys (16-18) Division
Clipper Salmon posted the low round with a five-under-par, 67 on the Red Course. Salmon has found success this summer with a win at the FJT Golf Road Junior, a top-10 at the 70th Boys’ Junior, and a top-10 at the 107th Amateur Championship. He explains how he is building on these positive results, “A lot of good results, especially at the Am, showed myself that I can play well and I can hang with some of the best players in the state. My confidence has really built over the last few tournaments and I have now been able to carry it over to this tournament.”
Arth Sinha posted a great round with a four-under-par, 68. Not far behind are Tommy Tyler and Evan Raynor both with a three-under-par, 69.
Boys (13-15)
Nicholas Brown, Nolan DeForest, and Jacob Watson all share first place after posting a two-under-par, 70 on the Blue Course. DeForest saw success at this event last year advancing all the way to the final match which ended in 22 holes. He explains his approach from stroke play to match play, “In stroke play, I almost never look at the leaderboard, I just stay in my own world. But when it comes to match play, I make my strategy as I go based off of what my opponent is doing.”
Henry Wang and Kenny Klein fired rounds of one-under-par, 71.
Girls (13-18)
Defending champion, Ana Boone, is back on top of the leaderboard after the first round of stroke play seeding. Boone posted a three-under-par, 69 to lead the field by one stroke. She explains her round, “Today was really fun. I just played really consistent golf hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. I did have a lot of two putts, but made some good saves too. I had a couple four-footers for par, and a couple for birdie but I also made in some longer ones too which helped.” She further explained that knowing she won this event once gives her the confidence to play well again and hopefully defend her title.
In addition, Alyssa Mixon posted a two-under-par, 70. Mara King and Alexandra Snyder both posted rounds of one-under-par, 71.
What’s Next
Tomorrow the Boys (16-18) Division will compete the second round of stroke play seeding with an 8:30AM shotgun on the Blue Course. Upon the completion of the round the low 32 players will advance to match play in the afternoon.
The Boys (13-15) Division and the Girls (13-18) Division will compete in their second round of stroke play seeding with tee times from 7:30AM – 11:40 AM off of the first hole on the Red Course. Upon completion of play, the low 16 competitors from each division will advance to match play in the following day.