Two of the top high school players in Pennsylvania, North East junior Lydia Swan and Downingtown West freshman Nick Gross, took their games deep in the heart of Texas and had solid showings in the Sergio and Angela Garcia Foundation Junior Championship, an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event which wrapped up Sunday at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, Texas.
On the girls side, Lydia Swan, a junior at North East and the 2019 PIAA Class AA champion, had three solid days as she had bookend 2-over-par 74s over a University of Texas layout that measured 6,215 yards and played to a par of 72 for the girls in Friday’s first round and Sunday’s final round around a 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round for a 5-over 221 total that left her in a tie for fourth place.
Swan finished third in defense of her 2019 PIAA Class AA crown last fall at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County and was the runnerup in Class AA as a freshman in 2018.
Swan’s 5-over total left her eight shots behind the winner of the girls division, Yunxuan (Michelle) Zhang, a native of China who is playing out of Plano, Texas and has committed to join the Southern Methodist program in the summer of 2022.
Zhang was the only player in the girls field to finish under par for the weekend. She struggled a little in Friday’s opening round with a 4-over 76, but solved the University of Texas layout the final two days, carding a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round and matching the low round of the tournament in Sunday’s final round with a 5-under 67 that left her with a 3-under 213 total.
Zhang was very efficient in the final round with five birdies and nary a bogey on her scorecard. For the weekend, Zhang had eight birdies and an eagle on her way to her fourth career AJGA victory.
Avery Zweig, a 14-year-old phenom from McKinney, Texas, was the runnerup, finishing four shots behind Zhang with a 1-over 217 total. Zweig had a bustout AJGA victory in the Diamond Resorts Annika Invitational, presented by Rolex, in January at the Slammer & Squire Course at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla.
Antonia Matte of Chile finished two shots behind Zweig in third place with a 3-over 219 total. Matte, who will join the powerful Baylor program this summer, followed up an opening-round 75 with a pair of even-par 72s.
Joining Swan in the tie for fourth place at 5-over was Yurang Li, a Class of 2224 entry from Fullerton, Calif. Li grabbed the lead following the opening round when she matched par with a 72 before falling back a little with a 4-over 76 in Saturday’s second and a final round of 1-over 73.
Gross, who won the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club and finished third in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Heritage Hills in his debut high school campaign last fall, finished in a tie for 19th place among the boys with an 8-over 221 total.
The 14-year-old Gross was the only Class of ’24 entry in the boys field. He had captured his first two AJGA victories at the Junior All-Star level, winning back-to-back at the Junior Golf Hub Junior All-Star, presented by Explore York, at Regents’ Glen Country Club in York and at the AJGA Junior All-Star at Toftrees at the Toftrees Golf Resort near State College in August.
After the high school season, Gross was a runaway winner in the Boys 13-and-under division Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship at Koasati Pines at Cousatta Resort in Kinder, La. in November. Gross embarked on an ambitious run of events over the holidays that included stops at the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral in Miami, the Pinehurst Resort’s Nos. 4 and 5 Courses in North Carolina and the PGA National Golf Club’s Champions Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Gross struggled a little in the opening round with a 5-over 76 over a University of Texas layout that measured 7,110 yards and played to a par of 71 for the guys. He buttoned things down in a three-birdie, one-bogey 2-under 69 in Saturday’s second round before closing with another 76.
A couple of high school teammates from Austin, J. Holland Humphries and Jacob Sosa, battled it out for the Boys division title with Humphries prevailing in a playoff.
Humphries, who will join the SMU program at the end of the summer, won the Garcia Foundation Junior two years ago and the event was not contested a year ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. Humphries birdied his last two holes to complete a 1-over 72 in Sunday’s final round and join Sosa, who will join his hometown Texas program in the summer of 2022, at 2-under 211.
Humphries matched par in Friday’s opening round with a 71 and added a 3-under 68 in Saturday’s second round that left him a shot behind Sosa going into Sunday’s final round. Sosa had opened with a 1-under 70 and matched Humphries’ 3-under 68 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 73.
Christian Clark of Dallas and Solomon Petrie of Akron, Ohio finished in a tie for third place, each landing on even-par 213.
After adding a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 73, Clark finished strong with a 3-under 68. Petrie, who will join the Kentucky program in the summer of 2022, was the winner of the top AJGA event in the Philadelphia area, the Imperial Headwear Junior Classic at DuPont Country Club near Wilmington, Del. last summer. After opening with a 3-over 74, Petrie posted a solid 2-under 68 in Saturday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.
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