Downingtown West's Gross gets off to solid start in Rolex Tournament of Champions with a 69

   Downingtown West junior Nick Gross arrived at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the marquee event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) schedule, a year ago at the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. as a recently crowned PIAA Class AAA champion.

   He struggled a little, particularly in the final round, and finished in a tie for 12^th place. But Gross was pretty solid, especially considering he was still just a 15-year-old kid competing against the elite of junior golf, most of whom were older than he was.

   A lot has changed in that year. First of all, the Rolex Tournament of Champions has moved west to TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas. And the Nick Gross who teed it up in Sunday’s opening round is a much different guy and a much better player, having played in some rarified air in the interim.

   After a fourth-place finish in the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in South Carolina, after reaching the second round of match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes on the rugged Oregon coast, after finishing in a tie for third place in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Cog Hill in suburban Chicago and after that memorable run to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., Gross is one of the biggest names in junior golf.

   The high school postseason in Pennsylvania pales in comparison to those events, but Gross put on a show in winning the District One Class AAA Championship with rounds of 66 and 64 at Turtle Creek Golf Course. And he led the Whippets to a district team crown.

   A third-place finish in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn Stare in defense of the state title he won in 2021 was a bit of a disappointment, but you can’t win ’em all in golf.

   Gross showed up on my Twitter timeline last week with the announcement that he has made a verbal commitment to join the program at Southeastern Conference power Alabama, but he will be eligible for a lot of golf, at both the junior and open levels, between now and the summer of 2024.

   Gross got off to a decent start when the 45^th Rolex Tournament of Champions teed off Sunday, making three birdies on the incoming nine at the 7,106-yard, par-72 Canyons Course at TPC San Antonio to open with a 3-under 69 that left him in a tie for fifth place.

   The Rolex Tournament of Champions is a 72-hole event that will wrap up on Thanksgiving Eve. It brings together boys and girls fields that feature members of the Rolex Junior All-American teams, Rolex Scholastic honorees and many of the winners of AJGA events throughout the year. It’s the best of the best in junior golf.

   That’s why you can go 3-under and still be six shots out of the lead because a guy like Johnnie Clark of Mesa, Ariz., who will join the Oklahoma State program next summer, goes off for a nine-birdie, no-bogey 9-under 63 to take a three-shot lead. These kids can really play.

   Clark, who reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes last summer, made birdies on the first, second, third, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth holes in a pretty sweet 7-under 29 on the outgoing nine at the Canyons Course. And from the still photos I saw on the AJGA website, it looked like it was pretty chilly in San Antone.

   Clark cooled off on the back nine, making only two birdies at the 13^th and 16^th holes to wrap up a ridiculously good round.

   Gross didn’t find the front nine at the Canyons Course nearly as easy as Clark did. Gross offset bogeys at the third and seventh holes with birdies at one and four. Heading for the back nine at even-par, Gross ripped off birdies at the 12^th, 16^th and 17^th holes to get within shouting distance of Clark and just three shots out of second place.

   One of Gross’ future SEC rivals, Texas A&M commit Aaron Pounds of The Woodlands, Texas, was Clark’s closest pursuer after carding a solid 6-under 66 that left him in second place. Pounds is headed for College Station, Texas next summer.

   Another player who is headed for the SEC next summer, Auburn recruit Cayden Pope of Lexington, Ken., recorded a 5-under 67 to get a share of third place with Bryan Kim of Brookeville, Md.

   Carmelo Gomez of Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. joined fellow Class of 2024 entry Gross in the tie for fifth place as he matched Gross’ 3-under 69.

   On the girls side, a couple of Class of ’27 entries – these kids are basically eighth-graders – Alice Ziyi Zhao of Irvine, Calif. via China, and Asterik Talley of Chowchilla, Calif., shared the lead following the opening round as each signed for a 4-under 68 over a Canyons Course that played to 6,242 yards for the girls.

   Zhao had a very efficient round with birdies at the fourth, 10^th, 12^th and 16^th holes with nary a bogey on her scorecard.

   Talley’s path to 4-under was a little more adventurous, beginning with a double bogey on the 10^th hole, her first of the day. After making back-to-back birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes, Talley made a bogey at 14 before getting it to 2-under with birdies at 15, 17 and 18. Talley was much steadier on the outgoing nine with birdies at the first and fifth holes and no bogeys.

   Defending champion Meja Ortengren of Sweden shared second place with Siuue Wu of Reunion, Fla. via Hong King as each posted a 3-under 69. Ortengren is No. 16 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   The two players who battled it out for 34 holes in 100-degree heat at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ken. in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship final last summer, Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nev. and Gianna Clemente of Estero, Fla., landed in a tie for seventh place, each opening with a solid 1-under 71.

   Wilson claimed that U.S. Girls’ Junior crown with a hard-fought 3 and 2 victory. Clemente, a Class of ‘26 entry, is in Florida now, but she is the pride and joy of her native Warren, Ohio.

   Anna Davis of Spring Valley, Calif., the left-hander who was so impressive in winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship last spring carded a 2-over 74 and is in a group of seven players tied for 17^th place.

   If you Google Davis, there’s a pretty neat Golf Digest story authored by Tod Leonard chronicling the worldwide odyssey of golf she was on in the summer of 2022. She played in three of the LPGA’s major championships and in seven LPGA starts, Davis made the cut five times. She has risen to No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Also in that group at 2-over was Kiera Bartholomew of Wake Forest, N.C., who will join the program at Virginia next summer. Bartholomew launched her junior career at Indian Valley Country Club in Telford before her family moved to North Carolina.

   A couple of Jersey girls, Megan Meng of Pennington and Katie Li of Basking Ridge, landed in the group tied for 26^th place, each carding a 4-over 76.

   Meng, a junior at Hopewell Valley, came across the Delaware River to capture the 2020 Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Lebanon Country Club while representing Jericho National Golf Club. Li, who reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. in August, will join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke next summer.

   Also in the group at 4-over was Wilmington Country Club’s Avery McCrery, who captured the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Girls’ Championship in 2020 at Sandy Run Country Club. McCrery is a sophomore at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Del.