It’s been two years since the then-15-year-old Nick Gross showed up at one of the most prestigious events in junior golf, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, S.C., and finished in fourth place.
Gross’ strong showing at Sage Valley proved to be a springboard for what proved to be a summer to remember in 2022.
The Downingtown West senior earned a trip to the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Bandon Dunes Resort on Oregon’s rugged Pacific coast and reached the second round of match play.
Before he left for Bandon Dunes, Gross had finished in second place in a U.S. Amateur qualifier at Canoe Brook Country Club’s North Course in Summit, N.J, punching his ticket to the most important event in amateur golf to be held at The Ridgewood Country Club, an A.W. Tillinghast gem in Paramus, N.J.
Gross tuned up for the U.S. Amateur with a third-place finish in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in suburban Chicago.
And then came the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood when Gross charged into the consciousness of followers of amateur golf by reaching the quarterfinals a week short of his 16th birthday.
Gross came home to win the District One Class AAA individual crown for the second time and lead the Whippets to the district team title that fall. A few weeks later, he committed to join the program at Southeastern Conference power Alabama in the summer of 2024.
Gross was back at Sage Valley over the weekend, teeing it up in the Junior Invitational for a third time. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t great, a few ill-timed double bogeys leading to a tie for 22nd place with a 3-over 219 total.
Gross and Miles Russell, a youngster from Jacksonville Beach, Fla. who finished in a tie for sixth place at 4-under 212, both received the Paul S. Simon Boys Character Award. As good as Gross’ golf swing is, it’s probably those attributes, his character and his demeanor, that separate him from all those talented junior golfers.
Gross got off to a solid start in Thursday’s opening round. After a birdie at the first hole, Gross rattled off 13 straight pars before a birdie at 15 got him to 2-under for the round. But a bogey at the 16th hole and a double bogey at the last dropped him back to 1-over as he signed for a 73.
Starting off the 10th tee for Friday’s second round, Gross birdied the 10th hole, but then stumbled to back-to-back double bogeys at 12 and 13. He went 3-under the rest of the way with birdies at 15th, 16th, fourth and eighth holes around a bogey at two for an even-par 72.
At 1-over, Gross was seven shots behind the co-leaders, Louis Klein of the Czech Republic and Bowen Mauss, the bomber from Draper, Utah who knocked Gross out of last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado in a first-round match, going into the final round. Something under par might still have earned Gross at top-10 finish.
Sounds like the golf course took a pretty good overnight soaking going into Saturday’s final round. Again starting off the 10th tee, Gross made a birdie at the 15th hole and a bogey at 16 before the pesky 18th got him again as he made another double bogey there.
Gross was solid the rest of the way, following up a birdie at the first hole with eight straight pars for a final round of 2-over 74.
Not sure Gross had a lot of competitive reps going into the Junior Invitational. You have to remember he’ll be playing college golf by the end of 2024.
It figures to be an interesting year for him. Gross nearly qualified for last summer’s U.S. Open, but his run to the quarterfinals at Ridgewood the previous summer had exempted him from local qualifying.
In the pandemic summer of 2020, Gross’ dad Shawn rented a place near the Pinehurst Resort from where Shawn would drive his son to every junior golf tournament they could find with the U.S. Junior Amateur and the Boys Junior PGA Championship canceled by the outbreak of the coronavirus. Pretty sure Gross would be quite comfortable in a U.S. Open at Donald Ross’ masterpiece, the No. 2 Course at Pinehurst.
Gross played in a couple of Elite Amateur Series events last summer, including at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown and at the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I. and probably will again.
Not totally sure if Gross is exempt into the U.S. Junior Amateur, which will be held at Oakland Hills Country Club in suburban Detroit. He will probably have to qualify to get into the U.S. Amateur, which will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
Gross finished in a tie for eighth place in qualifying for match play in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills before running into Mauss in the opening round.
Mauss couldn’t hold onto the lead at Sage Valley as he closed with a 2-over 74 to join Russell and two others in the tie for sixth place at 4-under. He had opened with a 2-under 70 and got a share of the lead following a 4-under 68.
Found a Golf Digest entry from last summer’s U.S. Amateur on Mauss. After beating Gross, Mauss drew Nick Dunlap, the eventual winner at Cherry Hills, in the second round. At the par-5 11th hole, Mauss reached the green in two with a second shot that he bashed 342 yards. The air’s thin at Cherry Hills, but still … obviously the kid just kills it.
The boys title in the Junior Invitational went to Italian Giovanni Daniele Binaghi as he blitzed the Sage Valley layout for eight birdies and no bogeys in a sizzling 8-under 64 in the final round. It was the best single round at the Junior Invitational since the tournament’s first year in 2011 when Justin Thomas, a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, fired a spectacular 62.
The 16-year-old Binaghi’s blazing finish gave him an 11-under 205 total and a two-shot victory over the Czech Republic’s Klein. Binaghi dominated the par-5s at Sage Valley, making birdies at all four, the fourth, eighth, 10th and 15th holes.
Benaghi had struggled to a 2-over 74 in the opening round before getting into contention with a 5-under 67 in Friday’s second round. But it was Benaghi who emerged with the gold jacket that goes to the winner of the Junior Invitational.
“I’m honored to be a part of that group,” Benaghi told the Junior Invitational website, referring to the event’s distinguished list of winners. “This now gives me confidence that I can take with me in the future. I was fine starting two or three behind. I’m a hunter.
“I hit the ball well and also putted well. Even after shooting a 74 in the first round, I felt like I was going to have a chance.”
Klein had matched Mauss’ splits in the first two rounds, opening with a 2-under 70 before adding a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round to get a share of the lead at 6-under. Klein closed with a solid 3-under 69 for a 9-under 207 total that left him two shots behind Benaghi.
Joshua Bai of New Zealand had grabbed the lead following a sparkling opening round of 7-under 65. He backed off with a 2-over 74 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 69 that left him a shot behind Klein in third place with an 8-under 208 total.
Gerardo Gomez, an Arkansas recruit from Mexico, finished a shot behind Bai in fourth place with a 7-under 209 total. Gomez added a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round to his opening round of 1-under 71 before finishing up with a 2-under 70.
The low American was Kihei Akina of Kuhuku, Hawaii as he finished two shots behind Gomez in fifth place with a 5-under 211 total. Akina, who plans to join the program at BYU in the summer of 2025, matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 3-under 69 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70.
Russell, Gross’ fellow Paul S. Simon Boys Character Award honoree, opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 2-under 70 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 69 to join Mauss, Jackson Byrd of St. Simons Island, Ga., and Japan’s Taishi Moto in the foursome tied for sixth place at 4-under.
Russell is just a Class of 2027 kid, so he might get another couple of cracks at the Junior Invitational.
Byrd, who plans to join Atlantic Coast Conference power Clemson in the summer of 2025, matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a pair of 2-under 70s in the final two rounds.
Moto was only a shot out of the lead going into the final round after adding a 3-under 69 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 70, but closed with a 1-over 73 to fall back into the tie for sixth place.
Rounding out the top 10 were Wheaton Ennis of Litchfield Park, Ariz. and Jay Leng Jr. of San Diego, Calif. as they finished in a tie for 10th place, each landing on 2-under 214.
Ennis, who will join the program at SEC power Texas A&M this summer, opened with a 2-over 74 and added a solid 3-under 69 in Friday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71. Looks like Gross is going to be part of a talented freshman class in the SEC for the 2024-2025 season.
After opening with a 2-over 74, Leng, who will join the program at Stanford (in the ACC, I think) in the summer, matched par in Friday’s second round with a 72 before closing with a solid 4-under 68.
On the girls side, Asterisk Talley, a 15-year-old from Chowchilla, Calif., was wearing the gold jacket as she went wire to wire, pulling away for a six-shot victory.
After grabbing the lead with an opening round of 2-under 70, Talley put together another 2-under round in a steady rain in Friday’s second round to take a four-shot lead into the final round.
If anybody thought Talley would have trouble playing with a commanding lead, she quickly vanquished those thoughts as she made a birdie on the second hole, eagled the par-5 fourth and added birdies at six and eight for a sizzling front nine of 5-under 31.
Talley made a bogey at the 14th hole, but got that shot right back with a birdie at 15 for a 5-under 67 in the final round and a record-setting 9-under 207 total. Anna Davis, the left-hander who is a freshman at Auburn, set the record with a 7-under 209 total a year ago.
“It’s exciting to win an event like this against the top girls in the world,” Talley told the Junior Invitational website. “Even though I had a four-stroke lead, I came out playing like we were even.
“The course was softer, which allowed me to be aggressive. Even when I was 5-under at the turn, I knew I had to continue to play for birdies and pars.”
When the Junior Invitational added a girls division, it turned out to be a perfect opportunity for the girls who are eligible to prepare for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, which tees off April 3 at Champions Retreat.
Talley will be in the field for the Augusta National Women’s Am and her victory a few miles across the Georgia-South Carolina border at Sage Valley will send her to Augusta with plenty of momentum.
Rianna Mikhaela Malixi of the Philippines and No. 37 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) earned runnerup honors with a 3-under 213 total.
Malixi was the runnerup to Kiara Romero in last summer’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Malixi trailed Asterisk by four shots going into the final round after she added a 1-under 71 in Friday’s second round to her opening round of 1-over 73. Malixi closed with a solid 3-under 69, but just couldn’t keep pace with Asterisk.
Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nev. and No. 94 in the Women’s WAGR headed a group of three players tied for third place at even-par 216.
Wilson, who will join Romero at Oregon at the end of the summer, captured the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2022 at The Club at Olde Stone in sweltering Bowling Green, Ky.
After opening with a 3-over 75, Wilson bounced back with a 2-under 70 in Friday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71.
Joining Wilson at even par were Thailand’s Eila Galitsky, who won the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship last year, and Jasmine Koo of Cerritos, Calif.
Galitsky, who will join the program at SEC power South Carolina this summer, finished strong with a 4-under 68. She had opened with a 1-over 73 before adding a 75 in Friday’s soggy second round.
Koo, who will join the program at Southern California when the Trojans join the Big Ten this summer, struggled in the opening round with a 76, but bounced back with a 1-under 71 in the second round before closing with a solid 3-under 69.
Canadian Vanessa Borovilos and Anna Canado of Spain were another two shots behind the trio tied for third place as they landed in a tie for sixth at 2-over 218.
Borovilos, who lost to the eventual champion Romero in the second round of the U.S. Girls’ Junior at the Air Force Academy last summer, opened with a 3-over 75 and matched par in Friday’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 1-under 71.
Canado, who join the program at ACC power Duke this summer, also started slowly with a 2-over 74 in the opening round, but rebounded with a 1-under 71 in Friday’s second round before finishing up with a 73.
In a scary prospect for women’s college golf for the 2024-’25 season, the two Swedes tied for eighth place in the Junior Invitational at 3-over 219, Meja Ortengren, who is No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, and Nora Sundberg, No. 32 in the Women’s WAGR, are both taking their considerable talents to northern California and the powerful Stanford program this summer.
Ortengren followed up a pair of 2-over 74s in the first two rounds at Sage Valley before closing with a 1-under 71. Sundberg had the exact same splits, finishing up with a 1-under 71 after posting a pair of 2-over 74s in the first two rounds.
Rounding out the top 10 was Germany’s Helen Briem, at No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR, the highest-ranked player in the field. Briem finished alone in 10th place with a 4-over 220 total.
Briem, the winner of the Royal & Ancient’s Girls’ Amateur Championship last summer at Ganton Golf Club in England, struggled in Friday’s rain with a 5-over 77 in the second round after she had opened with a 73, but she finished up with a solid 2-under 70.
Heading the group of four players tied for 11th place at 5-over 221 was Gianna Clemente, the Warren, Ohio native who now calls Estero, Fla. home and is No. 26 in the Women’s WAGR.
Clemente, who lost in the final of the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior to Wilson at The Club at Olde Stone, was tied for second place going into Saturday's final round after adding a 2-under 70 in Friday’s second round to her opening round of 2-over 74, but she struggled in the final round, closing with a 77.
Clemente is still just a Class of ’26 competitor and was part of a group of 12 players who auditioned for the United States Curtis Cup team, which will take on Great Britain & Ireland at the Old Course at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England this summer, in a practice session in January at Seminole and Pine Tree in South Florida.
Megan Meng of Pennington, N.J. finished in 19th place with a 227 total as she followed up back-to-back 4-over 76s in the first two rounds with a final-round 75.
Meng, a senior at Hopewell Valley Central, was the winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls Championship in 2020 while playing out of Jericho National Golf Club. Meng will join the program at Big 10 power Northwestern this summer.
Aphrodite Deng, the Canadian who stormed into the Moorestown Field Club and won the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls Championship by a dozen shots last summer, finished two shots behind Meng in 20th place with a 229 total. Deng followed up a pair of 5-over 77s in the first two rounds with a final-round 75.
Deng made quite a statement when she rolled to a five-shot victory in the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the marquee event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, Thanksgiving week at TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course.
Something tells me we’re going to be hearing from Deng in 2024.
No comments:
Post a Comment