The Texas Collegiate Amateur Tour saw collegiate players from schools such as Texas A&M, LSU, North Texas, OU, East Carolina, Montana, Stephen F Austin, Dallas Baptist, Kansas, Wichita State, Abilene Christian and many other great universities play two outstanding venues in TPC Craig Ranch and Barton Creek Resort & Spa-Crenshaw Course Holiday Classics. TPC Craig Ranch will host its second Nationwide Tour Championship in 2012 and most recently the 2nd Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying school. Barton Creek is home of numerous amateur events and has been voted the #1 Golf Resort in Texas. Both venues saw tough conditions with high winds and steady rain for the first 36-holes of competition. Players were greeted by outstanding tee gifts from Oakley, Titleist and Galleria-Dallas. Collegiate Boys & Girls Winners were awarded $250 & $100 Galleria-Dallas gift cards along with custom stitched golf flags recognizing their great performances. Furthermore, the “TCAT” events completed 54-holes of competition which earns the prestigious World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).
Craig Ranch Day One Summary: Collegiate Boys: Josh Jones (University of North Texas) was the first round leader posting a two-under 70. Sang Yi (LSU), Ty Spinella (North Texas), Blake Pugh (Stephen F. Austin) followed with one-under rounds of 71. Sang Yi posted an outstanding five-under 67 for the second 18 of the day in the wind & rain to take the day-one lead after 36-holes. Collegiate Girls: Taylor Schmidt (OU) traveled from Canada and posted solid scores of 75 & 74 to lead by seven-shots. Courtney Radford (Dallas Baptist Univ.), Mackenzie Ralston (North Texas) & Kirby Kramer (Texas A&M) posted solid rounds to round out the top three. Junior Boys & Girls: Daniel De La Garza from Mexico & Maggie Neece, a recent OU verbal committee, posted superb rounds to lead all juniors. Important Note: All junior players played the same yardages/tees as the collegiate players.
Craig Ranch Day Two Summary: The rain cleared off but the winds kicked up and the crisp cold air made it a fun but cold and challenging day to post low scores on a PGA Tour Qualifier Venue. Players finished several holes early from the rain shortened second round and then proceeded to the 3rd round with a 9am shotgun start. Collegiate Boys: Sang Yi continued his stellar play to capture the title with a three-day total 213. Ty Spinella won a scorecard playoff with Abilene Christian’s Alex Carpenter for 2nd. Alex was the 2011 NCAA Division II Jack Nicklaus award winner. Sang stated, “ TPC Craig Ranch is an amazing venue and tough challenge. The wet fairways, wind, cold and rain make it a challenging but I struck the ball solid and most of all enjoying playing with my great friends Ty Spinella, Josh Jones & Johnny Jones. The “TCAT” tour playing premium venues as Craig Ranch is something college players have wanted for many years and I am excited to participate in the summer season on courses like Redstone, TPC San Antonio, TPC Craig Ranch, Golf Club of Dallas and others. Having the WAGR rankings is awesome, and the competition, format in carts, and great tee gifts is something every college player will enjoy. I look forward to playing this summer and can’t wait to see the schedule.“
Collegiate Girls: Taylor Schmidt, the first day leader brought home the Championship Title with a strong third round of 81. Taylor stated, “It was great to play an awesome venue and have my OU Asst. Coach watch me after recovering from ACL surgery. This win will give me great confidence before I start the spring collegiate season at the University of Oklahoma. Kirby Kramer posted the low score of the day, 78, to capture 2nd and Courtney Radford (Dallas Baptist) captured 3rd.
Junior Boys & Girls: MacKenzie Boydston won a scorecard playoff for 1st over Maggie Neece & Daniel De La Garza continued his outstanding play alongside the collegiate players with rounds of 74,75, 73: 222. Daniel, a highly recruited player, is currently considering: OU, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, San Diego and others. MacKenzie Boydston recently signed a golf scholarship at IVY League Georgetown and Maggie Neece is a highly recruited 2013 player and was considering schools such as Texas AM, SMU, TCU before deciding to join “Sooner Nation” at the University of Oklahoma.
Note: Mens/Boys Yardages: 6,978 yards
Ladies/Girls Yardages: 5,924 yards
Barton Creek Day One Summary:
The course received ton of rain with 2"+ inches soaking the course over the first 36-holes but it held up nicely and was in great shape and the rain made the normally lightning-fast greens soft and receptive. Pace of play for the first 36-holes in spite of the wet conditions was an impressive 7:30 for 36-holes. Even more impressive on day one was the blistering 66 in the second round by Alex Ellis (College of Charleston) which included bogeys on his last two holes in non-stop rain, and Liz Wendt’s (Furman) hole-in-one on #11 on the Crenshaw Course.
Barton Creek Day Two Summary:
Paul Otte (UC Santa Barbara) battled the brutal (20+mph) wind to hang on to capture the Men’s title by two-shots. Minami Levonowich, Houston, TX took the Ladies title by 8-shots over former TJGT stand-out Taylor Moreno from Austin. Michael Durio, (The Woodlands, TX) and Carmen Gonzales, (Lampasas, TX) took home the Boys and Girls High School titles.
TJGT Director of Operations Lynn Monzingo had this to say after the two-day event, “It was great to see so many former players from the TJGT come back and play on one of our favorite venues in the toughest conditions I’ve ever seen it play for one of our events.”
Note: Men/Boys Yardages: 6,690 yards Crenshaw Cliffside
Ladies/Girls Yardages: 5,660 yards Crenshaw Cliffside
