The TJGT Houston Cougar Country Invitational was held at beautiful Augusta Pines Golf Club in Spring, Texas on August 18th & 19th. Sixty-five junior golfers from Texas and Mexico teed it up in August weather, which means extreme heat and lots of humidity. All Boys 12-18 played 6,702 yards and all Girls 12-18 played 5,701 yards. Players were greeted on day one at check in with gifts that included an Adidas shirt and a matching logoed TJGT camouflage cap. Players were also treated to a boxed lunch both days as well as all the water they could drink, compliments of the Texas Junior Golf Tour. There were three college coaches in attendance to watch the thirty six-hole event. Those coaches included the Jackson State head women’s coach, University of Houston assistant coach Chris Hill, and University of Houston Head Coach Jonathan Dismuke.
The action was much like the weather…HOT. On day one, the boys got off to a rockin’ start. Hometown favorite Doug Shipman of Houston used his home course advantage to his favor as he opened with a 69. Doug shot an even par 36 on the front and then birdied three out of the last four holes to post three under on the back nine and the round. Argyle native Mason Horner opened with a 71. Horner posted four birdies on his way to an opening 71, including making birdie on the difficult 17th that plays much like the island green at TPC Sawgrass. Also opening with a 71 from The Woodlands was Jeff Swearingen. Swearingen got the tournament off to a great start with an opening birdie then recorded one more birdie and a bogey to finish at one under. Eric Redeker from Katy provided some fireworks in the first round by holing out from about 100 yards for an eagle 2 on hole #4. Bradley Fleming from Magnolia and Garrison Lackey from Weslaco opened with great scores of 73. Matthew Dunn from Houston, Andrew Ertel from The Woodlands, Matthew Garrett from Deer Park, Cody Gonzalez from League City, Christian Hallman from Sugar Land, Adam Peterson from Baytown, Nick Pierce from Houston, and Preston Stanley from Katy all opened with 74. Opening with a 75 was Clayton Brady from Austin, Dalton Conn from Fredericksburg, and Scott Newell from Katy. On the girl’s side, Taylor Stockton from Houston got off to a great start with an opening round 78 that included three birdies. One stroke back of Taylor were The Woodlands products Abbie Driggers and Laken Trahan. Elena Warren posted an opening round 80, and Nicole Budnik from The Woodlands and Jessica Parks from Sachse each opened with 81’s, meaning the competition on day two was going to be good.
On day two, the girls went out first and averaged about four hours and fifteen minutes with pace of play. Jamie Evans rebounded nicely from an opening round 95 with a second round 77. Evans fired an even par 36 on the front nine on her way to 77. Abbie Driggers followed her opening round 79 with a 78 to finish in third. Coming in second was first round leader Taylor Stockton. Stockton shot a 77 in round two. Coming back to win the Cougar Country Championship was Elena Warren from Austin. Warren shot a one over 73 in round two to claim the title. Warren started with a birdie and finished with a birdie, and recorded one birdie in between. Congratulations to this great junior golfer from Austin!
On the boys side, Derek Oland from McKinney followed up an opening round 77 with a one under par 71 in round two. Derek had consecutive birdies on 16 and 17 to go along with one bogey and the rest pars. Preston Stanley fired a second round 72 to finish at 146. Stanley recorded three birdies and three bogies in round two to shoot two over for the tournament. In all, Stanley recorded nine birdies for the event. Bradley Fleming from Magnolia followed his opening round 73 with a second round 73 to finish at 146 as well. Fleming made an eagle on the par 5 18th hole to get in the playoff. In second place with a pair of 71’s in round one, Mason Horner and Jeff Swearingen each fired second round 75’s to finish in a four way tie for second with both Fleming and Stanley. In the playoff, Mason Horner finishes fifth with an unfortunate double bogey at the first hole. Jeff Swearingen finished fourth with a par on the second playoff hole. Bradley Fleming birdied the second playoff hole to finish in second. Preston Stanley wins second place with an eagle on the second playoff hole. Congratulations to each . The championship trophy in this year’s Cougar Country Invitational goes to hometown product Doug Shipman. Shipman followed up his opening round 69 with a one over 73 to finish at 2-under for the event. Shipman, who is a member of a very successful Klein Oak program, recorded seven birdies and only five bogies for the 36 hole event. Congratulations to Doug and best of luck on the upcoming season.
The TJGT would like to thank Augusta Pines Golf Club for allowing the tour to host a great event at a prestigious venue. The tour has two events left on the 2009-2010 calendar. The tour will be in action next weekend, August 28th and 29th, at Bridlewood in the Dallas area and Sienna Plantation in the Houston area. The Sienna Plantation is a two man team event where the players will be in carts both days. The format is tentatively scheduled that the first day will be a best ball competition and the second day will be a scramble. Grab you a partner and come on!
Boys 12-18
1st Doug Shipman Spring, TX 2011 69-73-142
(T2)2nd Preston Stanley Katy, TX 2011 74-72-146
(T2)3rd Bradley Fleming Magnolia, TX 2012 73-73-146
(T2)4th Jeff Swearingen The Woodlands, TX 2011 71-75-146
(T2)5th Mason Horner Argyle, TX 2011 71-75-146
Girls 12-18
1st Elena Warren Austin, TX 2011 80-73-153
2nd Taylor Stockton Houston, TX 2012 78-77-155
3rd Abbie Driggers The Woodlands, TX 2012 79-78-157
Playoff details: Bradley Fleming of Magnolia, Preston Stanley of Katy, Jeff Swearingen of The Woodlands and Mason Horner of Argyle all finished in a four way tie for second place. Stanley wins the playoff and second place with an eagle on the par 5 18th, the second playoff hole. Fleming finishes third with a birdie on the 18th, the second playoff hole. Swearingen finishes fourth with a par on the 18th, the second playoff hole, while Horner finishes fifth.
