The TJGT Elite Mini Tour’s Mini Tour Championship
The TJGT Elite Mini Tour’s Mini Tour Championship was held at the beautiful Slick Rock golf course at Horseshoe Bay over Valentine’s Day weekend. 35 players teed it up in near perfect conditions. On Friday night and Saturday morning, the players were greeted with tournament gifts from Nike that included a golf shirt, two sleeves of balls, a pair of mittens, an electronic gift, a Nike golf cap and several other golf related items. The first day the mittens came in ‘handy’ as the players were met with a one hour frost delay due to overnight freezing temperatures. By the time the players began teeing off the temperatures had warmed up and the wind started blowing. In the girls 8-9 division, Hanna Liu put together two very solid rounds to claim the Tour Championship trophy.
Hailey Jones played with one arm due to an injury sustained a few months back and fired a two day total of 226. Even with a cast on one arm this young lady can play. What a trooper!!!
In the girls 10-11 division, Player of the Year and Sportsmanship award winner Mia Ayer claimed yet another title. She recorded an 11 on the card on the par five third hole on day two, but finished strong with a 40 on the last nine to claim the championship.
In the girls 12-13 division, Brielle Ward showed great improvement on the second day. She knocked off 10 strokes from her first day total to win the title. In the boys 8-9 division, Jake Wittschiebe wins with two great rounds of 77-74. His second round 74 included a hole out for eagle on hole #7 and a birdie on 18.
Andy Cortez fired a personal best in each round, but it wasn’t enough to hold off hard charging Scott Roden. Roden fired a second round 78 to finish in a tie for second with Cortez. Roden won the second place trophy with a par on the first sudden death playoff hole.
In the boys 10-11 division, Daniel Gutierrez posted the only round in the 70’s on day two and it was more than enough to capture the title. Daniel’s start was as warm as the weather on day two as he posted a one over par 37 on his front nine. Coming in second was the Golden Heart award winner Lawson Klotz. Cooper Dossey mounted a hard charge on day two by posting a four over par total on his last nine holes. Cole Hammer got off to good start but struggled coming in. He managed to forge a tie with Dossey, and then won the sudden death playoff with a par on the second playoff hole.
The best play overall came in the boys 12-13 division. Twelve out of the thirty rounds that were posted were in the seventies. Newcomer Michael Hodson led the way by posting an incredible three over par for the 36 hole event to win the title over Patrick Rhodes and Jack Little. For his great play, Hodson wins a Junior All Star exemption. Rhodes and Little finished in a tie for second with a two day total of 154. Rhodes had the most momentum going into round two as he birdied three out of his last five holes to post a day one 77, which put him in third place. Jack Little opened with a 76 and was in second place after the first 18 holes. Little held a one stroke lead going into the back nine on Sunday, but the turning point came on the par 5 12th hole. Rhodes made a par to get into a tie with Little. Both players played the last six holes in one over par to finish in a tie for second after 36 holes. Rhodes ended the drama quickly with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
This was a great end to the 2009-2010 season. Several mini tour players garnered awards at the end of the year banquet on Saturday night and backed up their awards with some great play on the course. A special thanks to all of the parents and caddies for helping out with shuttling and getting the players around the difficult Slick Rock course in a timely fashion. Also a special thanks to James Rolle and the staff at the Slick Rock course for helping to put on a professional event. Please keep watching the website for upcoming mini tour events.