Tucker Clark and Cameron Kaiser; Ashley Menne, Calynne Rosholt and Kendall Todd
With playoffs suspended as one of many health and safety precautions, the 2020 Willie Low Invitational presented by MJ Insurance at Phoenix Country Club ended in a tie. On the boy’s side, Tucker Clark of Phoenix and Cameron Kaiser of Scottsdale shot 5-under-par 137 to earn co-champions honors. Kaiser came out firing on all cylinders, with a 7-under-par 64, tying the low round of the tournament, to sit in first place after the first round contested on June 29. His round included four birdies on each side, three in a row on the front nine (Nos. 4-6). Clark posted a 2-over-par 73, nine strokes back.
In the second round they traded places: Clark put up the 64 and Kaiser the 73. Clark, bound for the University of Notre Dame, managed to make three birdies on the front nine, before finishing the tournament strong with three birdies on the final four holes. Damon Vilkauskas (71-67) of Mesa made three birdies down the stretch to take solo-third place at 4-under-par 138.
On the girl’s side, Ashley Menne of Surprise, Calynne Rosholt of Cave Creek and Kendall Todd of Goodyear finished deadlocked at even-par 142. Todd separated herself from the pack after a first-round 4-under-par 67, featuring six birdies and two bogeys, while Menne posted a 4-over 75. Then, like the boys division, they swapped scores in the second round, with Menne firing a 4-under 67 (six birdies and two bogeys) and Todd the 4-over 75. Meanwhile, Rosholt posted steady scores of 72-70 – including a clutch birdie on her final hole – for a share of the championship.
Menne, set to play for the Sun Devils in the fall, added the co-win to two other solo-first-place finishes in the 2018 and 2016 Willie Low Invitational. She also came in second place in 2019 and 2017.
The event honors the late Willie Low, one of the Valley’s top golf professionals for nearly a half century who started the tournament in 1969. It has been showcasing the talent of junior golfers from across the state since then with past winners including PGA TOUR golfers Billy Mayfair (1983 and ’84), Ted Purdy (1989), Charlie Beljan (2000) and LPGA player, Sara Brown (2004).
Low influenced many of the Valley’s top juniors, including Howard Twitty and a young George Boutell who would later go on to win the 1962 Arizona Amateur Championship and then post a stellar career at Arizona State University, earning All American status.
