Camden Braidech Wins the 2022 New Year Classic

Sammie Olson and Irene Kim share Girls Championship

The New Year Classic kicked off January 22-23, with nearly 60 junior golfers competing in the Boys Championship division at Raven Golf Club. Cole Finch of Kingman jumped out to the first round lead after firing 5-under 67. In the second round, Scottsdale’s Camden Braidech, who shot 69 in round one, followed with a 2-under 70 in the second round for the one-stroke victory, edging out two players tied for second place at 4-under par – Carter Lolli (70-70) of Phoenix and Carter Wilkes (69-71). Brasen Briones of Tucson shot a final round 68 to pull into fourth place at -3, only two strokes off the pace. The win marked Braidech’s second in JGAA Boys Championship play since his victory at the 2021 Prescott City Jr Championship.

Contested at Arizona Biltmore’s Adobe Course, the competition for the Girls Championship division ended in a tie for first place at -5 between Irene Kim of Woodstock, Maryland (68-69) and Sammie Olson (69-68) of Phoenix. Olson sat one stroke back heading into the final round. On the front nine, both Olson and Kim shot 3-under 33s, before Olson pulled even with Kim after regulation play. The two were crowned co-champions when the playoff was suspended due to darkness. The win was Olson’s first in the Girls Championship division, while remarkably, it was Kim’s fourth victory in as many events entered in JGAA competition. Kate Hauptman (74-70) of Phoenix and San Tan Valley’s Alexis Vakasiuola (72-72) finished tied for third place at +2.

In the Boys 15-18 division competition held at Raven, Eli Groshelle (78-71) of Great Falls, Montana edged out Evan Cross (74-75) of Prescott Valley in a playoff, after finishing tied for first place at 5-over par. At Aguila Golf Course, Min Gi Kim of Chandler finished at 6-under-par 138 (70-68) at to win the Boys 13-14 division. Rylan Amis of Scottsdale (32-35) and Henry Newkirk (31-36) of Scottsdale finished tied for first place at +4 in the Boys 11-12 division. Rydder Erbach (30-40) of Scottsdale won in Boys 10 and Under division at +7.

On Arizona Biltmore’s Adobe Course, Julia Herzberg of Gilbert, won in the Girls 15-18 Division at 3-over par (74-71). At Aguila Golf Course Ella Walsh won the Girls 13-14 Division at 1-over par (74-71).

Hannah Nguyen of Phoenix won the Girls 11-12 division at 4-over par (29-38), and Beau Ellington defended her title in the Girls 10 and Under division at 4-over par (29-38).

FULL RESULTS