Both surge past the pack in the final round
Rylan Johnson and Abbey Schutte
Arizona’s best junior golfers – 31 girls and 51 boys – gathered at Mesa’s Longbow Golf Club February 19-20 to compete in the Fisher-Bryan Invitational, the second coveted PING Junior Masters Series tournament of the 2022 JGAA season.
Opening with a 3-under 68, Sammie Olson of Phoenix jumped out to the first round lead in the Girls Championship division while eventual winner Abbey Schutte of Goodyear sat four strokes off the pace. Then in the second round, Schutte, who seesawed her way to even par through 11 holes, closed out the competition with birdies on the last four holes. Schutte’s 4-under-par performance (72-66) for the tournament ended up three shots clear of second place, earned by Brynn Kort (70-71, -1) of Henderson, Nevada. Third place went to Oro Valley’s Zoe Newell, who fired even-par 70-72.
A similar theme played out in the Boy’s Championship division. Adam Miller of Phoenix fired the low first round score, 66, three strokes ahead of eventual winner, Rylan Johnson of Gilbert. Johnson added a 6-under 65 to his first round 69 to outrun the field at 8-under par. Miller pulled into second place at -4, and Wheaton Ennis of Litchfield Park finished one stroke back, -3, to take third place.
“It was exciting to see both Abby and Rylan come from behind to win,” said Scott McNevin, Executive Director of the JGAA. “All of these juniors can really put up some impressive numbers. We’re just thankful for PING and courses like Longbow for giving them a place to shine.”
