Brady Haake finishes strong down the stretch for the Boys Championship win.
(left to right) Alyzzah Vakasiuola, Aaryanna Morris, Julie Huggins
Alyzzah Vakasiuola of San Tan Valley posted steady scores of 71-73 to defend her title at the Phoenix City Junior Championship held July 23-24 at Aguila Golf Course. Her even-par 144 outpaced second-place finisher, Aaryanna Morris, (72-73—145) of Avondale by one stroke and Julie Huggins (76-71—147) of Anthem, who won in the Girls 15-18 division last year, finished three strokes shy in third place. In the second round, Morris gave chase with four-consecutive birdies on holes 2-5 while Emily Shimkus of Cave Creek shot 2-under 70 and Huggins with a 1-under 71. Despite their charges, Vakasiuola cruised to her fifth all-time JGAA win in the Girls Championship division.
(left to right) Brady Haake, Anawin Pikulthong, Mahanth Chirravuri
After round one in the Boys Championship division, Brady Haake of Gilbert sat in second place at 1-under-par 71, one stroke behind four players tied for the lead. Haake then overtook the field in the second round with a 4-under-par 68 to finish at 5-under-par 139 for the tournament. His strong play down the stretch sealed the win. He birdied 15 and 17 in the first round, and in the second, eagled 15 then birdied 17 and 18 to shoot 2-under-par 34 on the back nine for the second day in a row.
Anawin Pikulthong of Gilbert held a share of the first-round lead with a 2-under 70 highlighted by a 4-under-par 32 on the back nine. He followed with a 1-under 71 to finish in solo-second place. Mahanth Chirravuri (74-68), Rajveer Sethi (71-71) and Daniel Thompson (70-72) finished tied for third place at 2-under-par 142.
Aiden Krafft of Albuquerque, New Mexico won the Boys 15-18 division at 4-under par (71-69—140). Ryan Hanawalt of Laveen fired even-par 142 (74-68) to win in the Boys 13-14 division played at Legacy Golf Resort. Joseph Nelson (59-58) of Gilbert, Frederick Egnatios of Norfolk, Virginia (57-60) and Hudson Parker (61-54) of Tucson finished tied for first place on Aguila Short Course in the Boys 11-12 division at 9-over-par 117. And Cason Dezzani from Honolulu, Hawaii won the Boys 10 and Under division at 14-over par (63-59—122).
Annie Dawson of Phoenix won in the Girls 15-18 division at 5-over par (76-73—149). Alexis Vakasiuola of San Tan Valley won the Girls 13-14 Division at 9-over par (82-69—151) at Legacy Golf Resort. On Aguila Short Course, Julia Herzberg of Gilbert prevailed in the Girls 11-12 division with a 1-over-par 109 (52-57), while Hannah Nguyen of Phoenix won the Girls 10 and Under division at 16-over-par 124 (60-64).
