Brody Leid of Phoenix topped the 16-players field in the Boys Championship division to win the 2024 Arizona Junior Match Play Championship contested at the Estancia Club, July 25-26.
The second seeded Leid advanced to the championship match with 5-and-4, 2-and-1, and 4-and-3 victories to meet Nicholas Layman of Surprise, who handled his three matches 1 up, 2 up, and 2 and 1.
After pushing the first three holes, Leid went 1 up on the fourth with a birdie. Six holes later, he increased his lead to 2 up with another at the 10th hole. Layman answered by winning the 15th hole to move the match back to 1 up. Two holes later, 17, Layman made birdie again to level the match. All tied going into the final hole, Leid made par to secure the championship. This win along with another recent victory at the State Junior Golf Championship give Leid momentum as he joins the Wyoming Cowboys’ Golf team in the fall.
A field of the top eight girls in Arizona based on their totals in the Girls Championship Division Player of the Year points race were invited to participate in the tournament. Litchfield Park’s Ashley Shaw worked her way into the championship match after 2-up and 6-and-4 wins. Phoenix’s Grace Rubelsky, who is set to play golf for Washington State University in the fall, earned the other half of the draw after a pair of 1-up victories.
The championship match required 24 holes before Shaw won on the sixth extra hole. Shaw took a 1-up lead on the fifth hole. She made three-straight birdies on holes 6-8 and another on 14 to hold a 2-up lead standing on the 17th tee. Rubelsky made three birdies of her own along the way, and amazingly, she carded two more on the final two holes to tie the match and force the extra holes. They remained level through the first five holes until Shaw made 4 to Rubelsky’s 5 to decide the championship.
