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- (left to right) Owen Bolles, Camden Braidech, Adam Miller, Tyler Spielman
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- Owen Bolles and Gracie McGovern
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- (left to right) Eva Heinz, Gracie McGovern, Raegan Capizzi, Carolyn Fuller
Arizona’s best junior golfers – 31 girls and 51 boys – gathered at Mesa’s Longbow Golf Club February 18-19 to compete in the Fisher Bryan Invitational presented by Mina Harigae, the second coveted PING Junior Masters Series tournament of the 2023 JGAA season.
In the Girls Championship division, Gracie McGovern of Scottsdale opened with a 1-over 72 to take the first-round lead by one stroke over two players – Eva Heinz of Goodyear and Carolyn Fuller of Phoenix. McGovern and Heinz each shot final round 4-over 75s to finish first and second at +5 and +6, respectively. Fuller (73-78) slid into a tie for third place at +9 alongside Raegan Capizzi (75-76) of Scottsdale. The win marks McGovern’s second PING Junior Masters Series title since winning the 2022 Willie Low Invitational.
Owen Bolles of Chandler also won by a narrow, one-stroke margin, shooting 3-under par at Longbow to win his second-consecutive JGAA tournament since the New Year Classic in late January. In what also marked his first PING Jr Master’s Series victory, Bolles shared the first-round lead with Tyler Spielman of Cave Creek, each shooting 1-under 70. Bolles then caught fire in the final round, with three consecutive birdies on holes 7-9 and again at 18 to shoot 2-under 69. Spielman made a final-round run of his own – with birdies at 2, 5, 10 and 18 – to finish in second place at 2-under par, four strokes ahead of two players tied for third place: Camden Braidech (75-69) of Scottsdale and Adam Miller (71-73) of Phoenix.
FULL RESULTS | TOURNEY PHOTOS
The PING Junior Masters Series consists of five tournaments held at some of the most prestigious courses in Arizona. Debuting in 2015, the PING Junior Masters Series is a series of invitation-only tournaments tailored to Arizona junior golfers with the desire and ability to compete locally against their top-ranked peers. The field for the events is limited to junior golfers who are invited to compete by their national ranking by Junior Golf Scoreboard – boys must be in the top 3,500 and girls in the top 1,500.
“Our goal is to provide a competitive place for aspiring players to play,” said Alex Clark, Chairman of the Board of the JGAA. “This tournament series will allow kids to earn national-level points and will serve as a launching pad for nationally chartered events.”
Openings for junior players from neighboring states will be dependent on availability at each event. Qualified junior players can sign up for the PING Junior Major Series by visiting www.jgaa.org.
To learn more about the JGAA and the PING Junior Masters Series, contact Scott McNevin, JGAA Executive Director, smcnevin@jgaa.org, or call Scott at 602-944-6168.
