Flagstaff’s Kendall McCain fired 8-under par at Kierland Golf Club to win the Boys Championship division at the Sam Schanafelt Summer Classic. Held July 11-12, McCain overcame a one-shot deficit in the 36-hole competition to win by three strokes over first round leader Nash Arthurs of Peoria, who finished in second place at -5. Two players tied for third place at -4: Scottsdale’s Mitchell Curran and Paradise Valley’s Austin Plunkett.
McCain’s second round started with four birdies on the front nine to make the turn at -3. Set to play golf for Eastern Arizona College in the fall, he picked up one more stroke on the back nine en route to another 4-under 68 and the win, his first of the 2023 JGAA season in 14 starts.
Arthurs’s first round 67, the lowest round of the tournament, included six birdies, and he finished strong on the final nine holes of the championship, posting 3-under 33, to take second place. Plunkett (71-69) fired a 4-under 32 on his final nine holes of the champion to join Curran (70-70) in third place.
In the first round of the Girls Championship division, Litchfield Park’s Kaitlyn Helm shot 3-under 33 on inward nine to settle at 73. One stroke ahead of Mia Cesarek (74-75) of Tucson, Helm followed with birdies in the second round at 4, 6 and 7 en route to a 71 – even par for the championship. Cesarek, bound for Utah Tech University in the fall, finished in third place at +5, and Annie Dawson (76-71) of Phoenix came in second place at +3. On her way to Creighton University, Dawson and Helm both fired the low round, 71, of the tournament on the girl’s side.
Kaj Johnston of Cave Creek won the Boys 15-18 division after shooting 71-68, 5-under par, and Lauren Nau, Scottsdale (76-75) finished in first place in the Girls 15-18 division at +7.
Held at Stonecreek Golf Club, the Boys 13-14 division’s Luke Duval of Scottsdale shot 2-under par (68-72) to win, and Natalia Fox of Peoria (78-79) won the Girls 13-14 division at +15.
The Sam Schanafelt Summer Classic is held in honor of former JGAA member and Kierland Golf Club employee who was taken too soon at 18 years old in an automobile accident on October 4, 2022. His mother and father, Robyn and Bryan, and his two sisters, Olivia and Katherine, hold fast to his memory, and their wish for others is to keep Sam’s loving, joyful and kind spirit alive.
