Vincent Cervantes Wins Chandler City Junior Championship

The Chandler City Junior Championship took place Sept. 9-10 at Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass and Foothills Golf Club. In the Boys Championship division, held at Whirlwind Golf Club-Devils Claw, Vincent Cervantes of Chandler stood four shots back of Adam Croix of Peoria after a two-under par 70 in the first round. Cervantes would climb right back into the mix, thanks in part to seven birdies carded in the final round. The Chandler resident shot six-under-par 66 to tie atop the leaderboard with Oscar Uribe of Scottsdale at eight-under par. Uribe and Cervantes ended up going into a playoff to determine the victor of the Boys Championship division. Cervantes won on the first playoff hole with a par to outlast Uribe and earn his first victory of the season in his own backyard. Ajay Morris of Avondale took third place at seven-under par and Kush Shah of Chandler finished in fourth place at five-under par.

The Girls Championship division, also contested at Whirlwind Golf Club-Devils Claw, was an ultimate battle between Ashley Shaw of Litchfield Park and Julia Herzberg of Gilbert. Alexis Vakasiuola of San Tan Valley and Ashley Shaw of Litchfield Park led the way at two-under par (70) after the first round of play, with Julia Herzberg trailing by a stroke. The final round was all Ashley Shaw with an imposing four-under par performance. The former Curry Cup champion fired off five birdies highlighted by an eagle on the 462-yard par five fifteenth. However, Herzberg wouldn’t go down without a fight and put together a round in the 60s herself. She posted a three-under 69 to stay within striking distance. Even with the strong effort from Herzberg, it wasn’t enough to keep up with Ashley Shaw as she pulled away with the championship by two strokes. Shaw finished at six-under par, while Herzberg ended play at four-under par. The win makes it her first of the season. Aubrey Hilgers of Litchfield Park took third place at the event with a two-under par showing.

In the Boys 15-18 division, hosted at Whirlwind Golf Club-Devils Claw, Oliver Uribe of Scottsdale took first-place honors with a 70-69—139, a five-under-par performance. At Foothills Golf Club, Nash Yogurtian of Gilbert held on to win the Boys 13-14 division by one stroke after a 74-65-139 scorecard. Yogurtian finished at five-under par. At Whirlwind Golf Club-Devils Claw back nine, Cason Dezzani (73) of Scottsdale finished first place in the Boys 11-12 division at one-over-par. Benjamin Bracke of Gilbert won the Boys 10 and Under division at one-over par (73).

Zoey Woodward of Anthem won at Whirlwind Golf Club-Devils Claw in the Girls 15-18 division at 12-over par (78-78—156). At Foothills Golf Club, Claire Brooks of Phoenix claimed the championship in the Girls 13-14 division by four strokes at two-over par (76-70-146). At Whirlwind Golf Club- Devils Claw back nine, Hayden Nguyen of Peoria dominated the Girls 11-12 division by 12 strokes at four-over par (36-40-76). And Priya Natarajan of Phoenix wins in Girls 10 and Under division with a five-over 77 performance.

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