December 12, 2021 •Southern Texas PGA
Fifteen Champions were named at the 2021 Classic Chevy Sugar Land & Classic Chevy Hwy 6 STPGA Fall Championship at Horseshoe Bay Resort. Presented by AHEAD, this year’s Championship took place on Saturday, December 11th – Sunday, December 12th. Over the two days, players in the Little Linksters and Junior Links programs played a total of 18-holes on the Slick Rock Course and Junior Tour players completed a total of 36-holes on the Apple Rock Course.
In the Little Linksters Fall Championship, the top two finishers of the Co-Ed 6-8 and Boys and Girls 9-10 Divisions earned exemptions into the Insperity Invitational Junior Pro-Am in April of 2022. The top three finishers of the Girls and Boys 11-12 Division will join them as well.
In the Little Linksters Co-Ed 6-8 Division, Dawson Dial of Cedar Park had 5 birdies in his final round to shoot an impressive 9-hole total of 33 (-3) to win the championship title. Dial finished the tournament at 4-under-par 68, 2 strokes ahead of the rest of the field.
Jessie Lee came into her final round in second, just one stroke behind leader Viktoria Germain. With two birdies in a bogey free final round, Lee took the Little Linksters Girls 9-10 Division title with an 18-hole total of 73 (+1) to finish with a three stroke lead.
In the Little Linksters Boys 9-10 Division, Reed Rodriguez of Houston led the field by just one stroke with a first round total of 3-under-par 33. Texas Terry of Austin went 2-under-par in the final round to climb the leaderboard but missed the title by just one stroke as Rodriguez shot an impressive 18-hole total of 4-under-par to claim the championship title. “I would like to thank all of our parents for putting in a lot of hard work and time for us to be great at golf,” said Rodriguez.
Ava Frazier of Round Rock shot an 18-hole total of 75 (+3) to win the Little Linksters Girls 11-12 Division title, leading the field by three strokes. “My favorite part of the event was being able to see a lot of my friends,” said Frazier.
In the Little Linksters Boys 11-12 Division, Logan Houl of Diboll and Luke An of Houston tied with an 18-hole total of 73 (+1) leading them to a playoff for first. Luke An made a birdie putt on the first hole to win the championship title. “In the playoff I had a big slope and I didn’t think I was going to make it, but I just tapped it in,” said An.
In the Junior Links Boys 13-14 Division Michael Mangan of Katy and Blake Harwell of League City tied with an 18-hole total of 80 leading them into a playoff. After going neck to neck with four tied holes, Mangan sunk a birdie putt on the 5th hole to win the playoff and claim the division win. “My favorite part of the tournament was the playoff because it took so long,” said Mangan.
After leading the field by eight strokes in her first round, Shelly Areepitka of Austin knocked 6-strokes off her first round score to finish her final round with a 9-hole total of 46 to claim the Junior Links Girls 13-14 Division title.
In the Junior Links Boys 15-18 Division, Beckham Del Rosario of New Braunfels led the field by one stroke after the first round at a nine hole score of 43. After going head to head with Gabriel Limon of San Antonio in the final round, Rosario claimed the title by just one stroke with an 18-hole total of 88. “I would like to thank the STPGA for making this happen and hosting this great event,” said Rosario.
Madeline Pate of Cibolo secured her lead heading into the final round by 10 strokes. Elise Miles of San Antonio climbed back up the leaderboard to fight for the champion title, but Cibolo won the Junior Links Girls 15-18 Division by just three strokes.
At the Junior Tour Fall Championship, the top four players in each division also earned exemptions into the Insperity Invitational Junior Pro-Am in April of 2022.
Katelyn Allen of Montgomery and Michelle Lee of San Antonio went neck and neck in Round Two finishing the day tied at 162 (+18). Allen took home the champion title after getting a birdie on the first hole of the playoff. “This win really means a lot because I have never won a championship before,” said Allen. “I always go to playoffs and seem to not make the putt or something else, so it really means a lot.”
The Junior Tour Boys 11-12 Division came down the wire as Gavin Hymer of San Antonio and Aadi Parmar of Selma finished Round Two tied at 146 (+2). Hymer won the two-hole playoff to take home the champion title. “I really played well this week and that is going to give me confidence going into next year,” said Hymer.
Mattie Purgahn of Lake Charles, LA battled back from sitting in fifth place after Round One to claim the Junior Tour Girls 13-14 Division champion title with a 36-hole total of 164 (+20). “I have been playing this course since I was seven and it is not always easy to play well,” said Purgahn. “It really means a lot to me to get this trophy. "
In the Junior Tour Boys 13-14 Division, Luciano Follmer of Lake Travis ended Round One in second place, one stroke behind Vik Akin of Mission with an 18-hole score of 77 (+5). Follmer took home the win after getting two birdies in Round Two finishing with a tournament total of 157 (+13).
Mary Kerr of Friendswood held on for the Junior Tour Girls 15-18 Division after leading by two strokes after Round One. Kerr capped off her 36-holes with three birdies and a tournament total of 164 (+20). “This win really means a lot and it is really a confidence booster knowing that all my practice is paying off,” said Kerr.
After leading by two strokes after Round One, Hayden Hardwick of Portland continued his lead in the Junior Tour Boys 15-18 Division to win by four strokes with a final score of 149 (+5). Hardwick came off an impressive first round with six birdies to give him his second championship win of the year after winning the 2021 STPGA Spring Championship.
The Southern Texas PGA Junior Golf Program would like to thank the entire staff of both Slick Rock and Apple Rock Courses at Horseshoe Bay Resort for hosting such great events. Additionally, the Southern Texas PGA Junior Golf Program would like to thank the title sponsor of the 2021 Fall Championship, Classic Chevy Sugar Land & Classic Chevy HWY 6 as well as our presenting sponsor AHEAD.
To view the full results of the 2021 STPGA Fall Championships, please click the links below.
Junior Tour, Little Linksters, Junior Links
To view the photos from this year’s event, please
click here.
