December 11, 2022 •Southern Texas PGA
Fifteen Champions were named at the 2022 PGA TOUR Superstore STPGA Fall Championship at Brenham Country Club and The Golf Club at Texas A&M. This year’s Championship took place on Saturday, December 10th – Sunday, December 11th. Over the two days, players in the Little Linksters and Junior Links programs played a total of 18-holes at Brenham Country Club and Junior Tour Players competed over a total of 36-holes at The Golf Club at Texas A&M.
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 2023. 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, Domenic Laurenzo of Houston finished his Round One with back-to-back birdies to go 1-under-par. After leading his division by six strokes, Domenic continued his lead and finished with an impressive (+3) 73.
Sara Garcia of College Station had an impressive Round One in the Little Linksters Girls 9-10 Division with three birdies and a score of (-2) 34 and made it through the tough conditions during Round Two to win her division.
In the Little Linksters Boys 9-10 Division, Hayes Rogers of Spring held the lead after Round One shooting (-2) 34 but with four others being tied for second place at (E) 36, it was a tight competition. During Round Two, Mason McCord of Spring went back-to-back shooting even-par, earning him his championship title with a final score of (E) 72.
“I want to thank my caddie for helping me out with this tournament and Brenham Country Club for hosting us for a great tournament,” said Mason. “I had a lot of fun playing with my friends and all of the other players in the tournament.”
Carolyn Liu of Katy was in a tight contest being tied for first after Round One and being just three strokes ahead of the next players. Carolyn was able to hold onto her lead after Round Two and finished with a final score of (E) 72.
“This is definitely a big accomplishment for me, especially playing through the weather conditions on the second day,” said Carolyn. “I trained very hard to be able to play competitively and winning this tournament means a lot to me.”
It was a close race in the Little Linksters Boys 11-12 Division with Rolando Laurenzo of Houston in the lead after Round One and three-way tie for second place. Carson Klein of Tomball made a push for the championship title with three birdies in Round Two but Rolando was able to maintain his lead and finish with a two-day total of (+3) 75.
Evan Tran of Leander held onto his lead in the Junior Links Boys 13-14 Division after shooting (+5) 41 during Round One and finishing with a five stroke lead.
“It means a lot to win the Fall Championship with it being my first win ever so I’m pretty excited,” said Evan. “I told my family I was going to win and I did it for them.”
In the Junior Links Girls 13-14 Division, Sheridyn Banks of Sugar Land took home the win in the 18-hole championship. BSheridynanks led her division by seven strokes and held on to the lead to finish with a (+13) 83.
The Junior Links 15-18 Divisions had commanding leads after Round One in both the Boys and Girls Divisions. Jaxon Barrett of Montgomery led the field by eight strokes heading into Round Two and finished the two days at (+9) 79 with a total of three birdies.
Natalie Wagner of Kerrville ended her Round One with a birdie on hole nine and led the Junior Links Girls 15-18 by five strokes. She finished just three strokes ahead of Samantha Lichnovsky of Weimar, with a two-day total of (+14) 84.
“This win today means all my hard work has finally paid off,” said Natalie. “I started off playing really well on the first day and struggled on a few holes but I ended up getting back on top.”
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 2023.
Ruicen Liu of Houston led the Junior Tour Girls 11-12 Division after Round One by a three stroke lead of (+9) 80. She shaved one stroke off her total in the final round to shoot (+8) 79 and claim the overall division title by a grand total of seven strokes.
JP Lynch of Austin led the Junior Tour Boys 11-12 Division strong after a first round total of (-2) 69 and holing four birdies and an eagle. Keeping his lead through his final round, JP carded an even-par 71 to claim the division title by just two strokes.
“I played really well. I felt like I lost a lot of shots, but I also felt like I gained a lot more,” said JP. “I’m going to keep this win for a really long time.”
Michelle Lee of San Antonio sat one stroke behind Makenzie Minshew of The Woodlands heading into her second round. After carding a solid (+2) 148 tournament total, Michelle claimed the Junior Tour Girls 13-14 Division title with a six stroke lead.
In the Junior Tour Boys 13-14 Division, Federico Montaner of Spring went neck and neck with Dylan Knox of Austin in his final round. With just a one stroke lead of even-par 71 in his first round, Federico holed four birdies to card (-2) 69 maintaining his one stroke lead and claiming the overall division title.
“My short game has improved so much, and it resulted in a few putts I needed to make,” said Federico. “The competition with Dylan was really fun being tied there at the end and coming down to the wire.”
In the Junior Tour Girls 15-18 Division, Gabriela Morales of San Antonio sat tied in second after Round One behind leader Angela Cui of Sugarland. In her final round, Gabriela climbed the leaderboard finishing with a 36-hole total of (+14) 156 to claim the overall division title.
“I feel like I played pretty well out there. Definitely could have been a few more birdies and pars, but overall this Championship means a lot to me and I am looking forward to more to come,” said Gabriela.
Gurpreet Ghotra of Round Rock entered into his final round at a three-way tie with Charlie Stanton of Austin and Philip Apffel of Kerrville after scoring a (-1) 70. Gurpreet held his lead in his second round with six birdies to card (-4) 67 for the lowest round of the tournament. He then claimed the overall Junior Tour Boys 15-18 Division title.
The Southern Texas PGA Junior Golf Program would like to thank the entire staff of both Brenham Country Club and The Club at Texas A&M for hosting such great events. Additionally, the Southern Texas PGA Junior Golf Program would like to thank the title partner of the 2022 Fall Championship and Fall Series, PGA TOUR Superstore.
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 the Junior Tour event, please
click here.
To view photos from the Little Linksters and Junior Links event, please
click here.
