Klein, Lee Win Mizuno Aurora Junior Championship
Aurora, Co. – The Colorado PGA Junior Golf (COPGAJR) held its first Major event of the summer Tuesday through Thursday at Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora, Colorado. Both boys and girls competed these three days to battle it out for first place. Tuesday provided beautiful blue skies and great course conditions for the juniors. Day two weather was certainly a concern, as the forecast suggested storms rolling in, but thankfully the storms held off and the juniors were able to finish their rounds with no weather delays! Unfortunately, those storms did end up providing a substantial amount of rain for the Aurora area over night, and the final day of the tournament had to be cut down to an 8 hole event for our players. Unfortunately fairways, bunkers and even bridges in between holes were completely flooded, which lead to the decision of only playing 8 on the final day. The course staff did an amazing job at keeping the course in the best condition it could possibly be thanks to the hard work of golf course superintendent Eric Strasheim, Patrick Kilbride, PGA, and their entire golf staff.
The field started with 82 juniors in total, with 63 boys and 19 girls teeing it up on Tuesday. After play on day two, a cut was made that advanced 31 boys and 10 girls to the final round. Our boys champion for our first major was Sawyer Klein shooting 70-72-33 totaling 175 for the three days. "Murphy Creek is a tough golf course if you do not keep it in the fairways" stated the champion, and luckily he did just exactly that. Going into the third day every player had the expectations of playing 18 holes, but finding out right before the round that it was now going to be shortened to a 8 hole tournament can really change your game plan for the day. "My goal was to make as many pars as possible whether it is a 8 hole tournament or 18" Sawyer commented. He proceeded to discuss how the first round was very "scorable" but the next two days were "a bit tougher with the wind and course conditions."
Our girls champion was Sophia Lee shooting 76-78-38 totaling 192. Sophia's driver was on point for her all three days of play. "I was relieved!" Lee shared when learning that Wednesday's round would only be 8 holes. "I struggled with the back 9 on Tuesday and Wednesday, so to know we only were playing 8; it took a big weight off my shoulders."
The COPGA Junior Golf team would like to send a huge thank you to all of our partners for this event. Mizuno Golf provided the slickest tee gifts with hats, custom towels and golf balls. Thank you to Pure Grips for gifting the two Champions with new Pure Grips, and a huge thank you to UCCS PGM Program for providing lunch for all the players on Wednesday! Thank you to BioSteel for continued healthy hydration on the course, and Junior Golf Hub for creating a recruiting space for our Junior golfers.
We would like to thank Patrick Kilbride, PGA, and his golf staff again for having Murphy Creek Golf Course in great shape for a great championship event. The Colorado PGA Junior Major tournament schedule will resume July 10-12 for the next junior championship at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve
