Phillips, Scott and Preus lead Tournament of Champions
Willow Point Golf Course in Alexander City, AL hosts the SJGT Tournament of Champions this year – fast greens and thick rough presented some of our tour’s elite players with a very tough test. Despite perfect weather conditions, only five of the 83-player field broke par in round one; a testament to the demanding nature of Willow Point. The SJGT Tournament of Champions (TOC) is open to any division winner from the SJGT season. We also extend invites to the GolfWeek Junior Tour and their champions. With 60 champions in the field from the Southeastern Junior Tour and 23 from the GolfWeek Junior Tour, the field for this weekend is by far the strongest of the SJGT 2017 schedule. Out in front in the overall male championship are Ballou Phillips and Mac Scott, each firing four-under par rounds of 68. Leading the overall female championship with a one-under par round of 71 is Elisabeth Preus.
Starting out with the female 12-14 division and a familiar name sits atop the leaderboard – Catie Craig. Having already locked up the female 12-14 points winner award for 2017, Craig set about finishing in style at the Tournament of Champions. Her opening round of 76 gives her a three-shot cushion ahead of second place and included 14 pars. In second place, and three shots back at 79, is Jordan Hodgson. A strong back nine of 37 put Hodgson in contention for the division title and sets up an exciting final round.
The TOC female 15-19 leader, and overall female leader, is Elisabeth Preus. A strong opening round of one-under par 71 gives Preus a three-shot lead also. Preus made an impressive five birdies in her 71, with four of them coming in her back-nine total of 33. Close behind, and tied for second place, are Ally Williams and Sophie Linder. Both players fired rounds of 74 and made very few mistakes on the challenging Willow Point layout. With seven players within six shots of the lead heading into tomorrow’s round, the female 15-19 division looks set for a close finish.
Leading the way in the male 12-13 division is Birmingham, AL native Thomas Fischer. A strong opening round of 76 included two birdies for Fischer. His four-over total gives him a two-shot lead over second place. Firing a first-round 78, and in second place, is Justin Burroughs. After winning the final event of the regular season, Burroughs was a late entry into the TOC and made good use of it. Four birdies in his round proves he has the capability to make a charge in tomorrow’s round.
Moving in to the male 14-15 division and we see the two low rounds of the tournament so far. Both Ballou Phillips and Mac Scott shot 68 (four-under par) and lead by six in the division. Phillips made six birdies, 10 pars and two bogeys in his 68. Scott made just one bogey, 12 pars and 5 birdies. Both players also sit tied for the lead in the overall male championship. At two-over par, Myles Jones finds himself in third place in the division. Despite battling an ankle injury, Jones made three birdies and kept himself in contention for the division title.
Dothan, AL native Thomas Ponder leads the male 16-19 division. Ponder shot a solid round of two-under par (70) for a one-shot lead in the division. One birdie and eight pars started out Ponder’s round, and making three birdies on the back nine helped him remain under par. In second place, and the only other player under par in the division, is Will Patrick. His round of 71 (one-under par) contained four birdies and leaves him one behind the leaders. Tied for third place we see Ryan Eshleman, Ethan Hagood and GolfWeek Junior Tour players Austin Greaser and Kyle Schmidt. The four players made 10 birdies between them and will all be hoping they can close the gap early on Ponder.
Please visit our tournament page to view the pictures from each round, or check out our Facebook page at the conclusion of the tournament.
