MARION — On Monday, July 8, the Heart of Ohio Junior Golf Association (HOJGA) held their fourth tournament of the summer golf season at the Marion Country Club. Sponsors of this even were Eagle Creek Subdivision- Don Easley, Buck and Dee Emans and Dick’s Sporting Goods/Golf Galaxy.
After finishing second to teammate Travis Brake in a playoff in the last event, Justin Brackenridge of Fairbanks emerged as the event champion on Monday in the 16-18 year old age bracket.
Brackenridge earned his first win of the summer following a pair of second place finishes and a fifth place finish, carding a three-over par 74 on the day. On the front-nine, Justin shot a 36 before turning in a 38 on the back-nine to sit atop the bracket thanks to 15 par holes on the day.
Hayes Bentley of Mount Gilead finished three strokes behind Brackenridge with a six-over 77 (37-40) thanks to eight par holes and two birdies. Alex Pratt of Pleasant clocked in at third with a 78 while Galion’s Spencer Keller finished fourth with an eight-over 79 (38-41; 7p, 2b). Brake rounded out the top-five with an 80. Lincoln Finnegan of Crestline shot an 81 on the day to tie for sixth place in the 16-18 year old age group.
In the 13-15 year old age group, Pleasant’s Minoy Shah got back on top of the leaderboard following a pair of runner-up finishes in the last two tourneys. Shah shot a 39 on the front and a 39 on the back to finish with a 78 (7p, 2b), six strokes ahead of the competition.
Second place in the age group saw a three-way tie as Thomas Kaufman (River Valley), Nicholas McMullen (Galion) and Mason Rinehart (Pleasant) all finished with an 84 on the day. McMullen garnered a 42 on both the back and front-nines on the day and collected six par holes and one birdie.
Dina Shah, sister of Minoy, earned fifth with an 87 while Alex and Andrew Crowe of Fairbanks shot an 89 and 90, respectively, to round out the top-finishers in the age group.
Seven other area representatives were in action on Monday in the 13-15 bracket, including five from Galion.
Nathan Barre turned in a 97 to finish 10th overall while Max Longwell tied for 11th with a 99. Nathan McMullen (103) earned 19th, Logan Keller (114) tied for 23rd and Gavin Crim (140) finished 29th in the field.
Steven Street of Mount Gilead shot a 92 (42-50) to snag eighth place while Colonel Crawford’s Lucy Myers (117) finished 25th overall.
Kaden Ottley of Delaware took top honors in the 12 and under age grouping. Ottley turned in a nine-hole round at 40 (4p) to outlast the field and earn a third straight title after finishing as the runner-up in the season’s opening tourney. A tie for second place was shared by Henry Terry and Alex Schultz, both of Delaware with a score of 51 apiece. Galion’s Carson Walker picked up fourth, shooting a 57 over the nine-hole tourney and Alex Yancey of Pleasant scored 64 to earn fifth place.
