PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA | Across the board, three golfers from Aurora high schools found tough going Tuesday in the opening round of the girls 15-18 Optimist International Junior Golf Championships.
Grandview senior-to-be Morgan Sahm and the Regis Jesuit duo of grad Sydney Gillespie and junior-to-be Jaclyn Murray — all members of the 2015 Aurora Sentinel All-City Girls Golf Team for their play in the spring — opened play at the PGA National Resort & Spa Tuesday against a field that included players from 30 states and 14 foreign countries.
Murray posted the best result of the trio, as she carded an 8-over-par 80 on the Fazio Course to finish in a 16-way tie for 45th place. Among Colorado’s eight players in the field, Murray finished two strokes behind Parker’s Cassie Kneen and one in back of Colorado Springs’ Kylee Sullivan.
Murray finished the opening round with one birdie — on the par 5 Hole 4 at the Fazio Course — eight pars and nine bogeys.
Sahm — who played in the U.S. Girls Junior in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last week — sits in a deadlock for 71st place after firing a plus-10 82 in her second Optimist appearance. She finished plus-six in her opening nine holes, but played two shots better on the back nine in a round that included one double bogey, eight bogeys and nine pars.
A 70 at the Colorado-Wyoming Optimist qualifier on June 18 at Boulder’s Flatirons Golf Course gave Sahm medalist honors and she also qualified for the U.S. Girls Junior, where she fired rounds of 77 and 78 in stroke play at the Tulsa Country Club, but missed the cut.
Gillespie is tied for 103rd after a 16-over 88 in her second career trip to the Optimist tournament. The Colorado Christian University signee shot rounds of 82, 81 and 81 last year, but missed the cut.
With three straight pars on the Fazio Course, Gillespie got off to a strong start, but a pair of double bogeys on Holes No. 5 and 8 put her at plus-eight at the turn. She again made par on the first three holes on the back side, but a triple bogey on the par-3 Hole No. 13 contributed to a plus-eight showing on the back nine as well.
Murray and Gillespie’s teammate on the Class 5A state championship-winning Regis Jesuit girls golf team, Mary Weinstein, qualified for the Optimist, but is instead playing for Team Colorado at the Girls Junior America’s Cup in Wyoming.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2015 OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
At PGA National Spa & Resort (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)
Colorado girls 15-18 first round results (par 72)
T32. Cassie Kneen (Parker) 78; T37. Kylee Sullivan (Colorado Springs) 79; T45. JACLYN MURRAY (GRAND JUNCTION/REGIS JESUIT HS) 80; T45. Delaney Elliott (Superior) 80; T71. MORGAN SAHM (CENTENNIAL/GRANDVIEW HS) 82; T71. Adara Pauluhn (Niwot) 82; T103. SYDNEY GILLESPIE (HIGHLANDS RANCH/REGIS JESUIT HS) 88; 119. Kiselya Plewe (Cortez) 96
Colorado second round tee times, July 29
Fazio Course: Tee 1 — Kiselya Plewe, 7:30 a.m. ET; MORGAN SAHM, 8:40 a.m. ET; Adara Pauluhn, 8:50 a.m.; Kylee Sullivan, 9:10 a.m. ET; Tee 10 — SYDNEY GILLESPIE, 7:50 a.m. ET; Delaney Elliott, 8:30 a.m. ET
Squire Course: Tee 1 — JACLYN MURRAY, 8:40 a.m. ET; Cassie Kneen, 9:10 a.m. ET
