PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA | Youth golfers from Aurora and all over the world head to the PGA National Resort this week for the 2014 Optimist International Junior Golf Championships.
From the qualifying tournament on June 11 at Flatirons Golf Course, several golfers from Aurora high schools made the cut for the tournament, which begins on Saturday for older golfers after hosting a younger group the previous week. Qualifiers from all across the country and around the globe will be on hand.
Graduated Regis Jesuit High School senior Spencer Painton, the 2013 Class 5A boys golf individual state champion who helped the Raiders win a fourth consecutive team title, fired a 69 to tie with Castle Rock’s Ross Macdonald for the best score in the qualifying tournament to earn his way into the championship tournament. Painton — a University of Kansas signee — is set to tee off at 9:27 a.m. ET Saturday on the PGA National Resort’s Fazio Course along with a pair of players from Ohio.
Macdonald of Castle Rock, Loveland’s Evan Buchalski and Westminster’s Li Chen also represent Colorado in the field.
Two members of the Regis Jesuit girls team that won a second straight 5A state title in the spring in sophomore-to-be Jaclyn Murray and senior-to-be Sydney Gillespie qualified for the Optimist, but only Gillespie is scheduled to play. Murray, who hails from Grand Junction, won the qualifying tournament by two strokes, but ceded her spot in the tournament to first alternate Jennifer Hankins of Thornton.
Gillespie is set to tee off at 8:33 a.m. ET Saturday on the resort’s Squire Course along with players from Santiago, Chile, and Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. Hankins, Lakewood’s Gillian Vance, Superior’s Delaney Elliott and Littleton’s Jaylee Tait round out Colorado’s contingent in the tournament.
Grandview junior-to-be Morgan Sahm — who played in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships in San Diego — finished as the second alternate in Optimist qualifying, but won’t play in the tournament. In San Diego, Sahm missed the cut after three rounds, in which she finished plus-24 with scores of 77, 80 and 83.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2014 OPTIMIST INTL. JUNIOR GOLF TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND TEE TIMES (JULY 26, TIMES ET)
Girls 15-18: Tee 1 — 8:33 a.m.: SYDNEY GILLESPIE (HIGHLANDS RANCH); Maria Jose Lathrop (Santiago, Chile); Alexandra Velez (Vega Alta, Puerto Rico); 9:54 a.m.: Gillian Vance (Lakewood); Samantha Hightower (Jackson, Missouri); Jordan Wolf (St. Charles, Missouri); 10:03 a.m.: Jaylee Tait (Littleton); Caroline Lake (Madison, Wisconsin); Emily Stadder (Windsor, Ontario, Canada); Tee 10 — 8:51 a.m.: Jennifer Hankins (Thornton); Alexis Kershaw (Winston Salem, North Carolina); Aracelly Jimenez (Merida, Mexico)
Boys 16-18: Tee 1 (Fazio Course): Evan Buchalski (Loveland); Chace Curtis (Troy, Michigan); Dillon Funk (Olathe, Kansas); 9:09 a.m.: Li Chen (Westminster); Connor Bell (Sacramento, California); Michael Denner (Toledo, Ohio); Tee 10 (Fazio Course) — 7:30 a.m.: Ross Macdonald (Castle Rock); Riley Griffin (Barrington, Rhode Island); Jeffrey Inouye-Wong (Roseville, California); 9:27 a.m.: SPENCER PAINTON (AURORA); Evan Hall (Lima, Ohio); Caden Orewiler (Waldo, Ohio)
2014 COLORADO-WYOMING OPTIMIST JUNIOR GOLF QUALIFIERS
Boys 14-15: Sam Taylor (Nederland); Jackson Solem (Longmont); Oliver Jack (Cherry Hills Village); Tyler Zhang (Lone Tree); Jackson Crist (Centennial, 1st alternate); Cole Krantz (Windsor, 2nd alternate); Boys 16-18: SPENCER PAINTON (AURORA); Ross MacDonald (Castle Rock); Evan Buchalski (Loveland); Li Chen (Westminster); Grant Rogers (Boulder); Justin Allenback (Pueblo, 1st alternate); Taylor Rodriguez (Pueblo, 2nd alternate); Girls 15-18: JACLYN MURRAY (GRAND JUNCTION); Gillian Vance (Lakewood); Delaney Elliott (Superior); SYDNEY GILLESPIE (HIGHLANDS RANCH); Jaylee Tait (Littleton); Jennifer Hankins (Thornton, 1st alternate); MORGAN SAHM (CENTENNIAL, 2nd alternate)
