Golf
SDGA Junior Championship @ The Bluffs GC (Vermillion, SD) [Day 3 of 3] GGID: SDGA24JC
VERMILLION, SD (HubCityRadio.com) – The third time is the charm for Olivia Braun.
Braun picked up the SDGA Junior Championship title on Wednesday and put a wrap on the three day tournament title, carding a +1 for the day & three over for the tournament and ran away with the crown. Braun, who has won multiple events on the SDGA Junior Tour & the SDGA Sanford Golf Series was looking for the title against some of her stiffest competition of the summer, Allison Meyerink.
Meyerink defeated Braun in the State HS AA title in June by one stroke & also won the SDGA Sanford Series title last week over Braun by one stroke; but the third time would prove to be the proverbial charm in Vermillion.
Braun started the day two strokes ahead of Meyerink & the two would be paired together along with Miller’s Jayce Pugh. Starting on the back nine, Braun and Meyerink battled, but Braun extended her lead to three strokes after hitting a birdie on the par three 17th hole, she also birdied the par five 15th hole.
On the front nine, Braun provided some pressure & Meyerink would err. After Braun picked up birdies on two of the first three holes, a bit of pressure was placed on Meyerink & she would quadruple bogey the par four third hole. After that, Braun had the separation to hit cruise control to the finish line. All told, Braun finished eleven strokes ahead of Meyerink & thirteen strokes ahead of third place, Jayce Pugh. Braun’s one over par day was the best round played by any of the girls, one stroke better than the 73 carded by Watertown’s Gabi Olson, who finished in fourth place, seventeen strokes behind Braun.
Also, the “Final Day Shootout” was held, compiling the best rounds of the day, which Braun won by a stroke over Gabi Olson. Miller’s Jayce Pugh was +7, good for third place. Alison Kennedy from Spearfish & Tori Peterson would round out the top five, carding an +8 for the afternoon.
On the guys’ side, Riley Christensen would defeat Taten Mauney in a playoff on the fifth hole. Heading into the playoff, they’d both finished four under par for the tournament.
GIRLS 16-18
1st) Olivia Braun (Aberdeen, SD) [total: +3, total gross: 219]
2nd) Allison Meyerink (Mitchell, SD) [total: +14, total gross: 230]
3rd) Jayce Pugh (Miller, SD) [total: +16, total gross: 232]
4th) Gabi Olson (Watertown, SD) [total: +20, total gross: 236]
5th) Alison Kennedy (Spearfish, SD) [total: +22, total gross: 238]
6th) Tori Peterson (Flandreau, SD) [total: +26, total gross: 242]
7th) Lauren Knapp (Rapid City, SD) [total: +27, total gross: 243]
BOYS 16-18
1st) Riley Christensen (Sioux Falls, SD) [total: -4, total gross: 212 – won playoff on 5th hole (eagle2)
2nd) Taten Mauney (Hartford, SD) [total: -4, total gross: 212]
3rd) Charlie Swift (Harrisburg, SD) [total: +1, total gross: 217]
4th) Nick Bothun (Pierre, SD) [total: +3, total gross 219]
5th) Sawyer Sonnenschein (Fort Pierre, SD) [total: +5, total gross: 221]
54th) Carter Blanchard (Aberdeen, SD) [total: +54, total gross: 270]
57th) Kalen Larson (Aberdeen, SD) [total: +61, total gross 277]