Two greater Indianapolis area teams of junior golfers ages 10-17 competed in the National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Regional at Purdue University’s Kampen Course in West Lafayette this weekend.
The competition is split into two age divisions: 13u (boys and girls ages 10-13) and 17u (boys and girls ages 14-17). The Golf Club of Indiana 13u All-Stars from Lebanon finished fourth out of four teams in its age division, and the Ironwood GC 17u All-Stars from Fishers finished third out of three teams in its age division.
The Ironwood team featured three Hamilton County players: Will Fella, 17, of Fishers; Jacob Miller, 16 of Fishers and Ben Guidry, 15 of Carmel. The Golf Club of Indiana team featured one player from Carmel: Ishin Fujita, age 10.
The Golf Club of Indiana 13u All-Stars was seeded fourth following Saturday’s 18-hole team aggregate stroke play with a score of 238. The team faced the Madison North 13u All-Stars for the third-place match in Sunday’s final nine-hole match play competition, ultimately falling to the Wisconsin team 7 to 5.
The Ironwood GC 17u All-Stars finished as the third seed after a finishing score of 154 on the 18-hole team aggregate stroke play on Saturday. On Sunday, the Ironwood team shot a nine-hole aggregate score total of 71.
OWEN SANDER WINS FIRST-EVER GOLFWEEK JR TOUR EVENT
Owen Sander, a senior at Carmel High School, made news at Kampen during the last week of August when he won his first-ever event on the GolfWeek Jr. Tour.
Sander finished the 36-hole event with a four under par 144. He was under par both days of the tournament, carding a one under 71 in the first round and three under 69 in the second round. Sander had seven total birdies for the event (three in the first round and four in the second round).
Sander had to hold off another Hamilton County star, Westfield junior Alec Cesare, to win the tournament. Cesare played the last five holes at two under par to close the gap at the end of the tournament.
Cesare finished with a two under par 142, carding 73 in the first round and three under 69 in the second round. He also made seven total birdies, draining five in the second round and two in the first round.