The FCG Memorial Day Championship held annually on the Greg Norman Course at PGA West is always a family favorite. Players are able to play one of the finest courses in the Coachella Valley and La Quinta makes a perfect location for the rest of the family during the long holiday weekend. An afternoon shotgun with all 93 players receiving carts, makes for one of the best tournaments of the year!
Complete Leaderboard: http://fcg.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/fcg14/event/fcg145/contest/4/leaderboard.htm
Boys 15-18:
Roberto Lebrija (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) jumped out to a large early lead after his first round 66 (-6) on the Greg Norman Course at PGA West. His first round consisted of ten birdies and a remarkable seven birdies in a row! This was good enough to give him a five shot lead going in to the second day. Lebrija would come back to the field slightly after a second round 77 (+5), but would still win the Boys 15-18 division by five strokes. We had four players tie for second place in the division, all of them finishing at four-over par (148) for the tournament. Sam Hess (El Cajon, CA) and Vincent Vetrano (Indio, CA) who both went 75-73 over the two days went into a secondary cardoff. Hess, who had a lower back-nine score than Vetrano was awarded second place and Vetrano was awarded third.
Top 5 Boys 15-18:
Roberto Lebrija: 66-77 — 143
Sam Hess: 75-73 — 148
Vincent Vetrano: 75-73 — 148
Christopher Kim: 74-74 — 148
Casey Scott: 72-76 –148
Boys 13-14:
Ryan Smith (Carlsbad, CA) took the Boys 13-14 division at the Memorial Day Championship. Smith sat in a tie for second place after a first round 74 (+2), but fought his way to the top and posted a second round 76 (+4) to leap into first place. Alexander Yang (Newport Coast, CA) who was also in that tie for second after the first round, shot a 78 (+6) in round two to secure his second place finish. Rounding out the top three in the Boys 13-14 division was Tommy Stephenson (Carlsbad, CA) who won a card-off at 157 (+13) for the tournament. Stephenson went 80-77 over the two days and won the card-off due to being the player with the lowest score on the second day.
Boys 11-12:
Kristopher Stiles (Lancaster, CA) claimed the Boys 11-12 division title at this year’s Memorial Day Championship after leading wire to wire and posting two great scores of 74-76, finishing the tournament at an impressive 150 (+6) and eight shots clear of the next competitor. Johnny Walker (Riverside, CA) took second place in the division. Walker put together a great first round of 76 (+4) but stumbled the second day and posted a round of 82 (+10), which had him finishing the event at 158 (+14). Third place in the 11-12 division went to Michael Sarro (Laguna Hills, CA) who had rounds of 83-79 to end the tournament at 162 (+18).
Girls 15-18:
Chloe Belle Hooton (Del Mar, CA) who is a student at the FCG Academy was able to take home the victory in the Girls 15-18 division after posting two consistent rounds of 75-76 to finish the tournament at 151 (+7) and three shots clear of second place. Second place in the division went to Joan Soewondo (Laguna Niguel, CA). Soewondo who was in a tie for fifth after a first round 79 (+7) made a charge up the leaderboard with a second round 75 (+3) to capture second place and end the tournament at 154 (+10). Vera Markevich (La Quinta, CA) who was in first after a great first round of even-par 72, struggled on day two and fell back to a third place finish after a round of 84 (+12) to end at 156 (+12).
Top 5 Girls 15-18:
Chloe Belle Hooton: 75-76 — 151
Joan Soewondo: 79-75 — 154
Vera Markevich: 72-84 — 156
Joan Park: 81-76 — 157
Malia Ebersberger:77-80 — 157
Girls 13-14:
Three girls made up the 13-14 division this year at the Memorial Day Championship. It was a tight race for first and only one stroke ended up separating first place from second place. Emily Chao (Fullerton, CA) jumped out to an early four-stroke lead after a 78 (+6) in the first round. Elle Otten (Palm Desert, CA) was close behind after a first round 82 (+10). On the second day Otten was able to make up some shots on Chao after posting a round of 81 (+9) compared to Chao’s 84 (+12), but she would fall one stroke short of overtaking her for first. Chao finished the tournament at 162 (+18) and Otten finished at 163 (+19). Coming in third place in the division was Sophia Karnazes (Carlsbad, CA) who put together rounds of 90-93 to end the tournament at 183 (+39).
Girls 11-12:
Two girls competed in the 11-12 division, Jennifer Cai (Irvine, CA) took home the first place trophy after rounds of 82-85 to finish the tournament at a very impressive 167 (+23). Alexandra Manalang (Sun City, AZ) finished in second place, putting together rounds of 93-101 to finish the Memorial Day Championship at 194 (+50).