Chris Borjas sinks a putt at the Ridge Golf Club on Thursday. Linksmen in the Union County Junior Golf Academy-Tour completed their season despite soggy conditions on the course.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The conditions were not ideal, but local junior linksmen soldiered on during the final event of the 2019 Union County Junior Golf Academy-Tour.
The Ridge and Gardens Golf Club course was wet due to recent heavy rains.
As a matter of fact, the conditions were so difficult that golfers could not play on the front nine.
“Holes five and six are unplayable,” said program co-founder Larry Morris.
The elder Morris supervised the tournament that was held on Thursday in the absence of his son, Eli, who is currently one of the co-directors.
“There’s a pond over there that flooded,” said Morris.
Golfers played the back nine twice in order to get in the 18 holes needed for the Tour portion of the tournament.
“The back nine drains better than the front,” said Morris.
“This is a sloppy mesh,” said Morris as he drove a cart along the paths and observed standing water. “It’s pretty squishy out here.”
The rain held off as golfers teed off at 10 a.m.
The reason that program officials wanted to play the tournament despite the wet grounds was simple.
“Getting rain dates can be complicated on the local courses,” said Morris.
Results from Thursday’s tournament were as follows:
Tour Boys-18 holes
-Travis Brake-78, Chris Borjas-81, Alex Crowe-82, Andrew Crowe-84, Sammy Ratliff-94, Noah Rausch-112, Ryan Beckhoff-137.
Tour Boys-nine holes
-Myles Young-62, Zack Koenig-68, Jaycer Blevins-69.
Tour Girls-18 holes
-Emily Williams-101, Veronique Grand-104, Caitlin Johnson-12.
Tour Girls-nine holes
Mallory Seman-69.
Academy Boys-nine holes
Mason Rausch-46, Finn Edie-50, Berkley Behrens-51, Jackson Burns-56, Kaleb Cox-57, Nate Russell-59, Brady Adams-66.
Academy girls-nine holes
-Sarah Beckhoff-63, Kadyn Crosthwaite-71.
Premier (no scores kept)
-Caroline Cox, Lillian Peck, Adelyn Wisecup.