Tied for 86th after day two of Optimist Junior World

Gary shot an 80 on the second day of the Optimist Junior World Championships on the Champions Course at PGA National at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Starting on # 10 he shot 42 and 38 on each nine. He hit seven fairways, ten greens and had 34 putts with three 3-putts. He was in five fairway bunkers and two green-side bunkers (both on the same hole where he made his only double bogey!). He had one birdie on his 17th hole, hole eight.

Today's fellow competitors Brad Cadigan and Chase Bryant (from Massachusetts and Oklahoma) shot 75 and 81. The scores of the whole field are available by clicking here. Having played the first two days on the Champions Course, home of the PGA Honda Classic, tomorrow he plays the third round on the Palmer course which is said to be somewhat easier with lower slope, higher rating, and more sinkable putts. The putting stroke looks good but the putts aren't falling. We hope a change of course will help. He needs to shoot near par tomorrow to make the cut of low fifty players and ties for Sunday's final round.

Tonight the tournament had a long drive contest and a "night glow" putting contest. These are social events for all the players both boys and girls.
The long drive contest was won by a Canadian Boy who hit his drive 320 yards--a screaming low trajectory hook that sent the measuring crew rapidly back down the fairway! Second place was 302 yards. The Girls contest had a winner of 264 yards.

Gary Tied For 68th after Day one of World Tournament

At the Optimist Junior World Championships (click) Gary is tied for 68th (of 144 golfers from 25 states and 23 countries) after shooting a first round 77 on the Champions Course of the PGA National Golf Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This is the home course of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic.

The full first day scores are available by clicking this link.

Statistics: Gary hit six fairways, thirteen greens, and had 35 putts with one three putt. Of his 13 birdie putts he had five lip outs and no birdies. He had thirteen pars and five bogeys in a great round of consistent and controlled golf. He played the famed "Bear Trap" holes 15, 16, and 17 in even par with missed eight and ten foot birdie putts.

His two fellow competitors from Chile and Massachusetts shot 74 and 80.

His two best shots of the day were the following: 1) tee shot on the Bear Trap #17 (175 yards over water to a green 70% surrounded by water) over the stick to eight feet past. He lipped out the birdie putt; and 2) A 113 yard shot from the down hill slope of a fairway bunker at number 18 to ten feet short of the pin. He lipped out this ten foot putt.

Tomorrow he goes off number ten at the Champions Course followed by a round on Saturday on the Palmer course. On Sunday there is a cut to the low 50 and ties who play the final round on the Champions Course.

Next up is the Optimist Junior World

Click here for The Optimist Junior World Tournament to be held at The PGA National at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida from July 28 to August 2, 2009. The tournament has 566 players with Gary's age group represented by 25 states and 12 foreign countries. All had to meet qualifying tournament standards of a top three finish and a score within six of par. There will be no slouches here.

Second Place at Hurricane Tour

Click the following link for the Hurricane Tour Site: Hurricane Tour Results

On the second day final nine Gary birdied the 14th hole to go to one under for the day and get within one shot of the lead. However, an errant tee shot on the fifteenth hooked into the lake lead to a double bogey. His friend Charles Silverfield won the tournament. Charles and Gary are both members of Emerald Greens Golf Club in Tampa and will represent their club in the state Junior Team competition.

FSGA Boy's Junior Championship

July 7-9, 2009. After qualifying in the second spot with a 72 at Cypress Creek, Gary made the trek down to Palm Beach to embark in the State Junior Championship. The host was beautiful Bear Lakes Country Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus (the Golden Bear), and home to many pros like Mark Calcavecchia and Brett and Dana Quigley. Being a Nicklaus course, it naturally suited Gary's fade. Gary got off to a tough start on day one going out in 43, but battled hard on the back to shoot 80. On Day two, Gary again had early struggles, and battled exceptionally hard to go out in a 39, but stumbled on the back to shoot another round in the 80s. Afterwards, Gary called it "The toughest course I have ever played." It will be hosting the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying this year on both the Lakes and the Links courses.

Gary Finishes T 56th in 2009 Future Masters

On the final day Gary shot six over 76 with six bogeys to finish in a tie for 56th. It was a tough day with difficult pin positions, temperatures in the 90's, and the greens rolling fast. Yesterday he could have given a driving clinic with 12 of 14 fairways hit and today he had four chips within a foot of the hole. He had no double bogeys but birdies remained elusive on the beautiful fast difficult greens. In the three days we saw 216 holes played (foursomes playing 54 holes) with no one sinking any putt greater than 15 feet; and remember, these are teenage kids who can sink any putt. I will update the statistical summary when I find my scorecard.

We congratulate Gary's friend and ofttimes practice partner Charles Silverfield for a fifth place finish. Charles was fourth in the state of Florida high school playoffs a year ago. Charles started the tournament on day one with a chip in eagle on his first hole. A player one group ahead of us today had a hole-in-one on the 11th. We heard the roar of the crowd, but not even the player saw it go in as there is a large mound in front of the green!

Gary showed grit and determination and excellent concentration throughout the tournament in spite of the lack of birdies when opportunity knocked. All the kids were stymied by the difficult greens. The Future Masters is truly similar to The Masters. The course is beautiful, the fairways perfect, the rough short and uniform, the greens are true and fast, there are multiple difficult pin positions, down grain putts can roll off the green, long putts are nearly impossible, three putts are possible often, five and six footers are true, drive landing zones are often narrow, and the tournament organization tops.

Second Day Future Masters 2009

Gary's group tee-ed off today on the back nine. He parred the first seven holes hitting all the fairways and five of the seven greens so five birdie putts didn't fall. Suddenly on the eighth hole he hit an errant tee shot into the trees and had to lay up to the 140 mark on the 407 par four. He made his first bogey and then proceeded to bogey the eighteenth hole and the first hole for three bogeys in a row and three over par. He then reeled off five more pars hitting four of the five greens. Finally, on the seventh (sixteenth hole of the day) he almost holed an eight iron and made a birdie. He hit both of the last two greens but not close enough for a realistic birdie putt so parred both. He finished at two over 72 for the day and seven over for the tournament. He is tied for 44th place making the cut of the low 110 plus ties. He goes off the first tee at 7:32 tomorrow. The scores are available by clicking here. The leader is at minus four, second place is minus one, and third place is even par.

Final stats for the day are as follows: Fairways hit: 12 of 14; Greens in Regulation: 13 of 18; Putts 34. Up and down: 2 of 5; Three putts: one; One putts: three; penalty strokes: none.