Theam & Kitchens Take Junior Golf Tournament on Hurricane Junior Golf Tour in St. Augustine, Florida

June 28, 2011 - PRLog -- The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (HJGT) made the short drive down to St. Augustine, FL for the first annual HJ Glove Jr. Open at St. Johns Golf and Country Club.  The tournament’s title sponsor was HJ Glove, the official golfing glove of the HJGT.  The event was ranked by Junior Golf Scoreboard and offered Florida Junior Tour exemptions to the winners in the top three divisions.  In all, over 60 golfers came out to compete in five age divisions on the tough course.  A special thanks is well deserved for the effort the staff at St. Johns G&CC made to accommodate the junior golfers and spectators when thunderstorms rolled into the St. Augustine area on Sunday afternoon.  Overall, the tournament was a highly competitive one and the HJGT looks forward to making a return visit to the site next year.

                    It was a true swing of events in the Boys 15-19 Division over the past two days at St. Johns G&CC, as Osborn Theam of Jacksonville, FL stormed back in the second round to post a -3 (69) which inevitably earned him the first place hardware.  Although it sure was no easy feat, as the entire field found themselves looking up at the first round leader Logan Lanier of St. Augustine, FL who came out firing on all cylinders and shot a -5 (67) on Sunday.  Theam was the closest competitor at five strokes behind Lanier, and Theam knew he could catch Lanier if he played an equally impressive round of golf on day two.  Theam nearly did as he finished the tournament at -3 (72+69=141) to win by a single stroke over Lanier who shot a +3 (75) on Monday.  For Theam it was his first HJGT win of the year, and for Lanier is was his second consecutive 2nd place finish as he had finished in the same position at the 54-Hole Mid Season Championship in Kissimmee, FL just two weeks ago.  Theam shot an stunning 86.1% pars or better which included 24 total pars, six birdies, and even an eagle on his second hole of the tournament.  Lanier was equally impressive in the statistics department, and by no surprise.  Lanier posted nine total birdies, averaged 2.88 on the par three holes, and shot 83.3% pars or better throughout the two day tournament.  Rounding out the top three in this division was Kerry Sweeney of Melbourne, FL who finished at +3 (74+73=147) for the event.  Sweeney averaged 4.75 on the par five holes, made 23 total pars, and posted six birdies as well.  The Birdie Challenge award surprising doesn’t go to any of the top three finishers, but instead to Kiyotaka Arai of Japan who finished with nine birdies for the event.

   In the Girls 14-18 Division, Callie Kitchens of Tallahassee, FL took the title of top golfer as she was able to post a +5 (74+75=149) for the two day tournament at St. Johns G&CC.  Kitchens, who was competing in her first HJGT tournament of 2011, led by three strokes after the first day and eventually extended the lead to finish five strokes ahead of second place finishers Michelle Hawkins of Kissimmee, FL and Micah Ann Adams of Bushnell, FL.  Both of which posted two day total scores of +10 (154) and identical rounds of +5 (77) each day to tie for second place at the HJ Glove Jr. Open.  Kitchens led the division by shooting 75.0% pars or better which included 23 total pars and four birdies.  Hawkins led the division in par five performances at 5.12 and netted five birdies in 36 holes of competition.  Adams was scattered throughout the statistical leaderboards for this division, which included her being second in par three performances at 3.25 and third in birdies at four.  The winner of the Birdie Challenge in this division goes to local product Ansley Bowman of St. Augustine, FL who posted six birdies in total.

   Lanier wasn’t the only competitor to post an opening round -5 (67) at St. Johns G&CC on Sunday, as Kevin Slayden of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL too was equally impressive.  One could dispute that Slayden had the most remarkable performance of the entire tournament, because he finished at -3 (141) which tied him for the lowest round of any competitor in any division.  Although Slayden posted a second round score of +2 (74), he still was able to capture the first place trophy by five strokes over the second place finisher.  Slayden finished with some notable statistics as well.  Slayden lead the tournament in pars or better at 91.7% and pars at 27 total.  Not to mention the fact that Slayden led his division in par three and par four performances as well.  This tournament was the second HJGT win of the year for Slayden, as he previous won the Bobby Grace Putters Junior Open in late-March.  Finding himself five strokes behind Slayden, was Michael Saccente of New Smyrna Beach, FL who finished at +3 (75+71=146) for the tournament.  Saccente posted par on 24 of 36 holes and finished with five birdies in his third tour event of the year.  The third place awards went to three competitors, as Thomas Burnett of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Andrew Alligood of St. Johns, FL and Jake Kline of St. Augustine, FL all posted two day totals of +9 (13).  Andrew Alligood led the division with six birdies, which earned him the Birdie Challenge title.

   In the Boys 10-12 Division Spenser Slayden of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL completed the family sweep at the HJ Glove Jr. Open by winning the division by two strokes, as he is the younger brother of Boys 13-14 Division winner Kevin Slayden.  Slayden was able to post back to back rounds of -2 (70) to finish at -4 (140) for the event.  He led the division in four statistical categories including birdies at nine, most par breakers at 25.0%, par four performance at 4.00, and par five performance at 4.38.  Coming in second was Brandon Mancheno of Jacksonville, FL.  He posted a very respectable -2 (70+72=142) for the tournament.  In fact, Mancheno was tied with Slayden after the first round, but couldn’t keep up with the eventual winner.  Mancheno led the division in par 3 performance at 2.75, pars at 25, and shot 88.9% pars or better in all.  Rounding out the top three was Cameron Barret of Longwood, FL who finished at +8 (77+75=182).  Slayden is deemed Birdie Challenge Champion for leading the division in birdies at nine.

   In the Girls 10-13 Division, Harlie Valinho of Jacksonville, FL took home the first place trophy by posting a two day total score of +16 (79+81=160).  She was able to win by a fair margin, and posted 19 pars.  Finishing in second was Celeste Valinho of Jacksonville, FL at +31 (175) and third place went to Taylor Wilson of St. Augustine, FL.  The Birdie Challenge winner goes to Harlie Valinho for posting two birdies in her two rounds of play.

   For more pictures and information from the HJ Glove Junior Open at St. Johns Golf & Country Club, please visit the HJGT fan page on Facebook.com.  To get up to the minute tweets during the tournaments and important HJGT news follow us on twitter.  Also, be sure to check out player quotes in our weekly video, which can be found on the HJGT website. For a direct link to the HJGT Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel and final round results please visit www.hjgt.org.

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The mission of the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour is to accommodate the
ladies and gentleman of junior golf with an extraordinary experience
in a competitive environment. The HJGT offfers junior tournaments throughout the Southeast.