2006 Long Beach Junior Championship March 18-19, 2006 Recreation Park Golf Course Long Beach, California View Results Nationally Ranked By:   Results submitted to: Golfweek, AJGA and JGS

CHEN AND RUNAS EARN FIRST JAGS VICTORY AT LONG BEACH JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Boys Division (L-R) Troy Davis, Champion Jeffrey Chen, Chris Vascellaro, Miles Cole	Girls Division (L-R) Amelia Ek, Champion Demi Frances Runas, Simone Strauss, Kimberly Punyasavatsut

Long Beach, California, Junior Amateur Golf Scholars (JAGS) conducted its annual Long Beach Junior Championship at Recreation Park Golf Club.  This tight course challenged JAGS players due to its lighting fast small greens and narrow fairways lined with mature trees.  Day one brought the threat of rain which never materialized, but saw players battling cold windy conditions during the round making scoring conditions very difficult. 

First round play in the boys division concluded with Chris Vascellaro, Torrance, Calif., posting even par 72 taking a one shot lead over Troy Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., and a two shot advantage over Blake Nicolai, Long Beach, Calif., and Jeffrey Chen, Walnut, Calif.   The girls division completed round one as Demi Frances Runas, Torrance, Calif., and Kimberly Punyasavatsut, Anaheim, Calif., tied for the lead with a 5-over (77).  Amelia Ek, Cypress, Calif., finished four back of the leaders posting 81 with a log jam at 82 from Katie Park, La Crescenta, Calif., Simone Strauss, Rancho Mirage, Calif., and Angela Villela, Pacoima, Calif. 

Round two continued with stronger winds and slightly warmer temperatures which made the greens even faster than day one making players re-think their approach shots trying to keep the ball from running off the greens.    Vascellaro, Davis, Nicolai and Chen playing in the last group of the tournament battled the front nine as Vascellaro maintained his lead by one shot over Chen posting even par 36.  However, Chen came alive on the back nine posting three birdies and six pars to finish with a 2-under 70 to win his first JAGS Junior Tour tournament.  Chen said, “These are the fastest greens I played in a long time.  I had to really be careful with my shots to avoid the ball gaining speed and rolling off the greens.  Putting together a string of birdies on holes 13, 14, and 15 with the swirling winds really pumped me up.”  Vascellaro finished 3 shots back taking second place with a final score of 72-75-147. Six shots off the lead after round one, Miles Cole, Los Alamitos, Calif., brought his A game for round two as he scored birdie, eagle, birdie on the first three holes to gain ground on the field and tied for 3^rd (78-72-150), with Davis who posted (73-77-150).   Cole said, “That was so much fun, and I am very excited on how I battled back to finish in the top three of the tournament.”   Rounding off the top ten were Alex Bon, Santa Monica, Calif., (77-74-151), Drew Exon, Irvine, Calif., (77-75-152), Tom Moore, Huntington Beach, Calif., (75-77-152), Richard Gill, Anaheim, Calif., (75-77-152), Blake Nicolai, Long Beach, Calif., (74-79-153), James Moseley, Arcadia, Calif., (75-76-1540, and Austen Dailey, Westminster, Calif.,     (76-78-154).

The final round in the girls division, saw Runas, (77-81-158) keep her lead and finish two shots ahead of Strauss, Ek, and Punyasavatsut.  The girls had a difficult day with the winds and cold which affected the flight of the ball making scoring low hard.  Runas, playing in her third JAGS event, was all smiles at the end of the day when she received her first place trophy.  Runas said, “This was really a tough course for me especially with the winds and the rock hard greens.  I am so proud to have hung in there and win my first JAGS tournament.”    Strauss, (82-78-160), Ek, (81-79-150) and Punyasavatsut (77-83-160) tied for second with Tarah Taylor, Mission Viejo, Calif., Blair Lewis, La Mesa, Calif., and Katie Park, La Crescenta, Calif., tied for fifth at 164, Angela Villela, Pacoima, Calif., placed eighth at 168, Faith DeGuzman took ninth at 169 and Jade Okamoto finished in tenth at 172.

JAGS’ next 36-hole tournament will be held at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club in Calimesa, California on April 22-23, 2006.  This tournament is an AJGA PBE event with the winners earning an AJGA exemption to an open AJGA event this season.  Players need not be members of JAGS to participate, although member’s tournament fees are lower.  Membership and tournament information can be found at www.jagstour.com.