Lake Charles, Louisiana October 5, 2019
A couple of perfect days at Gray Plantation made for excellent scoring conditions at the Louisiana Junior Golf Tour’s final event of the season, the Tour Championship. Karan Patel of Alexandria and Kaitlyn Montoya of Shreveport emerged victorious in their respective divisions after great play over two days.
Patel fired a crisp five-under par 67 in the First Round which would tie the low round of the week, and give him a two-shot advantage over Lafayette’s Canon Clark (69) and put him three shots in front of Walter Anderson of Baton Rouge (70) heading into Sunday’s Final Round. Sunday would prove to be a test for Patel, who attempted to fend off a charge by Clark, who fired a five-under 67 of his own on Sunday. Patel’s three-under 69 left the two competitors tied at eight-under par for the championship after 36-holes. In the playoff, Patel hit his approach shot to 15 feet for birdie, while Clark would find the fringe just off the green. After Clark left his birdie attempt just short, Patel stepped up and drained the 15-footer to clinch a second victory this season. Rounding out the top five in the Boys Division are: 3) Walter Anderson of Baton Rouge (70-75-145), T4) Porter May of Shreveport (76-72-148) and Jake Marler of Shreveport (73-76-149).
Montoya’s first round four-over par 76 positioned her atop the leaderboard by a sizeable margin heading into the Final Round. She would follow another quality round, five-over par 77 to capture victory over Sarah Hodson of Raceland. Marta Bollinger of Alexandria finished in third place. Montoya picked up her second LJGT victory this season. With this victory Montoya becomes the first LJGT Girls’ Player of the Year.
Gray Plantation was in wonderful condition for this event. The golf course drew rave reviews from the best junior competitors in the region. The weather was perfect, a typical weekend for October in Louisiana. The golf course played to a par 72 at 6,717 yards for the Overall Boys Division and 5,505 yards for the Overall Girls Division.
Click here to view final results.