Columbus North golfers Bryce Turner and Danbi Kim were pleased with their opening-round results of the American Junior Golf Association Otter Creek Junior Championship on Tuesday.
In an opening round that saw many scores go under par, Turner finished with a 4-over 76, which is tied for 63rd in the boys division. Kim is tied for 19th with a 6-over 78 in the girls division.
Noah Gillard of Greenwood fired the lowest score in the opening round with a bogey-free 7-under 65. Alexis Miestowski of Schererville leads the girls division with a 3-under 69. Her lead could have been wider if not for a double bogey on hole No. 10.
Turner, who will be a senior at North, began his round on the back nine. He started off strong with only two bogeys in his first 14 holes but bogeyed three of his final four. His lone birdie came on the next-to-last hole.
“I made a lot of pars on the front nine, which is good,” Turner said. “I just was not hitting the ball close enough to the hole where I could get some birdies. (Today), I am going to have to come out with the same mentality to try to shoot around even par. My ball striking was good, as well as my putting, so as long as I can hit the green, I should be fine.”
Kim, who will be a junior, got off to a lot better start this year in her opening round and was able to avoid posting really big numbers. She stayed consistent with a 39 on each nine. She also picked a couple of birdies on No. 3 and No. 11.
Kim acknowledged that it is going to be an uphill battle if she wants to make the cut.
“I did pretty well — a lot better than last year,” she said. “I don’t know if it will be good enough because there are a lot of good girls at this event, but I’m satisfied.”
Turner’s second round tee time is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. today, while Kim has a tee time of 8:40 a.m.
The field will be cut in half before Thursday’s final round.
Otter Creek Junior Championship Leaderboard
BOYS
1. Noah Gillard 65
T2. Allen Hamilton 68
T2. Hunter Bruce 68
T4. B. Ochsenreiter 69
T4. N. Osterburg 69
T4. Brett Seward 69
GIRLS
1. A. Miestowski 69
2. Lauren Ingle 71
T3. B. Matthews 73
T3. Julia Matzat 73
T3. Brianne Bolden 73
T3. G. DeSombre’ 73
