Kody Reynolds and Nathaly Munnicha didn’t have their best rounds of the American Junior Golf Association’s Circle K Junior Championship hosted by Otter Creek on Thursday, but both golfers felt like they posted OK scores for the three-day tournament.
Munnicha closed the tournament with a 7-over-par 79 to finish with a 237 for 22nd place. The Columbus North incoming sophomore posted an 81 on Wednesday and her best score of 77 came in Tuesday’s first round.
University of Illinois-bound Kornkamol Sukaree from Huntington Beech, California, won with a 10-under 213.
“It was better than (Wednesday) at least, but it was still iffy — it wasn’t the greatest golf,” Munnicha said of the final round. ” I would hope (my 213) would be better, but playing the golf I was playing, I’m kind of happy with the score.”
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Reynolds, who will be a sophomore at Columbus East, carded a 6-over 78 Thursday to finish with a 226 in his first ever AJGJA event. He shot back-to-back 74s in the first and second rounds and finished in a tie for 46th place.
“The first two rounds were pretty good,” Reynolds said. “The last round wasn’t great, but all in all ,it wasn’t too bad. It was nice to get my first week under my belt.”
Matt Camel, an incoming senior from Greenwich, Connecticut, set a course record on Wednesday when he carded a 10-under 62. He finished with a 2-under 70 in the final round, recording a hole-in-one for the second consecutive day on his way to posting am AJGA tournament-record 19-under 197.
This the first time winning an AJGA event for Camel, who won by 10 shots.
“The course record is really special,” Camel said. “I’ve never done anything like that before … It’s really special to do it here at the AJGA. I really thought this was around the corner, and it’s awesome that it showed up around this time this summer.”
Camel may have experienced winning a junior championship for the first time, but ending at the top of the AJGA leaderboard has become second nature for Sukaree. She won her sixth AJGA event, and she still has one left to play this summer.
Sukaree carded a 70 and 71 in the first two rounds before ending with the best final-round score for the girls competition with a 7-under 65.
“Everything was working pretty well this week, so I’m happy,” Sukaree said. “I played really good today. All my putts sank, so that was amazing.”
Sukaree will no longer be eligible for the junior championships after this year, but both Reynolds and Munnicha are planning on coming back in the summers to come.
“It’s a great tournament. I love it,” Munnicha said. “I play with different people, and I get to play on my home course, which is amazing.”
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Final leaders and local players in the Circle K Junior Championship hosted by Otter Creek:
Boys
1. Matt Camel;Greenwich, Conn.;65-62-70—197
2. Tyler Isenhart;Geneva, Ill.;71-71-65—207
3. Alexander Yang;Carlsbad, Calif.;66-71-71—208
4. Drew Wrightson;Zionsville;68-72-71—211
T46. Kody Reynolds;Columbus;74-74-78—226
Girls
1. Kornkamol Sukaree;Huntington Beach, Calif.;70-71-65—206
2. Katie Hallinan;Loveland, Ohio;75-71-67—213
3. Brianne Bolden, Mokena, Ill.;72-75-73—220
4. Alexis Miestowski;Schererville;74-76-72—222
22. Nathaly Munnicha;Columbus;77-81-79—237
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