It turned to be an successful start for all three locals during Tuesday’s opening round of the American Junior Golf Association Circle K Junior Championship hosted by Otter Creek.
Nathaly Munnicha finished at 1-over 73 and is tied for third place in the girls division. Kody Reynolds and Jack Hoover are tied for 14th place in the boys division after both shot even-par rounds of 72s.
Munnicha, an incoming junior at Columbus North, was 3-over through 13 holes, but then eagled the No. 14 and birdied No. 15 to get back to even-par. She then bogeyed No. 17.
“My front nine was not the greatest,” Munnicha said. “With the back nine, I eagled and then birdied back-to-back and I was like, ‘OK, I’ll take it.’ A little luck helps, but I felt pretty good out there.”
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Taylor Zeng of Orlando, Florida, leads the girls tournament with a 2-under 70. Munnicha is only three strokes back of the lead and could be in contention if she puts together two more solid rounds.
“I’m feeling more confident right now,” Munnicha said. “I’m glad this round ended on a good note and coming back 2-under for the back nine. I’m really happy with how I played.”
Drew Doyle of Louisville leads the boys tournament with a 5-under 67.
Reynolds, an incoming junior at Columbus East, also had a great opportunity to end in red figures on his final hole with just a short putt left for a birdie, but the ball rolled almost 360-degrees around the cup and just trickled out. He finished with four birdies and four bogeys.
Reynolds said his goal was to try to shoot even-par or better, and he’s now in great shape to make the cut and hopes to turn in two more great rounds to put himself in contention.
“I was thinking somewhere around even, but that putt on the last hole did what it did,” Reynolds said. “Other than that, I think I played pretty well. I putted pretty well and hit the ball solid.”
Hoover, a native of Columbus, moved to Colorado with his family to live for six years before moving back to Columbus last July. He was homeschooled since third grade and graduated in May. He plans to attend Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he intends to study professional golf management and isn’t ruling out trying to earn a walk-on spot with the school’s golf team.
On Tuesday, Hoover started on the back nine and was 2-under through 14 holes until a double-bogey on No. 6 pushed him to even-par. Regardless, Hoover said he was pleased with his round, even though he said he’s struggled with his driver lately, but felt good about it today.
“I hit eight fairways, which is better than what it has been, so I was really happy with that,” Hoover said. “I gave myself lots of opportunities to hit some greens. I felt pretty good with the irons. I didn’t do anything too bad out there, but I know I left some strokes out there. But I’m happy with the way I performed, and it was a good first round.”
For today’s second round, Munnicha tees off at 7:30 a.m. on No. 10. Hoover tees off at 7:50 a.m. on No. 1, and Reynolds tees off on No. 1 at 12:45.
Following today’s round, the field will be cut in half for the final round on Thursday.
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BOYS
1. Drew Doyle;Louisville;67
2. Danny Fisher;Lake Forest, Illinois;69
T3. Adam Bratton;Newburgh;70
T3. Campbell Kremer;Louisville;70
T3. Jimmy Zheng;Auckland,New Zealand;70
T3. Kevin O’Regan;Northbrook, Illinois;70
Local competitors
T14. Kody Reynolds;Columbus;72
T14. Jack Hoover;Columbus;72
GIRLS
1. Taylor Zeng;Orlando, Florida;70
2. Katie Dzialga;Greenwich, Connecticut;72
T3. Nathaly Munnicha;Columbus;73
T3. Annabelle Pancake;Zionsville;73
T3. Shannyn Vogler;Sherrard, Illinois;73
T3. Kathryn VanArragon;Blaine, Minnesota;73
T3. Amy Gao;Shanghai, China;73
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