AJ Ott of Fort Collins, who has finished runner-up in two major junior tournaments in the last five weeks, used a spectacular finish Thursday to put himself in ideal position to notch a victory this time around.
The Colorado State University signee holed out from 138 yards for eagle on his final shot of the day and tied a course record at Indian Tree Golf Club with a 7-under-par 63 Thursday during the second round of the Colorado Junior PGA Championship.
That stellar performance gave Ott (pictured) a nine-stroke lead heading into the final round of the second major in the inaugural season of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado.
Meanwhile, in a tightly packed girls tournament, Jaclyn Murray of Grand Junction, a member of the CWGA’s 2016 Junior Americas Cup team, grabbed a one-stroke lead heading into the final round. The 17-year-old from Regis Jesuit High School, who finished second in last year’s CWGA Junior Match Play, made two birdies Thursday and shot a 4-over-par 74, leaving her at 7-over 147 overall.
Ott, who recently finished second in both the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior and the national PGA Junior Series event at the Air Force Academy, closed his bogey-free round with a 138-yard eagle on the 452-yard par-4 18th hole. That gave him five birdies and an eagle on the day.
Overall, Ott will go into Friday’s final round with an 11-under-par 129 total. That’s nine shots better than 2015 CGA Junior Player of the Year Coby Welch of Highlands Ranch (67 Thursday) and 2015 4A state high school champion Jackson Solem of Longmont (71). Three players share fourth place at 139: Andrew McCormick of Denver (66 Thursday), David Leede of Greenwood Village (70) and Tyler Zhang of Lone Tree (70).
The girls tournament is a far different affair, with six players trailing Murray by five strokes or fewer. Delaney Elliott of Superior, who has signed to play college golf at Montana State, is one out of the lead after a second-round 75. Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch, winner of both the 5A state high school tournament and the Colorado Junior Amateur this year, shares third place at 149 with Charlotte Hillary of Englewood. Weinstein carded a 72, while Hillary’s 71 was the best girls score on Friday.
Also within a handful of the lead are Sarah Hwang of Monument (151), Hannah More of Littleton (152) and 2015 CWGA Junior Match Play winner Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora (152).
After 36 holes, the girls’ field was cut down to 15 players and the boys’ to 31.
For interactive scores, click on the following: BOYS, GIRLS
Colorado Junior PGA Championship
At Par-70 Indian Tree GC in Arvada
BOYS
1. AJ Ott, Fort Collins, CO, 2016, 66-63-129 -11
2. Coby Welch, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2016, 71-67-138 -2
2. Jackson Solem, Longmont, CO, 2017, 67-71-138 -2
4. Andrew McCormick, Denver, CO, 2016, 73-66-139 -1
4. David Leede, Greenwood Village, CO, 2016, 69-70-139 -1
4. Tyler Zhang, Lone Tree, CO, 2017, 69-70-139 -1
7. Freddie Gluck, Boulder, CO, 2018, 72-70-142 +2
7. Reese Leiker, Littleton, CO, 2016, 69-73-142 +2
9. Peter Grossenbacher, Eaton, CO, 2019, 72-71-143 +3
9. Hunter Tuite, Englewood, CO, 2017, 72-71-143 +3
9. Davis Bryant, Aurora, CO, 2018, 72-71-143 +3
12. Coleson Krantz, Windsor, CO, 2017, 76-68-144 +4
12. Calvin McCoy, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2018, 72-72-144 +4
12. Jake Welch, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2019, 71-73-144 +4
15. Alec Poorman, Boulder, CO, 2016, 75-70-145 +5
15. Brittain Walton, Steamboat Springs, CO, 2016, 74-71-145 +5
17. Dallas Millin, Wright, WY, 2017, 77-69-146 +6
17. Timothy Amundson, Littleton, CO, 2016, 76-70-146 +6
17. Darren Edwards, Loveland, CO, 2018, 75-71-146 +6
17. Dillon Baker, Castle Rock, CO, 2018, 72-74-146 +6
17. Ethan Alexander, Louisville, CO, 2017, 71-75-146 +6
22. Arik Roberts, Colorado Springs, CO, 2017, 74-73-147 +7
22. Kyle Pearson, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2017, 73-74-147 +7
24. Sam Taylor, Nederland, CO, 2017, 73-75-148 +8
25. Tj Shehee, Longmont, CO, 2019, 76-73-149 +9
25. Marcus Tait, Littleton, CO, 2017, 75-74-149 +9
25. Ian Thorpe, Superior, CO, 2018, 75-74-149 +9
28. Sam Blackwood, Littleton, CO, 2018, 78-72-150 +10
28. Luke Travins, Colorado Springs, CO, 2017, 75-75-150 +10
28. Tyler Severin, Johnstown, CO, 2018, 74-76-150 +10
28. Jaxon Franklin, Broomfield, CO, 2018, 73-77-150 +10
Missed Cut
Ji Jang, Aurora, CO, 2016, 78-73-151 +11
Ethan Tartaglia, Lafayette, CO, 2018, 77-74-151 +11
Jackson Crist, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2018, 76-75-151 +11
Jack Tickle, Centennial, CO, 2019, 75-76-151 +11
Austin Hardman, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2016, 75-76-151 +11
Ryan Pearson, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2017, 74-77-151 +11
Gabe Goodman, Lakewood, CO, 2018, 73-78-151 +11
Matthew Heesemann, Johnstown, CO, 2016, 80-72-152 +12
John McGinley, Casper, WY, 2018, 79-73-152 +12
Roger Nakagawa, Denver, CO, 2018, 81-72-153 +13
Evan Kalac, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2019, 80-74-154 +14
Nishant Datta, Broomfield, CO, 2018, 81-73-154 +14
Walker Franklin, Broomfield, CO, 2020, 79-75-154 +14
Brayden Lambrecht, Sterling, CO, 2018, 79-75-154 +14
Bridger Tenney, Evergreen, CO, 2018, 77-77-154 +14
Garret Phillips, Rock Springs, WY, 2017, 74-80-154 +14
Nolan Miller, Evergreen, CO, 2019, 77-78-155 +15
Cameron Kirke, Greenwood Village, CO, 2018, 78-78-156 +16
Christian Agelopoulos, Denver, CO, 2020, 84-75-159 +19
Cameron Nagel, Fort Collins, CO, 2017, 80-80-160 +20
Christopher Kennedy, Aurora, CO, 2019, 76-84-160 +20
Drew Anderson, Aurora, CO, 2018, 82-79-161 +21
Riley Rottschafer, Centennial, CO, 2019, 90-73-163 +23
Matthew LeFebre, Centennial, CO, 2017, 84-80-164 +24
Jackson Zinn, Westminster, CO, 2018, 83-84-167 +27
Chris Jonell, Centennial, CO, 2019, 84-90-174 +34
GIRLS
1. Jaclyn Murray, Grand Junction, CO, 2017, 73-74-147 +7
2. Delaney Elliott, Superior, CO, 2016, 73-75-148 +8
3. Charlotte Hillary, Englewood, CO, 2020, 78-71-149 +9
3. Mary Weinstein, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2016, 77-72-149 +9
5. Sarah Hwang, Monument, CO, 2017, 79-72-151 +11
6. Hannah More, Littleton, CO, 2016, 79-73-152 +12
6. Amy Chitkoksoong, Aurora, CO, 2019, 73-79-152 +12
8. Amelia Lee, Castle Rock, CO, 2017, 77-77-154 +14
9. Payton Canon, Englewood, CO, 2018, 79-76-155 +15
9. Erin Sargent, Longmont, CO, 2016, 77-78-155 +15
11. Sarah Hunt, Parker, CO, 2017, 77-79-156 +16
12. Reagan Robinson, Golden, CO, 2018, 80-77-157 +17
13. Amisha Singh, Greenwood Village, CO, 2019, 81-77-158 +18
13. Tabitha Diehl, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2017, 79-79-158 +18
13. Julia Baroth, Denver, CO, 2017, 79-79-158 +18
Missed Cut
Kacey Godwin, Denver, CO, 2016, +19
Kelsey Webster, Boulder, CO, 2018, +19
Shelby Poynter, Scottsbluff, NE, 2018, +20
Sydney Eye, Golden, CO, 2019, +22
Arielle Keating, Colorado Springs, CO, 2018, +24
Anju Ogi, Arvada, CO, 2021, +24
Riley McKibbon, Arvada, CO, 2017, +26
Katie Berrian, Castle Rock, CO, 2020, +26
Lauren Murphy, Carbondale, CO, 2018, +26
Carly Gallant, Louisville, CO, 2017, +29
Jenna Chun, Englewood, CO, 2018, +32
Eva Pett, Denver, CO, 2022, +37
Jihyun Roh, Broomfield, CO, 2018, +40
Isabell Deak, Colorado Springs, CO, 2018, +41
Andrea Hoos, Thornton, CO, 2016, +18 WD
