Just like a fellow lefty who’s doing quite well playing tournament golf this week, AJ Ott of Fort Collins rode rounds of 63-69 on Thursday and Friday to the top of the leaderboard.
For Phil Mickelson, that was good for the halfway lead in the British Open. For Ott, it meant the boys title in the Colorado Junior PGA Championship, the second major in the inaugural season of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado.
“Lefties are making a comeback, I’ll tell you what,” Ott said with a smile.
A day after he tied the course record at Indian Tree Golf Club by holing out from 138 yards for eagle on 18 en route to the 7-under-par 63, Ott maintained a big advantage all day on Friday and posted a seven-stroke victory.
It was a welcome win for the Colorado State University-bound golfer, who has finished runner-up in the 2015 CGA Junior Stroke Play, the 2015 5A state high school meet and this year’s AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior and PGA Junior Series event at the Air Force Academy. During that stretch, Ott claimed the title in the CJGA Tournament of Champions.
“It felt good,” Ott (left and above) said of the breakthrough. “I was trying not to really think about it. I was trying to keep it one shot at a time. My coach at CSU helped me a lot with my pre-shot routine. I texted him last night and he had some good words that helped me out today. But it’s anyone’s game at the start of the week, so I was trying to keep it in play and hopefully get some putts to drop. Thankfully they dropped.”
At Indian Tree, the 18-year-old left nothing to chance with his three-day total of 12-under-par 198. For the week, he finished with one eagle, 13 birdies and three bogeys.
The victory Friday gave Ott an automatic berth in the national PGA Junior Championship, set for Aug. 9-12 in Rumford, R.I.
Jackson Solem (left) of Longmont, the reigning 4A state high school champion, finished a distant second on Friday at 5-under-par 205. Solem, who has committed to play his college golf at the University of Denver beginning next year, closed with a 67.
“I shot 67-71-67 and played well for three days,” Solem said. “Obviously I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to, but it’s hard to beat how AJ is playing right now so I’m pretty satisfied with how I did.
“I played with him yesterday (during Ott’s 63) and it was fun to watch. He’s a good friend of mine so it was really cool to see him succeed.”
Coby Welch of Highlands Ranch, the 2015 CGA Junior Player of the Year, placed third at 207 after a 69 on Friday. Welch will begin his University of Northern Colorado golf career this fall.
Ott, who tied his best score ever with Thursday’s 63, took a nine-stroke lead into Friday’s final round. But he was careful not to become complacent.
“I wanted to stay aggressive,” said Ott, whose three birdies Friday included a chip-in on No. 13. “That was my mindset the whole day. I knew I couldn’t go out there and shoot a couple over on the front because (Solem and Welch) were both going to shoot a couple under. I needed to stay aggressive and make some putts too. The putts hadn’t really dropped the last couple of tournaments, but they did this week, which was really nice.”
For the interactive scores from the boys tournament, CLICK HERE.
To read about the girls tournament, CLICK HERE.
Colorado Junior PGA Championship
At Par-70 Indian Tree GC in Arvada
BOYS
1. AJ Ott, Fort Collins, CO, 2016, 66-63-69-198 -12
2. Jackson Solem, Longmont, CO, 2017, 67-71-67-205 -5
3. Coby Welch, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2016, 71-67-69-207 -3
4. Andrew McCormick, Denver, CO, 2016, 73-66-73-212 +2
5. Hunter Tuite, Englewood, CO, 2017, 72-71-71-214 +4
5. Tyler Zhang, Lone Tree, CO, 2017, 69-70-75-214 +4
7. David Leede, Greenwood Village, CO, 2016, 69-70-76-215 +5
8. Dallas Millin, Wright, WY, 2017, 77-69-71-217 +7
8. Freddie Gluck, Boulder, CO, 2018, 72-70-75-217 +7
8. Reese Leiker, Littleton, CO, 2016, 69-73-75-217 +7
11. Kyle Pearson, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2017, 73-74-71-218 +8
11. Alec Poorman, Boulder, CO, 2016, 75-70-73-218 +8
11. Davis Bryant, Aurora, CO, 2018, 72-71-75-218 +8
11. Coleson Krantz, Windsor, CO, 2017, 76-68-74-218 +8
15. Darren Edwards, Loveland, CO, 2018, 75-71-73-219 +9
15. Brittain Walton, Steamboat Springs, CO, 2016, 74-71-74-219 +9
15. Timothy Amundson, Littleton, CO, 2016, 76-70-73-219 +9
18. Ian Thorpe, Superior, CO, 2018, 75-74-71-220 +10
18. Ethan Alexander, Louisville, CO, 2017, 71-75-74-220 +10
18. Peter Grossenbacher, Eaton, CO, 2019, 72-71-77-220 +10
21. Luke Travins, Colorado Springs, CO, 2017, 75-75-72-222 +12
21. Marcus Tait, Littleton, CO, 2017, 75-74-73-222 +12
21. Arik Roberts, Colorado Springs, CO, 2017, 74-73-75-222 +12
24. Tj Shehee, Longmont, CO, 2019, 76-73-74-223 +13
24. Jake Welch, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2019, 71-73-79-223 +13
26. Calvin McCoy, Highlands Ranch, CO, 2018, 72-72-80-224 +14
27. Tyler Severin, Johnstown, CO, 2018, 74-76-75-225 +15
27. Sam Taylor, Nederland, CO, 2017, 73-75-77-225 +15
27. Dillon Baker, Castle Rock, CO, 2018, 72-74-79-225 +15
30. Sam Blackwood, Littleton, CO, 2018, 78-72-77-227 +17
31. Jaxon Franklin, Broomfield, CO, 2018, 73-77-81-231 +21
Missed 36-Hole 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
