A record-tying three Colorado junior golfers qualified on Saturday for the 2019 Drive, Chip & Putt National Championship, which will be held April 7 at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on the eve of the Masters.
Among those three who won their Regional Qualifying competition at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis was Caitlyn Chin of Greenwood Village, who became the first Coloradan to qualify twice for the DCP Nationals.
Chin competed in the Girls 7-9 division at Augusta National in 2016, and now she’s in the 10-11 group.
Chin won that 10-11 division Saturday in St. Louis by accumulating 115 points for an 18-point victory over fellow Coloradan Taylor Hale of Eagle.
Also advancing to the DCP Finals at Augusta National on Saturday were Chunya Boonta of Centennial, who prevailed by one point in the Girls 12-13 group with a 131 total, and Grady Ortiz of Colorado Springs, who won in the Boys 7-9 group with a 104 tally.
In order to qualify for Nationals, a golfer has to win — out of 12 players — in his/her gender/age division at Regionals. There are eight divisions in each DCP event.
Each of Saturday’s champions previously advanced through Local and Sub-Regional qualifying events.
When Chin qualified for Nationals previously, in 2016, she was one of a three-player Colorado contingent that year also, along with Luke Trujillo and Arielle Keating, both of Colorado Springs. Trujillo and Keating each finished sixth at Nationals that Year, while Chin was 10th.
The only other Coloradan who has competed in the nationally-televised DCP Finals has been Kaden Ford of Colorado Springs, who placed sixth in the Boys 14-15 competion on April 1.
In DCP events, contestants score points in each discipline — driving, chipping and putting — which are added together for a cumulative total.
In addition to the three Coloradans who won their divisions at Regionals in St. Louis on Saturday, four from the Centennial State were runners-up, coming up just short of advancing: Miles Kuhl of Boulder (Boys 10-11), Maxwell Lange of Golden (Boys 14-15), Hale (Girls 10-11) and Grace Ha of Greenwood Village (Girls 14-15).
In all, 40 boys and 40 girls will compete in the Nationals of the DCP, which is sponsored by the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America. The competition is limited to players 7-15.
ҬHere are the results for the Coloradans at the Drive Chip & Putt Regional Qualifying in St. Louis on Saturday:
ҬScore: Drive-Chip-Putt=Total
ҬBoys 7-9
“¨”¨1. Grady Ortiz, Colorado Springs 30-23-51–104
“¨7. Ryan Fenton, Colorado Springs 28-26-17–71
10. Benjamin Pederson, Arvada 28-30-8–66″¨
Boys 10-11
“¨2. Miles Kuhl, Boulder 24-45-55–124
3. Jake Dost, Parker 45-45-32–122″¨
6. Gregory White, Centennial 16-40-50–106
ҬӬӬӬBoys 12-13
“¨5. Reese Knox, Peyton 19-32-55–106
“¨6. Matai Naqica, Centennial 52-20-27–99
9. Carter Surofchek, Colorado Springs 18-32-40–90
ҬӬBoys 14-15
“¨2. Maxwell Lange, Golden 62-45-55–162″¨
4. Matthew Wilkinson, Centennial 70-40-36–146″¨
6. Ben Harding, Longmont 46-40-50–136
12. Jackson Rottschafer, Centennial 0-55-32–87″¨”¨
Girls 7-9″¨
3. Jadie Wilson, Denver 14-26-27–67
“¨4. Amalei Lagrimas, Castle Rock 13-21-31–65″¨
4. Annabel Roy, Denver 11-41-13–65
“¨7. Adrielle Miller, Highlands Ranch 14-30-12–56
Girls 10-11
“¨1. Caitlyn Chin, Greenwood Village 34-26-55–115″¨
2. Taylor Hale, Eagle 23-45-29–97
4. Addison Hines, Arvada 36-37-12–85″¨
12. Emmalee Johnson, Denver 2-25-7–34″¨”¨
Girls 12-13″¨
1. Chunya Boonta, Centennial 36-45-50–131″¨
11. Madeline Bante, Denver 19-40-27–86
Girls 14-15
“¨2. Grace Ha, Greenwood Village 51-26-22–99
5. Elle Higgins, Centennial 32-26-32–90
6. Sofia Choi, Littleton 17-35-36–88 “¨
