AJ Ott (left) of Fort Collins, a fixture on the leaderboards of major Colorado junior golf tournaments over the last two years, is back at it.
The 18-year-old, who will play college golf for Colorado State beginning this fall, shot a 4-under-par 66 Wednesday at Indian Tree Golf Club in Arvada to grab a one-stroke lead in the boys division of the Colorado Junior PGA Championship, the second major of the inaugural season of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado.
In the girls tournament, which is being held simultaneously at the same site, three players share the first-round lead: 2015 CWGA Junior Match Play winner Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora and runner-up Jaclyn Murray of Grand Junction, and Delaney Elliott of Superior, who will play college golf at Montana State starting this fall. Chitkoksoong and Murray will be Colorado teammates later this month at the Girls Junior Americas Cup in Modesto, Calif. The three co-leaders shot 3-over-par 73s on Wednesday.
Both the boys and girls championships will be 54-hole affairs.
Ott, runner-up earlier this season in both the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior and the national PGA Junior Series event at the Air Force Academy, made five birdies and one bogey in Wednesday’s opening round.
Jackson Solem of Longmont, the reigning 4A state high school champion, sits in second place at 67 after a five-birdie day. The other three players who posted sub-par rounds on Wednesday were Tyler Zhang of Lone Tree, David Leede of Greenwood Village and Reese Leiker of Littleton, all of whom carded 69s.
In the girls event, a group four back of the co-leaders includes Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch, winner of the Colorado Junior Amateur and the 5A state high school meet earlier this year; 4A state champion Erin Sargent of Longmont; Sarah Hunt of Parker; and Amelia Lee of Castle Rock.
The action will continue through Friday for both the boys and girls.
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, 34-32-66 -4
2. Jackson Solem, Longmont, CO, 33-34-67 -3
3. Tyler Zhang, Lone Tree, CO, 34-35-69 -1
3. David Leede, Greenwood Village, CO, 34-35-69 -1
3. Reese Leiker, Littleton, CO, 34-35-69 -1
6. Coby Welch, Highlands Ranch, CO, 36-35-71 +1
6. Jake Welch, Highlands Ranch, CO, 34-37-71 +1
6. Ethan Alexander, Louisville, CO, 36-35-71 +1
9. Davis Bryant, Aurora, CO, 36-36-72 +2
9. Calvin McCoy, Highlands Ranch, CO, 35-37-72 +2
9. Dillon Baker, Castle Rock, CO, 34-38-72 +2
9. Hunter Tuite, Englewood, CO, 37-35-72 +2
9. Peter Grossenbacher, Eaton, CO, 37-35-72 +2
9. Freddie Gluck, Boulder, CO, 37-35-72 +2
15. Andrew McCormick, Denver, CO, 36-37-73 +3
15. Kyle Pearson, Highlands Ranch, CO, 36-37-73 +3
15. Sam Taylor, Nederland, CO, 35-38-73 +3
15. Gabe Goodman, Lakewood, CO, 34-39-73 +3
15. Jaxon Franklin, Broomfield, CO, 39-34-73 +3
20. Brittain Walton, Steamboat Springs, CO, 35-39-74 +4
20. Arik Roberts, Colorado Springs, CO, 37-37-74 +4
20. Tyler Severin, Johnstown, CO, 39-35-74 +4
20. Garret Phillips, Rock Springs, WY, 38-36-74 +4
20. Ryan Pearson, Highlands Ranch, CO, 38-36-74 +4
25. Austin Hardman, Highlands Ranch, CO, 36-39-75 +5
25. Alec Poorman, Boulder, CO, 41-34-75 +5
25. Luke Travins, Colorado Springs, CO, 37-38-75 +5
25. Marcus Tait, Littleton, CO, 34-41-75 +5
25. Darren Edwards, Loveland, CO, 38-37-75 +5
25. Ian Thorpe, Superior, CO, 38-37-75 +5
25. Jack Tickle, Centennial, CO, 37-38-75 +5
32. Coleson Krantz, Windsor, CO, 39-37-76 +6
32. Timothy Amundson, Littleton, CO, 39-37-76 +6
32. Jackson Crist, Highlands Ranch, CO, 39-37-76 +6
32. Tj Shehee, Longmont, CO, 39-37-76 +6
32. Christopher Kennedy, Aurora, CO, 38-38-76 +6
37. Dallas Millin, Wright, WY, 38-39-77 +7
37. Ethan Tartaglia, Lafayette, CO, 41-36-77 +7
37. Bridger Tenney, Evergreen, CO, 39-38-77 +7
37. Nolan Miller, Evergreen, CO, 39-38-77 +7
41. Ji Jang, Aurora, CO, 37-41-78 +8
41. Sam Blackwood, Littleton, CO, 36-42-78 +8
41. Cameron Kirke, Greenwood Village, CO, 40-38-78 +8
44. John McGinley, Casper, WY, 42-37-79 +9
44. Brayden Lambrecht, Sterling, CO, 40-39-79 +9
44. Walker Franklin, Broomfield, CO, 37-42-79 +9
47. Matthew Heesemann, Johnstown, CO, 40-40-80 +10
47. Cameron Nagel, Fort Collins, CO, 40-40-80 +10
47. Evan Kalac, Highlands Ranch, CO, 39-41-80 +10
50. Nishant Datta, Broomfield, CO, 40-41-81 +11
50. Roger Nakagawa, Denver, CO, 40-41-81 +11
52. Drew Anderson, Aurora, CO, 38-44-82 +12
53. Jackson Zinn, Westminster, CO, 47-36-83 +13
54. Matthew LeFebre, Centennial, CO, 45-39-84 +14
54. Christian Agelopoulos, Denver, CO, 44-40-84 +14
54. Chris Jonell, Centennial, CO, 40-44-84 +14
57. Drew Mettler, Loveland, CO, 39-47-86 +16
58. Riley Rottschafer, Centennial, CO, 47-43-90 +20
GIRLS
1. Delaney Elliott, Superior, CO, 36-37-73 +3
1. Jaclyn Murray, Grand Junction, CO, 36-37-73 +3
1. Amy Chitkoksoong, Aurora, CO, 38-35-73 +3
4. Mary Weinstein, Highlands Ranch, CO, 39-38-77 +7
4. Erin Sargent, Longmont, CO, 38-39-77 +7
4. Sarah Hunt, Parker, CO, 38-39-77 +7
4. Amelia Lee, Castle Rock, CO, 39-38-77 +7
8. Charlotte Hillary, Englewood, CO, 40-38-78 +8
9. Julia Baroth, Denver, CO, 40-39-79 +9
9. Tabitha Diehl, Highlands Ranch, CO, 41-38-79 +9
9. Sydney Eye, Golden, CO, 40-39-79 +9
9. Hannah More, Littleton, CO, 37-42-79 +9
9. Payton Canon, Englewood, CO, 39-40-79 +9
9. Sarah Hwang, Monument, CO, 40-39-79 +9
15. Reagan Robinson, Golden, CO, 39-41-80 +10
15. Kelsey Webster, Boulder, CO, 38-42-80 +10
17. Lauren Murphy, Carbondale, CO, 42-39-81 +11
17. Amisha Singh, Greenwood Village, CO, 39-42-81 +11
19. Kacey Godwin, Denver, CO, 41-41-82 +12
19. Katie Berrian, Castle Rock, CO, 40-42-82 +12
19. Andrea Hoos, Thornton, CO, 41-41-82 +12
19. Riley McKibbon, Arvada, CO, 41-41-82 +12
19. Anju Ogi, Arvada, CO, 42-40-82 +12
19. Jenna Chun, Englewood, CO, 43-39-82 +12
25. Arielle Keating, Colorado Springs, CO, 44-40-84 +14
25. Shelby Poynter, Scottsbluff, NE, 42-42-84 +14
27. Eva Pett, Denver, CO, 44-43-87 +17
28. Isabell Deak, Colorado Springs, CO, 42-47-89 +19
28. Carly Gallant, Louisville, CO, 44-45-89 +19
30. Jihyun Roh, Broomfield, CO, 46-45-91 +21
