Travis Vick during raining Junior PGA second round
(PGA of America Photo)
RUMDFORD, RI (August 10, 2016) -- Kyle Vance of
Audubon, Pennsylvania and Travis Vick of Houston are
the 36-hole leaders in the Boys’ Division at the 41st
Junior PGA Championship presented by Under Armour
and Genesis Networks, which is being contested this
week at Wannamoisett Country Club.
Steady rains in the Rumford area left standing
water on multiple holes and forced a pair of play
stoppages that totaled 3 hours and 16 minutes.
The wet conditions forced the postponement of the
second round of play in the Girls’ Division, which was
scheduled to begin at Noon. As a result, the Girls’
Division of the Junior PGA Championship has been
reduced to a 54-hole event.
The girls’ pairings will be adjusted for Thursday’s
second round, after which, a 36-hole cut will be
implemented to include the top 36 girls, plus ties.
Vick posted a soggy-but effective 65, the low round
of the Championship (Boys Division), as six birdies
trumped a pair of bogeys on Wannamoisett’s par-69
Donald Ross layout. He was also up to the mental and
physical challenge that comes with a rainy summer day
in Rhode Island.
“A 10-hour round is long, because you get so loose
and it is hard to maintain your swing,” said Vick (71-65,
136). “ I was saved by my putter. I made a few bombs
and it is always great to see those go in.”
Long-range birdies on the second (30 feet) and
18th (35 feet) holes, as well as a 20-foot par save on
No. 7, fueled Vick’s charge.
Meanwhile, Vance’s volatile scorecard featured
eight pars, six birdies and a quartet of bogeys.
All that mattered little to Vance (69-67, 136), who
was elated with his two-day standing.
“Being at the top of the leaderboard is always a
good position to be in,” said Vance, a Kansas State
commitment. “I played well, but I definitely left a few
shots out there. I can play better and hope to show that
the next two days.”
Following the round, Vance shared his awe of
Wannamoisett’s championship pedigree and his desire
to finish first or second in the Junior PGA Championship
and earn the right to play in next month’s Junior Ryder
Cup.
“It would be awesome to make the U.S. Junior
Ryder Cup Team,” said Vance. “It’d really be great to do
that. There is a lot of golf left here and there are a lot of
people chasing, but if I were able to win this, … this
would easily be the biggest win of my life.”
After teeing off at 7:10 a.m., Kyle Hogan of
Cypress, Texas enjoyed nearly two hours of dry play. He
parred each of Wannamoisett’s initial six holes, but
began his charge with a birdie-birdie-birdie sequence on
holes 7-9.
Hogan’s barrage of birdies began modestly on the
7th hole, with a six-footer. That’s when things really got
wet and wild.
“The rain started to come down on (the par-3) 8, so
I was just trying to make pars,” said Hogan, who will
report to Texas Tech in less than two weeks. “I hit a 6-
iron to the front of the green, had about 80 feet. I made
that. Then on No. 9, I had another 6-iron in. I hit it to
60 feet, and made that too.”
Hogan drained a 25-foot birdie on No. 17 for good
measure. He is alone in third place with a two-day total
of 137 (70-67).
Vance, Vick and Hogan are the only three Boys that
are under par.
The Girls’ second round is slated to begin at 7 a.m.
on Thursday. Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii, is
the current leader, as her bogey-free 7-under, 64 on
Tuesday left her two shots clear of Virginia Green, of
Point Clear, Alabama, and Lucy Li, of Redwood Shores,
California.
Three others – Gina Kim (Chapel Hill, North
Carolina), Youngin Chun (Gainesville, Florida) and Kyra
Cox (South Salem, New York) – are three strokes
behind Galdiano. Defending Champion Elizabeth Wang
of San Marino, California, is seven shots back.
Rains in Rumford began shortly after 9 a.m., so the
majority of the Boys’ Division played through a steady
rain for much of the second round. The Boys’ 72-hole
Championship will feature a 54-hole cut to the low 30,
including ties.
View results for Junior PGA Championship
ABOUT THE Junior PGA Championship
One of golf’s major championships for juniors, the
Boys
Junior PGA Championship is where the best in the
world get their start. Begun in 1976, at Walt Disney
World Resort in Orlando, the Championship has been
a
popular stop on the national junior circuit for many
of
today’s PGA touring professionals including Tiger
Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Pat Perez, who held the
record for 24 years until Akshay Bhatia shattered it
by
5 strokes in 2017. 72-hole, stroke-play
Championship, with a cut
after 36 holes to the low 70 plus ties. The Boys
Junior PGA
Championship is open to males who are no older
than 18 years of
age by the end of the tournament.
View Complete Tournament Information