Ryan Grinder
(AJGA Photo)
FORT WORTH, TX (November6, 2016) -- Lewisville’s
Ryan Grider stood over his 20-foot birdie putt on the
final hole of the Legends Junior Tour’s Texas Cup
Invitational at Mira Vista Country Club knowing if he
made it, he would become the 12th name added to an
already impressive list of past champions. He jarred it,
gave a fist pump and gave his caddie, Chris Martinez,
General Manager of The Lakes of Castle Hills, a big hug.
“We both saw the exact same read on that putt,”
Grider said. “I knew if I hit it hard enough and on the
line we saw, it was going in.”
It went in, alright, hitting the center of the back of
the cup firmly and dropping into the hole for a 5-under
66 final round. Grider needed that birdie to clinch the
victory, though.
Carrollton’s Kyle Cox was on Grider’s heels the
entire final round. They started tied atop the
leaderboard after both players posted a 4-under 67 in
Saturday’s first round. Cox took the early lead after a
birdie on the first hole, but gave it back on the difficult
par-3 3rd hole. Grider then made a birdie on the 618-
yard, par-5 sixth hole to take a one shot lead.
“I made five straight pars on the opening holes, but
that birdie on six really got me going. It gave me some
momentum after the weather delay,” said Grider.
Play was suspended at 11:55 am due to inclement
weather in the area with the leaders in the fairway on
the sixth hole. The delay lasted one hour and 40
minutes and play resumed at 1:35 pm. There was a mix
of rain and cool temperatures but that didn’t stop the
players from playing superb golf.
Grider, the 2014 LJT Player of the Year, and Cox
continued to battle throughout the back nine, and after
a bogey on the long par-3 15th hole by Cox, it looked
like Grider might win with a cushion. Cox responded
with heart, making back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to
get back to 8-under for the tournament, tied with Grider
heading into the 18th hole.
Cox had a birdie putt as well, just outside of
Grider’s ball, but left his putt a foot short. That left the
door open for Grider, who felt he needed to win to get
into next weekend’s Jackie burke Cup.
“My goal is to play in the Jackie Burke Cup at the
end of the year, and I felt that the only way I was
getting into it this year was winning the Texas Cup,” he
said. “Hopefully this win gets me in.”
Next weekend’s Legends Junior Tour’s Jackie Burke
Cup is a Ryder Cup style format, pitting 12 players from
north Texas against 12 players from south Texas. The
Texas Cup was the final event that awards points
towards the LJT Player of the Year Points List, which is
how the 12 players are chosen for their respective
teams. The event will take place November 12-13 at
Escondido Golf & Lake Club.
Another impressive note from Grider’s 9-under par
133 tournament total was that he didn’t have a single
bogey on his scorecard. In 36 holes, he had nine
birdies, including five in his final round 5-under 66.
That wasn’t even the low round of the tournament,
though. Plano’s Pierceson Coody, reigning LJT Player of
the Year, fired a red-hot 6-under 65 in Sunday’s final
round. He carded four straight birdies on holes six
through nine, and then finished his round birdie, eagle,
birdie. His 65 vaulted him all the way up to third place,
four shots back of Grider.
Austin’s Trey Bosco fired a 4-under 67 in Sunday’s
final round to jump into fourth place. Crosby Guercio,
Landon Ernst, and Parker Coody finished tied for fifth
place, eight shots back of Grider. Luke Dossey, Reid
Davenport, Brandon Massey, and Matthew Denton
finished in a tie for eighth place.