Karl Vilips watches a tee shot on Thursday
(AJGA Photo)
RINGOES, NJ (June 29, 2017) – Karl Vilips of (Australia) Wesley Chapel, Florida, birdied four-out-of-five holes on Nos. 10-14 en route to an even-par 72. The Stanford University verbal commit has a seven-stroke lead with a 9-under-par tournament-total 207 in the Boys Division.
“I got the birdie on 10 and everything started happening,” Vilips says of his round.” It was a really solid back nine.”
On sitting with a seven-shot lead, “You still have to play your best and not really let it go because anything can happen.”
Vilips is looking for his first AJGA win since the 2016 KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational. He is No. 15 in the AJGA Rankings.
Cole Hammer, of Houston, and Joe Highsmith of Lakewood, Washington, sit seven strokes back at 2-under-par 214. Highsmith and Hammer are both competing in their first Polo Golf Junior Classic.
Gina Kim of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Jennifer Chang of Cary, North Carolina, hold the Girls Division lead after the third round of the Polo Golf Junior Classic. Both sit at 4-under-par 212.
Kim, a Duke University verbal commit, shot a 3-under-par 69, carding three birdies and an eagle on moving day.
“It spun back and hit the pin and went in,” Kim says on her hole-out eagle on No. 9, “I raised my arms in the air and knew that there was something going on today.”
Chang shot a 2-over-par 74 carding two birdies. The University of Southern California verbal commit led after the second round.
“I made quite a few good saves out there,” Chang says of her round. “This is my first time leading into the final round in an AJGA Invitational so I’m really excited.”
The field was cut to the top 30 and ties for the Girls Division and top 36 and ties in the Boys Division. Final-round tee times will run from 7:30 – 9:20 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees.
View results for Polo Junior Classic
ABOUT THE Polo Junior Classic
Sixty-four top junior golfers will be invited to
compete
in a round-robin style
match play event. Based on the Rolex AJGA
Rankings,
an equal field of 32
boys (Polo Division) and 32 girls (Liberty Division)
will
be divided into eight
groupings of four players each to compete in three
guaranteed singles
matches. The top eight Polo Division boys and
Liberty
Division girls from each
group after pool play will advance to single-
elimination
matches.
View Complete Tournament Information