Jackson Koivun (AJGA photo)
Jackson Koivun of San Jose, Calif. won the inaugural Jack Burke Jr. Invitational played at Champions Golf Club in Houston with a score of 6-under-par 206.
Koivun kept up with the pack for the majority of the week. It was not until the final round that he pulled away and claimed the victory. The 16 year-old shot 5-under-par 66 putting him alone in third by one stroke after the first round. On day two, Koivun had an even-par 71 round and remained one stroke behind the lead. At this point of the tournament, the 2023 graduate recorded 10 birdies and one eagle which came in the first round on hole No. 5.
Koivun came into the event with two second place finishes in 2021 coming at the AJGA Junior at San Jose presented by Live View Sports and AJGA Tucson Junior presented by Hilgers Orthodontics. He began his final round with consecutive pars from No. 1 to No. 8 and finished off his front nine with a birdie. After a 1-under-par 35 front nine, Koivun made the push for the win. It was a birdie on No. 15 that put Koivun in the lead where he would stay until the end of play.
This win is the second of his AJGA career and his first ever invitational win.
"When I tee up the ball on the first tee, I just want to put on a show. I just want to play a good round that I'm happy about. If someone out plays me then that's that, but if I go out and feel like I've played my best, then I'm happy for the day."
Carson Brewer of Jacksonville, Fla., and Keaton Vo of Austin, Tex., finished T2 at 4-under-par 209. Brewer would be the low final round with a 5-under-par 66. Vo's highlight of the week was the eagle he holed on No. 5 during the final round. Aaron Pounds of The Woodlands, Texas, Rex Hargrove of Houston, and Boyd Owens of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, finished T4 at 3-under-par 210.
Zach Kingsland of Austin, Tex., finished in seventh at 2-under-par 211. Reed Lotter of Savannah, Ga., finished in eighth at 1-under-par 212. Rounding out the top-10 from the week at even-par 213 was Byungho Lee of (South Korea) Plano, Tex., and Logan Kim of La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
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ABOUT THE AJGA Jack Burke Jr. Invitational
One of the AJGA series of tournaments that
require an invitation to participate. Format is 54
holes of stroke play. For boys ages 12-18. Field
size is 72. Must be AJGA member.
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