Colin Salema and Tiffany Huang win North & South Juniors
Colin Salema and Tiffany Huang (credit: John Patota)
Colin Salema and Ting-Hsuan Huang won by three and five shots respectively at Pinehurst Resort to claim their Putterboy Trophies in the North & South Junior Championships.
Salema, a rising junior from Providence High School in Charlotte, NC carded rounds of 69-67-70 en route to his victory.
Heading into the final day on course No. 7, Salema held a one-shot lead over
Edan Cui. In Cui's first two rounds he made nine birdies and four bogeys, but he was quickly off the pace in the third round as he shot 39 on the front nine. Salema's 35 was enough to build up a bit of a lead.
Owen Kose and James Rico were also within touching distance of Salema after two rounds. They were both 4-under par, two shots behind the leader. However, they also stumbled out of the gate in round three. Kose shot a 38 and Rico made a seven on the second hole to fall off the pace.
Lucas Acevado of Daniel Island, SC turned in a fantastic final round of 67, tying him for the low round of the tournament. It launched him into second place at 5-under par. Rounding out the top three was Ryan Downes of Longmeadow, Mass. He finished the tournament at four-under par.
On the girls' side, Huang was exceptional all week. Her opening round 67 on Course No. 2 was the best round of the event and set her up for a wire-to-wire win. In that opening round, she made eight birdies.
However, that 67 only gave Huang a one-shot lead after the first round. Her second round on course No. 6 is where she built a lead. She played hole Nos. 10-13 in five under par, making two eagles.
Sarah Lydic from Ocean View, Del. trailed Huang by three shots heading into the final round. However, three straight birdies from Huang to close out the front nine in the final round left Lydic six shots back and the back nine was simply a coronation for the Taiwanese Huang.
Lydic finished in second place at 6-under par. Alexsandra Lapple and Macy Pate tied for third place at four-under par.
Huang has an impressive resume, most notably, she finished in second place in the 2021 Taiwan Mobile Women's Open. In addition, she had three other top 10 finishes in professional events in Taiwan last year.
View results for North & South Junior
ABOUT THE North & South Junior
Part of the annual North & South series of
tournaments at Pinehurst that include Men's,
Women's, Juniors and Seniors. Entries are open to
male and female golfers who are between the
ages of 15 and 18 (Ages as of tournament start).
Contestants must not have reached their
nineteenth birthday by start of tournament, OR
must not have started college. All applicants must
conform to the USGA Rules of Amateur Status
and meet the requirements of the USGA Gender
Policy.
FORMAT: 54-holes of stroke play will determine
the Champion. Play will be divided into two
divisions: Boys and Girls. A full field will consist of
90 boys and 90 girls.
View Complete Tournament Information