Page 22 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Summer 2018

[ INDU S T R Y INSIGH T S ]

NE W S • E V EN T S • BEH IND T HE SCENE S

Recap REFLECTION BAY HOSTS AJGA Recap TIGER JAM

Winning the boys division with rounds of 73-71-65 (209) and a birdie
on the first play off hole was Harrison Kingsley of Murietta, California who
defeated Masone Greene of Tustin, California who posted rounds of 74-
64-71 (209). Rounding out the top five were: Ben Sawaia of Henderson,
Nevada with rounds of 71-69-71 (211), Charlie Reiter of Palm Desert,
California with rounds of 71-70-70 (211), Jake Carlson of Phoenix, Ari-
zona with rounds of 74-69-68 (211) and Jeevan Sihota of Canada with
rounds of 74-65-72 (211).

In the girls division Mika Jin of Fremont, California shot rounds of
72-70-67 (209) for the win and Alexa Melton of Covina, California had
rounds of 77-68-66 (211) for second with Annabelle Pancake of Zions-
ville, Indiana posting rounds of 74-68-71 (213) for third.

Players and parents raved about the course conditions and the hos-
pitality extended to the players during the event. “Reflection Bay is cer-
he American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) is no stranger to tainly in the best shape since it reopened in late 2014 and I’m pleased
Las Vegas, having held events in here for many years. And this the juniors and parents found it to be in almost Tour quality condition,”
T year Lake Las Vegas and Reflection Bay Golf Club joined the ac- says Dutt. Based on the success of this year’s event, Reflection Bay and
tion under the direction of Eric Dutt, who took over operations of Reflection the AJGA are in discussions for a return visit to Lake Las Vegas in 2019.
Bay in the summer of 2017.

Dutt, experienced in hosting high profile golf events at the courses he’s Las Vegas was represented by local
overseen, wanted to showcase Lake Las Vegas and the vastly improved Re- juniors with scores of:
flection Bay and felt hosting an AJGA event was the perfect vehicle to do so.
“We feel it’s important at Reflection Bay to support junior golf at all levels, but
having an AJGA event with the quality of participants in those events is very Boys Division
special,” Dutt says. “And, being able to have 14 juniors from Las Vegas and Ben Sawaia 71-69-71 211
Henderson in the field, makes the event even more compelling. We want our Matthew Manganello 76-72-69 217
local juniors to be able to play against the best competition there is and this Brett Sodetz 77-74-70 221
event affords that opportunity.” Aidan Goldstein 74-76-73 223
Michael Sarro 81-73-69 223
Open to boys and girls ages 12 to 19, the AJGA has an annual member- Brett Sawaia 73-83-72 228
ship of more than 6,900 junior golfers from all 50 states and some 60 foreign Dylan Fritz 74-83-75 232
countries. The AJGA provides exceptional junior golfers the opportunity to Ian Fritz 84-75-75 234
develop and showcase their competitive skills and has built the reputation of Sklyer Ngo 86-80-70 236
providing the best exposure vehicle for college golf scholarships. Seth Winterton 84-83-87 254

Alumni of the AJGA include: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Girls Division
Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Hunter Mahan, Rianna Mission 78-72-70 220
Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Stacy Lewis, Ariya Jutanugarn, Morgan Goldstein 73-74-79 226
Alison Lee, Lexi Thompson, Inbee Park, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel McKenzi Hall 77-72-78 227
to name just a few that have gone on to successful professional careers. Victoria Estrada 80-83-80 243

This year’s event at Reflection Bay, May 25 thru 28, saw 78 current
members of the AJGA converge on Reflection Bay Golf Club for the
inaugural AJGA Las Vegas Junior at Reflection Bay presented by Live
View Golf. The 54-hole tournament featured players from 16 states and
five countries with Las Vegas and Henderson well represented.

20 LVG&L SUMMER 2018 W W W.L ASVEGASGOLFANDLEISURE.COM