Ledwein and Chi Medalists at Twin Cities Junior Championship

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  BLAINE, Minn. – Taylor Ledwein began the month of June with a Class AAA individual state title at Bunker Hills Golf Club and after carding a 1-under par 70 at Victory Links Golf Club Friday, Ledwein claimed her first Twin Cities Junior Championship.

Ledwein rolled in a pair of birdies on the opening nine before making a birdie and two bogeys over the final nine holes to card a 70 to win the Girls’ 16-18 division by four strokes over Anni Heck, who shot 3-over par 74.

“It’s been a good month so far—I’ve been playing really well,” Ledwein said. “My driver is going good and I’ve been scrambling really well. I just need to get a couple of my irons going and I’ll be good.”

Ledwein reached the par-5 second hole in two and two-putted for birdie to quickly get to 1-under before sticking her approach to four feet at the sixth to move to 2-under.

Making the turn at 2-under par 33, Ledwein rolled in a 20-footer for her third birdie of the afternoon at the par-3 11th, but made her first mistake of the round with a bogey at the 15th to fall back to 2-under.

Ledwein left her 80-yard approach at the final hole just short of the green before chipping past the flagstick. Her par putt burned the edge and she would make bogey to card a 70.

“There’s a lot of trouble on this course if you don’t keep your ball in the fairway,” Ledwein said after her round Friday. “I went out at 33 which was good and I was feeling good, but I didn’t play well on the back. I scrambled to make some pars.

“My putting saved me. I three-putted once and that was not good on my part, but I made some good putts to save par and saved bogey on one hole." 

Stephanie Herzog carded a 6-over par 77 Friday to finish third in the Girls’ 16-18 Division, while Brianna Vetter finished fourth, shooting 9-over par 80.

With a birdie on the third playoff hole Friday Daniel Chi claimed the Boys’ 16-18 Division as both Chi and Harrison Cooper finished regulation at 3-over par 71.

It’s the second Twin Cities Junior Championship win for Chi as he claimed the Boys’ 13-15 Division title in 2013.

“It feels pretty special and I like this course,” Chi said of winning his second title in three years, “the high school season didn’t go well for me so I guess this is a good start to my summer.”

“Today was tough, this course was not setup easy,” Chi said Friday. “I had a lot of 60-plus-foot putts that I had to make today, but I didn’t have a three-putt today so I think that was the difference.”

Chi got off to a rough start Friday with a bogey on the opening hole before taking a double-bogey at the second. He was able to limit the damage with a birdie at the par-5 sixth hole but would make the turn at 3-over with another bogey at the eighth.

Rolling in his birdie chance at No. 12 put Chi back at 2-over for the round, but he gave away a stroke on the following hole with a bogey.

Chi again got back to 2-over on the day with a birdie at the 16th, but finished his round with a bogey on the final hole to card 74, and into a playoff with Cooper.

Both players made par on the first two playoff holes before Chi reached the par-5 12th hole in two. After Cooper sent his birdie opportunity past the cup, Chi stepped up and rolled in his six-foot putt to clinch the tournament.

Trey Sheehan finished in third place after carding a 5-over par 76, while Scott Marston finished fourth with a 78.

Another state champion made her way to the winner’s circle Friday as Sophia Yoemans carded a 6-over par 77 to edge Red Wing teammate Leah Herzog who finished second with a 79.

The Red Wing girls claimed the Class AA team title at Ridges at Sand Creek June 10th, as Yoemans finished tied for 15th, two shots better than Herzog as well.

“I played pretty well today but the back nine was pretty rough,” Yoemans said Friday. “My driver went a little crooked on the back, but I was hitting my wedges well.

“You can always get better—I played well but I need to work on my short game and my putting.”

Yoemans played the front nine at 2-over par 37, sinking a pair of birdie putts before running into some trouble over the final nine holes. She rolled in one birdie but carded three bogeys and a double-bogey to finish the day at 77.

Ben Hicks fired the best round of the day Friday, shooting 4-under par 67 to win the Boys’ 13-15 Division by three strokes over Brock Winter, who finished second after shooting 1-under par 70.

Hicks rolled in an eagle and two birdies on the front, but with a bogey and double-bogey, made the turn at 1-under par 34. Hicks took advantage of four birdie looks over the final nine holes and with one bogey, finished the day at 4-under par 67.