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Lopez, Malagon leads after first round in Girls Division at El Camaleón Golf Club
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Quintana Roo, Mexico -- John Boehme of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., fired a 3-under-par 67 Tuesday to lead after the first round of the Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic. In the Girls Division, Gabriela Lopez of Mexico City, Mexico, and Alicia Malagon of Tampico, Mexico, both carded even-par 71s to tie for the first-round lead.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic is a 54-hole, stroke play event being held at El Camaleón Golf Club and is the AJGA's only event held in Mexico. The field consists of 84 players, of which 42 are from Mexico. The rest come from 13 U.S. states and Guatemala. El Camaleón Golf Club, home to the PGA TOUR's Mayakoba Golf Classic, is being played at the PGA TOUR tournament yardage of 6,923 yards (par-70) in the Boys Division and at 5,822 yards (par-71) in the Girls Division.
Boehme, 16, offset three bogeys on his front nine with two birdies to finish the side at 1-over-par. He then spread four birdies out over his back nine to put himself at the top of the leaderboard by three strokes.
"I rolled puts well enough to make some," Boehme said. "I told myself to just keep moving on, remembering that there are a lot of balls to be played."
Kevin Jorden of Juno Beach, Fla., is in second at even-par 70. David Klaudt of Dallas, and Juan Benitez of Puebla are tied for third at 1-over-par 71. Sebastian Vazquez of Mexico City, Mexico, and Andrew Gain of Bradenton, Fla., are tied for fifth at 2-over-par 72.
Malagon's round was the definition of up-and-down, as it featured five birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. After finding trouble in many places, she is hoping for a steadier second round.
"It was a hard 71," Malagon said. "I found trouble all over the place but it was a pretty good round at the end of the day."
Lopez credited her putting to keeping her round on track throughout the day. She carded five birdies against two bogeys and a double bogey to tie Malagon atop the leaderboard.
"I started off bad with par, bogey, double bogey, so that was tough," Lopez said. "But I just had to keep my mind focused and I was able to get better after that."
Anne Ormson of Granger, Ind., is in third place at 1-over-par 72.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The largest Association of its kind, the AJGA has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries.
Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 200 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 350 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
Second-round tee times run from 7 -- 9:10 a.m off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees Wednesday, August 19 at El Camaleón Golf Club. For more information about the Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic please contact Tournament Headquarters at 678-425-1774.
For more information, please visit www.MayakobaGolfClassic.com/junior or the AJGA Web site at www.ajga.org.
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