Vilips, Bridgeman share AJGA Polo Golf Junior Day One Lead
6/27/2017 | by American Junior Golf Association
see also: View results for Polo Junior Classic, Bethpage State Park - Black Course
Youngin Chun sits alone in the top spot in the Girls Division after round one
RINGOES, NJ – Karl Vilips of (Australia) Wesley Chapel, Florida, and Jacob Bridgeman of Inman, South Carolina, share the Boys Division lead after the first round of the 2017 Polo Golf Junior Classic. The duo carded 4-under-par 68s and each finished their respective rounds with birdies on No. 18 to share the top spot.
Vilips started the day with a birdie on No. 1 and rounded out his afternoon tallying five on the back nine.
“I just wanted to post a good, solid number. That was a good start to the day but everything kind of got switched around after that,” Vilips said on his start. “When I made my birdie on No. 12 that definitely gave me a lot of confidence going into the last six holes.
I tried to post something up there to give myself a chance going into the rest of the tournament. I just need to have the same mind-set going into the second round.”
The Stanford University verbal commit has three top-five finishes in 2017 and has marked three wins during his career. Vilips is currently No. 15 in the AJGA Rankings.
Bridgeman carded a bogey-free front nine with four birdies including two on Nos. 7 and 8. The No. 30-ranked junior added two more during his back nine to finish his round. This is the Clemson University verbal commit’s second AJGA event of his career. Bridgeman finished T6 at the 2017 Haas Family Invitational presented by BB&T.
Ryan Hall of Knoxville, Tennessee, Joe Highsmith of Lakewood, Washington, and Prescott Butler of Old Westbury, New York, sit at T3 after carding 3-under-par 69s in the first round. The trio tallied an impressive 11 birdies and three eagles on the day.
Four of the five juniors in the top spots are college commits while all five players are ranked in the top-100 of the AJGA Rankings.
Youngin Chun of Gainesville, Florida, holds the solo lead in the Girls Division after the first round of the 2017 Polo Golf Junior Classic. Chun fired an opening round 3-under-par 69 highlighted by six birdies.
The 17-year-old’s low round sets a women’s competitive course record at The Ridge at Back Brook. This marks the second time this year that Chun has achieved this accomplishment including during the final round of her win at the 2017 Callaway Golf Junior Classic this past spring.
Chun is currently ranked No. 10 in the AJGA Rankings and is the 2016 Polo Golf Junior Classic runner-up. She has four AJGA tournament wins under her belt through her five-year career.
“After I turned the back nine I was just thinking about not making a bogey.” Chun says of her round. “I had a chip-in for birdie and that was my shot of the day.”
Sophie Guo of (China) Orlando, Florida, Sabrina Iqbal of San Jose, California, and Gurleen Kaur of Houston, sit one-stroke back at 2-under par 70.
Second-round Boys Division tee times start on Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. and 12:40 p.m. for the Girls Division on off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees.
About the Polo Junior Classic
Sixty-four top junior golfers will be invited to compete in a round-robin style match play event. Based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings, an equal field of 32 boys (Polo Division) and 32 girls (Liberty Division) will be divided into eight groupings of four...
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