Buckeye, Breezy, Begay and Briarwood

York Junior Golf Championship

 

York, PA, April 15th, 2024 — Buckeye Junior Golf Tour was back at Briarwood Golf Club for the 6th year in a row this past weekend. It was our biggest turnout ever in the Boys 10-14 Division and we will get to submit that for AJGA PBE Stars next season, so look for another great crowd of younger Boys there next year. Briarwood really exemplifies American style golf and uses the assets of Southeastern Pennsylvania to its advantage. These tournaments winners have gone off to do some great things with the list shown below, so winning at Briarwood can mean great things coming in your future. Let’s dive into this week’s press release and see who was able to take down Briarwood.

 

You probably noticed Dan out there with his camera taking pictures during the tournament. If you would like to see them or download any from this event or any others, click the link to our Google Photos Drive:

 

Round 1 – Saturday, April 13th — Absolutely brutal winds on the day. Probably the windiest day in BJGT history with normal winds sitting around 25-35 MPH and gusts hitting around almost 50 MPH. Shot selection and mastering the wind in Round 1 was going to be crucial.

 

Past Briarwood Champions & Runner-Ups with Accolades

Jackson Geyer (2023)	BJGT Player of the Year
Olivia Kury (2023)	#1 Overall Pick in 2023 Buckeye Cup
Dane Mohap (2023)	BJGT Player of the Year
Lane Krosse (2022)	Jacksonville State University
Elle Overly (2021 & 2022)	Gardner-Webb University
Lawson Leeper (2022)	BJGT Player of the Year & Buckeye Cup Champion
Jeremy Bershak (2021)	BJGT Player of the Year
Connor Strine (2020)	West Chester University
Victoria Witouski (2020)	University of Charleston
Jesse Shue (2021 & 2020)	BJGT Player of the Year & Buckeye Cup Champion
Devin Smith (2019 & 2018)	Mount St. Mary’s University
McKylie Boreman (2019 & 2018)	Alvernia University
Colin Vineberg (2022 & 2019 & 2018)	Dickinson College
Michael Robinson (2018)	Mount St. Mary’s University
Paige Richter (2018)	Bucknell University
Elaina Seeley (2023)	Tiffin University & BJGT Player of the Year
Cassidy Miksich (2021 & 2020)	Alvernia University, BJGT Player of the Year & Buckeye Cup Champion
Bryn Krosse (2021)	Buckeye Cup Champion
Caden Blanchette (2020)	University of Connecticut
Mac Arida (2018)	Hood College & BJGT Player of the Year

 

The hardest hole for the Boys 15-19 in Round 1 was Hole-10. Right about the time was at its strongest a whipping cross wind was going through this hole, making your tee shot absolutely brutal. We saw shot after shot lost on this hole as the cross wind was grabbing tons of shots and pushing them into the Out of Bounds Driving Range. While it sits at only 387-Yards and is the 9^th-Handicap on the course, the wind was making it play more like the #1-handicap. The hole is basically straight away which might sound nice but it really wasn’t with the weather. The wind was also adding or subtracting major yardage making for an array of shots missing the green on the approach. Not one Birdie was found on the hole in Round 1. Thankfully, the winds started to die down later in the Round making the 17^th-hole play even easier than its already easy 17^th-handicap. Sitting at 495-Yards from the Buckeye-Blacks the hole really isn’t long for Par-5. You can actually cut off a ton more of the hole if you cut the creek on the left side with your drive giving a possible Eagle opportunity to those players wishing to challenge the hole. As the hole does sit up on a hill adding some extra distance is a good idea but don’t go too long as the train tracks do sit right behind the green. Shane Cole from Westminster, Maryland played the hole in incredible fashion earning a huge Eagle. Cameron Peffel from Fleetwood, Pennsylvania and making his first BJGT appearance was able to master the windy conditions in Round 1 and come in as our Leader. Cameron’s 77 shows how absolutely hard the course was playing in the wind as normally a score around Even Par would lead. Hats off to Cameron. Cameron had a pack of players sitting right behind him after the Round as Logan Francis from Annville, Pennsylvania, Isaac Allan from Grove City, Pennsylvania and Clayton Wright III from Baldwin, Maryland were waiting for their chance to pounce with their 78’s.

 

The Boys 10-14 also found Hole-10 to be playing the toughest in Round 1. Once again, nobody was able to find a Birdie on this hole. The Par-5, Hole-5 was playing the easiest for the Boys 10-14 in Round 1. The Hole is the 13^th-handicap so it has medium toughness. Sitting at 455-Yards the hole also has pretty average length from the Buckeye-White Tees. This time the cross wind was helping though pushing a lot of drives to the right and helping out the players by putting them right in the landing zone of the dog-leg to help reduce some of the distance as you make your approach. The wind was helping once again on the approach as the lone large bunker that sits by the green is on the left side moving a lot of players ball to the right where a chip is much easier or maybe even pushing your ball up and onto the green. Callen Edmonston from Thurmont, Maryland continues his strong BJGT performances by gaining the only Birdie from the Field on the hole. Let’s give a huge round of applause to Logan Turner from Berwyn, Pennsylvania with his absolutely amazing Even Par performance in Round 1. I mean anywhere close to Even Par with the kind of conditions we were experiencing is absolutely amazing, so congratulations to Logan. He was the Leader in the Division. Logan was followed closely behind by Benjamin Allwein from Annville, Pennsylvania playing in his first BJGT tournament. The leaderboard was absolutely stacked with the skill level and field size for the Boys 10-14 in this tournament.

 

The hardest hole for the Girls in Round 1 was the 2^nd-handicap, 12^th-hole. The staff heard about this hole all day. With the winds blowing extremely hard and the hole location this Par-3 can be savage. The wind also started changing at this time making it more of a headwind and as the hole sits about 20-yards below you off the tee club selection can be a major issue even without the wind. Shots were coming up 20-40 yards short of this hole from all players. The hole also features 3 very steep bunkers that can be extremely hard to get out of if you are one of the unlucky players to go in it. Olivia Kury knows this course well as she is a local from York and was able to lead the field with a Bogey. The easiest hole for the Girls in Round 1 was the 9^th-hole. This Par-5 usually is not a featured hole out at Briarwood as it sits at an 11-handicap but the Girls changed that up in Round 1. The major dog-leg off the tee can make for a challenge as you cannot see the pin. Our Girls can hammer the ball off the tee though and 481-yards with an added dog-leg is nothing to them. There are 2 green bunkers that come into play as you approach. The one on the right side of the hole sits back almost 60 yards from the pin and doesn’t really come into play. However, the one on the left regularly swallows up approach shots as people try to make a lot of cut shots from the dog-leg and land it on the green. That didn’t happen to our Girls though as the entire Field was able to Par the hole. Olivia Kury, last years #1 Overall Pick in the Buckeye Cup Draft led the Division after Round 1 with her 83. Olivia was followed by Megan Fenton from Carlisle, Pennsylvania who sat in her normal spot near the top of the Leaderboard.   

 

Round 2 – Sunday, April 14th– Round 2 had at least some much warmer weather. However, the winds started picking back up in the afternoon and became a lot more unpredictable. This made it almost just as hard as Round 1. We just cannot get a break with this weather!

Hole-15 proved to be the toughest for the Boys 15-19 in Round 2. This hole sits at the 3^rd-handicap and is extremely hard all around. The features 4 total bunkers. The one on the right side of the fairway is the most deadly as it is extremely large and grabs tons of drives make it extremely hard to get to the hole in 2. Sitting at 400-yards the hole is long as well making things even tougher. The hole does dog-leg a little bit and your approach has to be straight and true to get to the green. Only 1 magical Birdie was earned on the day on the hole from Ryley Nade-Bishop from Manchester, Pennsylvania. The easiest hole for the Boys in Round 2 was the easiest hole on the course, the 2^nd-Hole. Playing as a major dog-leg this hole sits at 495-yards. However, like a lot of other holes that have woods or something to guard the cut of the dog-leg Hole-2 at Briarwood lets you take a rip at it, as there is only 1 small bunker on top of a hill to guard anyone challenging it. Most of our Boys 15-19 salivate at chances to take on Par-5’s like this and that was just the case for Round 2. A little more than 27% of the field was able to pick up some well-deserved Birdies on the hole. Callahan Harrell a local from York, Pennsylvania shot an astonishing -1 (71) in Round 2 to come in at the top of the Leaderboard and take home the Champion flag. Callahan was consistent and took his chances when they were given to him as he led the Division with 28 Pars or Better. His consistency was further shown with his Division leading +5 on the Par-4’s. Callahan knew that he had to continue playing well in the wind late in Round 2 to get to the top of the leaderboard. He started off with a Birdie Streak on Holes 2 & 3. He then went on an incredible Bogey-Free-Streak of 10-holes from Holes 9-18. ultimately putting himself at the top. Congratulations to Callahan on mastering some incredible conditions and earning himself a tough fought Champion Flag! Cameron Peffel used a fantastic Round 1 and continued strong Round 2 to come in as our Runner-Up. Cameron absolutely launches a golf ball off a tee and it showed with his Division leading -4 on the Par-5’s in the tournament. Cameron was also the co-leader in Birdies in the tournament taking 5 of those, all on Par-5’s. Congratulations to Cameron on a great tournament!

 

The Boys 10-14 were also struggling the most with Hole-15 in Round 2. This hole was making it extremely tough for the players to end strong in Round 2. A little more than 25% were able to pick up Pars on the hole to lead the Division. Right before the 15^th, Hole-14, probably the signature hole out at Briarwood, was playing the easiest for the Boys 10-14 in Round 2. This is a beautiful hole. An extremely downhill Par-3, that sits at 130-Yards. A nice backdrop of the course barn sits right behind the hole. With swirling winds coming in it was surprising to see such an elevation change hole to be playing the easiest. Sitting at the 6^th-handicap and one of the harder holes on the course, just like the other Par-3’s, this hole’s main defenses sit in the extremely small green surrounded by 3 large bunkers. Going in any of the bunkers can prove disastrous as they are deep and landing your sand shot next to the hole can be extremely tough. Landon O’Hara’s Birdie on the hole helped to lower the average and led the Division. It was a great battle between Logan Turner and Landon O’Hara at the top of the leaderboard all weekend and it came down to Hole-18. Both players took Bogeys on the hole and Logan came in as our Champion. Logan’s 26 Pars led the Division and was a key stat to him winning. Most Pars in a tournament in your Division will get you a Champion flag most of the time as it allows other players to try and catch you instead of the other way around. Logan was also launching the ball off the tee taking the Par-5’s to a -3  total in the tournament. Logan’s 11 straight Bogey-Free-Streak in the extremely tough conditions of Round 1, from Holes 1-11 was extremely important in grabbing the lead and not letting it go. Congratulations to Logan on his first career BJGT win in his first ever BJGT tournament! Landon O’Hara continues a strong string of performances to start his BJGT career. After winning the tournament at Bulle Rock we hosted earlier in the year he was able to build on that win this weekend, by snagging the Runner-Up Flag. Landon is a Birdie Machine and was able to capitalize on those this weekend leading the Division with 5. His consistency really shined through as well leading the Division on the Par-4’s in the tournament, going +3 on those holes. Landon also had a Birdie Streak on Holes 5-6 in Round 2 to make a charge for the Champion flag. Congratulations to Landon on a fantastic start to his BJGT career and earning himself a Runner-Up finish this weekend. 

 

The hardest hole for the Girls in Round 2 was the 8^th-hole. This is another extreme downhill Par-3. Playing at 160-Yards and with the winds whipping in club selection can be extremely difficult on the hole. Going off the green to the right of the hole can be extra challenging as there is a bunker that sits there and a large tree that can make getting to the green after an errant tee shot even more difficult. Olivia Kury’s Bogey was enough to lead the Division. A hole that was giving everybody else fits throughout the weekend the Girls dominated in Round 2, Hole-10. Taking the hole below Par as a Division was awesome and once again it was Olivia Kury leading the charge the charge with her Birdie. Olivia was on fire all weekend and it was no surprise that she was named this week’s Player of the Week especially after her Round 2, 77. Our #1 Overall Pick in the 2023 Buckeye Cup draft showed why she deserved that honor. Olivia has so many skill sets that help her around any course. This is her 4^th-year in a row out at Briarwood and she has lowered her stroke total each year. Olivia’s 20 Pars or Better were huge for her sitting at the top of the Leaderboard and it shows how consistency and taking your chances at Briarwood especially with the weather like we had this weekend were key ways to get a win. Congratulations to Olivia on her Champion performance and her 5^th BJGT Win in her career. She continues to build her resume for another high selection in the Buckeye Cup draft. Megan Fenton continued her strong start to the 2024 Season coming in as our Runner-Up. Megan has now placed T-5 or higher in 5 of her 6 BJGT tournaments that she has played. She was a Champion at last years Buckeye Cup. All of our Runner-Ups shared a talent for crushing the ball off the tee and Megan is no different leading the Division in the Par-5 holes. Congratulations to Megan on starting the year off in fantastic fashion and that Champion flag is coming her way soon enough!

 

Thank you to everyone for joining us at Briarwood this weekend. We know the extreme winds made the course extra challenging but that is also one of the fun parts about golf. Everybody plays the same course in the same conditions. This was actually our first course we ever booked when we started BJGT way back in 2018 and we continue to see strong fields at the event yearly. Next up we have our tournaments at Mount Pleasant and Eagles Crossing, we hope that you can join us!