2020 Season Finale at Musket Ridge
Baltimore Junior Golf Championship
Myersville, Maryland, November 9th, 2020 — It was BJGT’s 2020 Season Finale this weekend at Musket Ridge and everything from the beauty of the course to the low scores made for a great way to end the season. Check out some of the highlights below!
Round 1 – Saturday, November 7th — Who would’ve thought that we would have some of the best weather of the entire season in the 2nd weekend of November. We were so excited to have clear skies and temperatures in the Low-70’s throughout both rounds after the cold and rainy weekend prior.
A surprising hole was the toughest for our Boys 15-19 Division in Round 1. The 15th Hole, which is an extremely short Par-4, was getting to the Boys in Round 1. Going right on this hole can prove fatal as the entire right side is lateral hazard. Going too far off the tee can also be detrimental due to the bottle-neck starting about 100 yards out from the green. You almost don’t want to get close to the hole unless you can land your shot on the green or accurately land in the narrow fairway. Some of the Boys didn’t realize only a 240-yard drive is needed to land in the perfect spot. The hole featured no Birdies!?! Only about 30% of the field was able to earn Par. Hole-11 was the easiest in Round 1. Very similar to the layout of 15, but with an easier layup, Hole-11 gave up 7 Birdies in Round 1. Hitting your tee shot over the trees on the left-hand side gives you an easy wedge shot in. Even a miss or bad shot should result in a Par. Benjamin Chamberlin from Germantown, MD and Tyson Mitchell from Lititz, PA came in as our Round 1 Leaders shooting 1-Over, 73’s, respectively. Well done!
Hole-15 must have been tricky for everyone. The Boys 10-14 Division found it to be playing the hardest as well. None of the Younger Boys were able to Par the hole so a Bogey didn’t do that much damage to the Leaderboard. Following suite, the Younger Boys also played Hole-11 the easiest in Round 1. Carson Looney made the shot of the tournament chipping in for a 2-stroke, Eagle! Carson helped bring down the average for his entire division with that miraculous shot! Jesse Shue, a BJGT staple on tour this season, lead his Division in Round 1 with a Par, 72. Mr. Consistent, Benjamin Baker, was not far behind carding a 1-Over, 73.
What was going on with Hole-15 in Round 1?! Everyone had trouble with it, including our Girls 14-19 Division. Elle Overly from Lititz, PA and Jennifer Osborne from Ashburn, VA picked up Bogeys gaining a stroke on the rest of the field, but that left the hole without a single par on the day. Extremely surprising the Girls played the best on the 2nd-hardest hole on the course. Hole-16 is extremely difficult. You have a very small gap to shoot your tee shot through. The hole dog-legs slightly to the right but don’t go too far or you might end up in the lateral hazard. 60% of the field were able to Par the hole, a great score on one of the toughest holes out at Musket. Hole-15 proved to be a turning point in the round, with our Leaders from Round 1 both playing that hole the best. Elle Overly led her division with a Round 1, 86. Jennifer Osborne was close behind with a 93.
Our Girls 10-13 Division consisted of Jane Mhonda from Columbia, MD and Leela Kenwood from Potomac, MD. These two were full of energy and fun to watch. They were out there playing their own game and for the first time all day, did not find Hole-15 to play the hardest. The 5th handicap Hole-7 is a 368-yard Par-4, the longest Par-4 for their division. The lowest score carded was a Double-Bogey. On the flip side, Hole-17 played the easiest…and fastest. Racing against the sunset, these two played this Par-3 faster than anyone in the history of BJGT! Fast play must’ve helped because both Jane and Leela earned Pars, even though they could barely see the hole. Great job girls!
Round 2 – Sunday, November 8th – The weather was just as perfect in Round 2 as it was as Round 1. No complaints from anyone on getting out and playing another 18 on this beautiful November day.
Hole-3 was getting to our Older Boys in Round 2. This hole has many reasons to mark it down as one of the hardest out at Musket. There is a huge dog-leg that sits 253-yards from the tee box. You must hit this landing zone to have a chance of scoring well. If your tee shot is off or try to play it safe, you could end up in the pond that sits off to the left of the hole. Too much power though and you will find yourself sitting in the large trap that sits off the side of the fairway. Tyson Mitchell kept pace with Benjamin Chamberlin early on by being the only player to Birdie this hole. The Boys 15-19 Division had some funky holes that they were doing well on out at Musket. One of the harder holes on the course, the double dog-legged 12th-hole, was the easiest in Round 2. Bunkers pepper the entire hole making it extremely difficult to find your way to the green. 19% of the field found it easy enough to Birdie. In the end it was Benjamin Chamberlin that shot off like a rocket in Round 2 to earn himself the Champion Flag. If you get a chance take a look at Ben’s scorecards for the tournament, they are extremely impressive. Ben earned his way to the Championship flag by having a Par or Better on 28 of the 36 holes. Ben also owned the Par-5’s going a ridiculous -7 on them! He was determined to win, carding 4 Birdies in a row from Holes 9-12 in Round 2, just silly. Well-deserved on the Champion flag Ben! One of the more telling things about Ben’s win had to be all the players that came in and were cheering him on. He is well-known in the junior golf circuit in the Mid-Atlantic and as other players that have played with him turned in their cards, they were extremely happy and thought it a well-deserved win. Tyson Mitchell was our Runner-Up. Tyson was impressive in his own right. In any other week, going Even on the Par-4’s would usually earn you a Champion Flag. Tyson also added 9 Par Breakers in the tournament. Great finish to the season Tyson!
The hardest hole for the Boys 10-14 Division in Round was surprisingly the easiest hole on the course. The 143-yard, Par-3 13th-hole. Maybe the reason for the trouble was the 3 sand traps that sit around the green? The hole offered up 0 Birdies. Once again, our Boys dominated Hole-11. The Boys 10-14 played the hole to under Par in Round 2, featuring 4 Birdies. Benjamin Baker stormed back shooting an amazing 70 in Round 2! This now makes it 5/5 for on tournaments and wins for Ben. I am running out of superlatives to say about this young man. It was a good weekend if your first name was Benjamin on BJGT. Great job on another Championship flag Benjamin! Tyler Fortney picks up his 4th Runner-Up Flag of the season. Tyler shot a great Round 2 as well, shooting a Par, 72. These two boys have to be running out of room to put their Trophy Flags! Well done Tyler!
The Older Girls were having the most trouble with the hardest hole on the course in Round 2, Hole-9. Hole-9 is extremely long even from the Buckeye-White Tees playing 532-Yards. There are also some strategically placed bunkers around the landing spots of the hole. Elle Overly and Jennifer Osborne continued their dominance as they both picked up a stroke on the rest of the field with Bogeys. The Girls played extremely well coming into the clubhouse. The Par-3 17th-hole was their best of the weekend. A beautiful shot by Erica Honadel from Bel Air, MD helped her snag a Birdie on the hole and lowered the average for the entire field. Elle Overly came in as our Girls Champion. This is Elle’s 2nd Championship Flag in as many tournaments. She had that winning formula of having the Most Pars and playing the Par-4’s the best in the tournament. Elle had her long ball and her consistency working as she also played the best of the Division on the Par-5’s. Congratulations on another fantastic finish Elle! Jennifer Osborne from Ashburn, VA earned herself the Runner-Up flag. Jennifer was extremely consistent throughout the tournament. Playing Both 9’s to almost the same score. This is even more impressive knowing that the Front-9 out at Musket Ridge is a way harder track. Congratulations on your trophy flag in your first tournament Jennifer!
The younger girls found a different hole to play hardest on Sunday. It might’ve been early round nerves or the fact that Hole-2 is the second hardest hole, but they were not able to score better than a double bogey. Hole-11 however, played to a Par average. It must have sparked some late round energy or confidence because after Hole-11, the younger girls played the rest of the round to a better than Bogey average to finish the day and tournament. Jane and Leela were great energy and kept pace all weekend. They also improved their overall scores in round 2 by an average of 3 strokes!
Wow! What a great 2020 Season. We want to thank so many people for making this year so great for us. It was so great to see so many new players on tour this year. We more than doubled our turnout from 2019. We hope that you will continue coming out to BJGT events next season and beyond. To all the players that were with us during the 2018-2019 season, we appreciate you spreading the word about our tour and continuing to come out to events. To all the parents and spectators at our tournaments, thank you for your help spotting for balls and making sure the kids are on time and able to attend. We also want to thank Todd Stires and Short Par 4 for their support and sponsorship. They made POY prizes possible and have a lot of good ideas for the kids’ next season. Thanks to all of our host courses for allowing our juniors to compete and for their hospitality. We look forward to another amazing season in 2021! Happy Holidays and stay healthy and safe this offseason!
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