Birdies at Birdsfoot
Pittsburgh Junior Golf Classic
Freeport, PA, April 25, 2022 —BJGT was back for the 2nd year in a row at Birdsfoot Golf Club in Freeport, PA. This links style course offers beautiful scenery of the surrounding mountains as you wind your way up and down them on lots of elevation and tiny greens. Let’s see who was able to be King or Queen of the Hill in this week’s Press Release.
Round 1 – Saturday, April 23rd — Spring has finally arrived and the weather was absolutely gorgeous the entire weekend. Even being on top of a mountain the winds were calm and the sun was out allowing some of the longest drives off the tee of the 2022 Season.
The extremely long 439-Yard, Par-4, 12th-hole was the toughest for the Boys 15-19 in Round 1. This is one of the toughest holes on the course sitting at the 6th-handicap. The toughest part here is the dog-leg that sits way past the middle of the fairway. A 330-yard drive is needed to get yourself in a good position to hit the green and as good as most of our players are that is asking a lot. Kyle McClintock a Senior from Venetia, Pennsylvania and Patrick Bush from Rostraver Township, Pennsylvania were the only players able to tackle this long driving hole and score a Par. Playing to an under-par average Hole-16 was the easiest hole for the Boys 15-19 in Round 1. Hole-16 is a short Par-5 only playing 425-yards. It is also ranked as one of the easiest holes on the course sitting at the 14th-handicap. Landing a drive 225-Yards+ will give you a great shot into the green. The only defense this green really offers is short and left with 2 large bunkers sitting there. Looking at the hole though playing it to the right will take off distance and allow you the best landing spot. 40% of the field was able to pick up Birdies on Hole-16. That Par on the toughest hole in Round 1 helped Kyle McClintock to lead the pack in Round 1 with his 75 (+3). Kyle was followed closely behind my Freshman Phenom Griffin Hansberry from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania who shot a 78 (+6).
The Girls 14-19 were having the most trouble with Hole-12 as well. Hole-8 was playing the easiest for the Girls in Round 1. This is a decently tough hole sitting at the 9th-handicap on the course. Hole-8 has a skewed fairway that can make it tough to land on. You are going to want to play this hole down the right side as the entire left side is strafed with bunkers that line the fairway and the biggest bunker you will see on tour on the left side of the green. The Girls played this hole to a Par average. Elaina Seeley coming all the way out from Circleville, Ohio led the Division with an 84. Elaina still holds the BJGT Career Scoring Record for Girls 10-13 back when she was in that Division. She was followed by Andrea Golden from Columbus, Ohio.
Round 2 – Sunday, April 24th – Another beautiful day in the mountains of Pittsburgh!
Hole-12 once again got to the Boys 15-19, as they found it to be the toughest hole in Round 2 as well. Pretty rarely do we have the field finding the same hole the toughest in Round 1 as Round 2 and the same hole the easiest in Round 1 and Round. That is exactly what happened in this tournament however, with the Boys playing Hole-16 the best in Round 2. It once again, played to an under-par average and once again 40% of the field picked up Birdies on the hole. Kyle McClintock once again had the best round of the day and came in as our Champion! Kyle leveled up after he took home the Runner-Up Flag at Birdsfoot last year. Kyle has accepted a Division-1 Scholarship to play at St. Francis University and we could not be more proud of him. Kyle was also a leader on the Western Pennsylvania team that took home the coveted Buckeye Cup in 2021. He also was 1 of 4 kids to share the Runner-Up Flag last year out at our Tour Championship. Kyle had the winning recipe playing the Par-4’s the best in his division and also having the Most Pars with 21. Congratulations on another fantastic tournament Kyle! Griffin Hansberry earned Runner-Up honors. Griffin is so talented for his age. Griffin joined Kyle on the Western Pennsylvania Buckeye Cup team last year and he was another key reason why Western Pennsylvania went on to win that. Griffin had the only Eagle in the tournament taking a 3 on one of the tougher Par-5’s on the course. Griffin also led the division in Par Breakers with 6. Griffin’s monster drive was helping him out all tournament on the links style course with him topping the field on the Par-5’s. Congratulations Griffin on a fantastic tournament!
Hole-8 which was the easiest for the Girls in Round 1 flipped to being the toughest for the Girls in Round 2. Right before Hole-8, the Girls were playing Hole-7 the best. Hole-7 is one of the tougher holes on the course. Watch out for the water on the right side of this hole. The fairway bunker on the left side does not really come into play. However, the front left greenside bunker is known to swallow up some golf balls. Thankfully our Girls played great and were able to play this hole to a Par average. Elaina Seeley was absolutely amazing all weekend and came in as our Champion! Elaina propelled her way up the Leaderboard early in the tournament with her 6 Hole Bogey Free Streak from Hole 4-9 in Round 1. Elaina is known for her long drive but her short game was on point this weekend as well going slightly above Par on those holes in the tournament. Congratulations on your Championship finish Elaina and earning this week’s Player of the Week honors! Andrea Golden came in as our Runner-Up. Andrea had a nice little Bogey Free Streak of her own in Round 2 of 4 Holes on the Back-9. Andrea also has a great drive of her own so it was awesome to see her and Elaina battle it out all weekend. Great tournament Andrea! Way to represent the Buckeye State Ladies!
Thank you to all the players and spectators for coming out on a beautiful Spring weekend. The people of Pittsburgh always treat us great. It was awesome seeing a lot of players from the Winning Buckeye Cup team at this tournament. We will be back to play Kent State University’s home course Windmill Lakes Golf Club in a couple months and hope you will join us!
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