Press Releases

Girls Dominate Yankee Trace

Dayton Junior Golf Championship

                 Centerville, OH — June 8th, 2020 — BJGT held its 3rd Annual Dayton Junior Golf Championship this weekend at the always inviting Golf Clubs at Yankee Trace. We played the most well known of the 9-hole courses at Yankee, the Vintage and the Heritage. These two courses, and pretty much the entire facility, are nestled in the center of a housing community. Nice homes and friendly faces are aesthetically pleasing but make for a tough day when 15 of 18 holes have Out of Bounds. See how our Girls were able keep their shots straight and play some great golf at Yankee Trace below!  

                   Round 1 – Saturday, June 6th — Hot, sticky, humid, toasty, whatever you want to call it, Saturday’s weather was a downright scorcher. Noon tee times resulted in playing during the hottest part of the day for our Girls. By hole 7 (Vintage), the heat and handicap got to them and made for the hardest hole of the day. It’s a doozie. Sitting at 454-Yards and with no way around hitting over a 70-yard pond that sits right in front of the green, nailing your approach shot is imperative. Oh, and OB looms right and left…Hole-7 takes no prisoners. Paige Zolciak, a Senior from Perrysburg, OH has taken notes from her previous times playing Yankee Trace. She was able to putt in for Birdie gaining at least 2-strokes on the rest of the field with no one else earning better than a Bogey. Paige will be attending Eastern Michigan University in the Fall to play on their Golf Team. BJGT Staff Members, Arick and Dan, welcome another Mid-American Conference Graduate! Shortly after the ruthless 7th-hole (Vintage), the Girls were able to rebound and found Hole-9 (Vintage) to be the easiest Hole for Round 1. Hole -9’s main defense are the 4 bunkers that are situated throughout the hole. Two of the bunkers sit on the right and left side of the fairway where an errand tee shot may land and the other two hug the right side of the Green. Kate Hanni from Ashland, KY who came in as our Round 1 Leader was able to Birdie the Hole. A great way to make the turn and head into the back nine on the Heritage Course. Mailiis Simovart from West Liberty, OH followed Katie very closely ending Round 1 just 1 stroke down. Mailiis, who is a Senior as well, will be attending Ashland University in the Fall and is playing for their Golf Team.

                   Round 2 – Sunday, May 31st— The early morning tee times helped us escape some of the brutal June heat experienced the previous day. A combination of cooler temps and course familiarity helped the Girls take about 2 strokes off their game. Hole-2 (Heritage) was a tough one in Round 2. This extremely tough hole is a long-distance Par-4 with a wicked dog-leg. Not to mention you have to hit over a creek on your drive and your approach. It is extremely tight off the tee box, opens up in the fairway and then gets extremely tight again around the green. Mailiis Simovart parred the hole gaining herself a share of the lead with Kate Hanni early in the 2nd Round. The girls played the Vintage Course as the Back-9 for Sunday’s Round and it was fun to watch. Elaina Seeley, this weekend’s youngest player, absolutely crushed the Vintage Course Scoring 5-over, 41. Once again, Hole-9 on Vintage was a much-needed reward for well-played rounds from all of our participants. Hole-9 played under-par in Round 2, thanks to some help from Sarah O’Connor and Mailiis Simovart knocking some Birdies in to finish the day. It was Kate Hanni, who came in as our Champion. Kate had what we call the winning formula on BJGT. She had the most Pars and played the Par-4’s the best throughout the tournament. If anyone wants to know how to win on BJGT, just be the leader in both those stat categories and more likely than not you are going to come in as champion. We see it time and time again. Easier said than done though, right? Kate also came ready to play both days of the tournament playing the front-9 4 strokes better than her nearest competitor. An even better feat when you realize that we played Heritage as the Front-9 one day and Vintage on the other. Kate will be attending Winthrop University to play for their Golf Team after her Senior Year in 2021. Thanks for making the trip from Kentucky Kate and great first win on BJGT! Sarah O’Connor put together an absolutely stunning Round 2. Sarah shot a BJGT Record -1 on the Vintage Course, propelling her up the leaderboard and to a final score of 74. Whereas Kate was the Front-9 player during the tournament, Sarah was the Back-9 player. Earning top marks in that stat category. Sarah also put together a birdie streak on holes 2 & 3 of the Vintage Course in Round 2. Sarah will be attending the University of Dayton this Fall to play for their golf team. Well done and great first tournament on BJGT Sarah!

                  Overall, it was a fantastic weekend of golf. We are so proud of the girls and are really excited to know that 5 of our players in the tournament have committed to a school to play college golf. We also had our youngest competitor shoot her best 9 ever in a tournament round, great job Elaina! We want to thank all of our parents, spectators, staff at Yankee Trace and all the wonderful young ladies that attended the tournament for always being such a positive influence. We understand there are bigger things going on in the world right now than golf and hope that we were able to offer you some sense of normalcy by getting back to the course this weekend. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Upcoming Events

COLLEGE PREP SERIES @ Cal U. (PA) | Cedarbrook GC – Gold | Belle Vernon, PA | June 27th – 28th

BJGT TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP @ PENN STATE | Penn State GC – Blue | State College, PA | July 11th – 12th 

COLLEGE PREP SERIES @ MT UNION | Tannenhauf GC | Alliance, OH | July 25th – 26th

PITTSBURGH JUNIOR GOLF CLASSIC | Cedarbrook GC – Red | Belle Vernon, PA | September 26th – 27th  

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