Smokin Hot Hickory
Washington DC Junior Golf Challenge
Woodbridge, VA, September 20th, 2021 — BJGT was back at Old Hickory this weekend for the Washington DC Junior Golf Challenge. This is a very American style golf course with lots of lateral hazard, water hazard and greenside bunkers. Let’s dig into the press release to see who was able to conquer the hills, heat and course this weekend at Old Hickory.
Round 1 – Saturday, September 18th — Most of us in the Midwest are preparing for the Fall weather to get here any day but not in Virginia. It was as hot and humid as ever for Round 1 and with the tough walk this course provides it was important to stay hydrated and keep your eyes on the prize.
The Girls ended Round 1 roughly, finding Hole-18 to be playing the toughest in Round 1. Hole-18 is the 2nd-hardest hole on the course. This is a winding hole with lots of dips and valleys. Complete with lateral hazard on the right and left it can be extremely difficult to play. The approach shot you have added some extra yardage as the green is up a hill with 2 bunkers sitting behind the green adding to much extra yardage can be disastrous. Jennifer Osborne from Ashburn, VA was able to help out the group with her Par on this difficult hole. Hole-13 a short little 111-yard Par-3 was the easiest hole for the Girls in Round 1. This hole sits downhill so the yardage can be difficult to read along with the huge bunkers sitting on the left and right side of the green. Leela Kenwood from Potomac, MD led the way with her Birdie. Leela went on to lead the Division with a 77. She was followed extremely closely by Jennifer Osborne and Olivia Vigliante from Leesburg, VA with 78’s. Hole-4 was the toughest for the Boys in Round 1. With its middle handicap of 9 you would not think this would be such a tough hole but it was playing extremely challenging for the Boys. A 20-yard dog-leg with 2 huge fairway bunkers is your first obstacle to overcome. Complete with 2 huge greenside bunkers and add in a pond on the right side of the green and this hole can get even the best of players. Playing your tee shot to the left side of the dog-leg is probably your best option off the tee. Not challenging the pin location is probably going to be your shot in and make sure you stay on the front left so that your ball can roll up and at least give you the chance for the Birdie. Dimitrios Townsend from Bethesda, MD did just that and was the only player in the field to pick up an extremely difficult Birdie on this hole. It may be no wonder that Hole-4 was playing so difficult as the Hole right before it, Hole-3, was playing the easiest for the Boys in Round 1. Hole-3 is one of the easier holes on the course and being a short Par-5 it provided many opportunities for Birdies from the Boys. A straight away tee shot with lateral hazard sitting on the right and left. Keep your tee shot down the middle or off to the right and you will not have to worry about the fairway bunker that sits 250-yards up. 2 huge greenside bunkers sit on the right front side of the green so you are going to have to get creative with your approach shot and make sure that you have a heavy draw to the left side of the fairway or green. Almost 50% of our players were able to pick up Birdies on this Par-5. Buddies Maxwell Houck from Crofton, MD and Mac Arida from Gambrills, MD led the pack in Round 1 with their 77’s. They were followed behind by 2 other players in Noah Segui from Gaithersburg, MD and Minh Le from Frederick, MD with their 78’s. It was a close leaderboard as we ended Round 1.
Round 2 – Sunday, September 19th – It was a little cooler to start Round 2 with our morning tee times. The humidity did start to creep in but our players are tough and got through it with ease.
Hole-8 was playing the toughest for the Boys in Round 2. This Par-4 is loaded with bunkers and is the longest Par-4 on the course making it extremely difficult. Only 33% of the field was able to pick up Pars. Hole-3 was once again letting the players tee off on it and was playing the easiest for the Boys in Round 2. Birdied from Minh Le and Joseph Thoburn from Vienna, VA helped to lower the average of the hole for the Boys. Noah Segui came back strong and was the Champion for the Boys. Noah led the Division with the Most Pars, 24. This is such an important state that many of our Champions seem to accomplish every tournament. Noah added in 3 Birdies to also lead the division with 27 Pars or Better. Congratulations on your first win on tour Noah! Maxwell Houck earns his first trophy flag on tour by taking the Runner-Up position. Max has had an extremely strong Summer putting together tons of rounds in the 70’s throughout August and September. This was extremely well-deserved for Max. Max was the co-leader on the Par-4’s for the Boys going +4 on them throughout the 36-holes. Max’s Bogey Free Streak of 9-Holes in Round 1 from Holes-9 through 17 was a major reason he led the division in Round 1 and why he earned himself a trophy flag this weekend. Great job Max on an extremely well-played tournament!
Once again, Hole-18 was playing the toughest for the Girls. It was a difficult trip back to the clubhouse for the Girls in both rounds. Hole-7 was the toughest hole for the Girls in Round 2. The Girls were really good on most of the Par-3’s throughout the entire tournament. Jennifer Osborne and Olivia Vigliante both Parred the hole to help out with the average. Jennifer Osborne came in as our Champion. Jennifer was a Birdie machine all tournament grabbing 4 of them throughout the tournament. The main stat that helped Jennifer to the Champion flag was her scores on the Par-4’s leading her division by 7-strokes to the nearest competitor. Great Champion finish Jennifer! Olivia Vigliante was our Runner-Up. Olivia led her division in Pars with, 21. Olivia also had her short-game working playing the best on the Par-3’s. She also dominated the much harder front-9 going only +1 on those holes in the tournament. Congratulations on a great tournament Olivia!
Another year out at Old Hickory and we saw some great scores at an extremely tough course. Our next tournament at Reston National is very close by to this course and it should have some great weather as we enter Fall. Our Buckeye Cup teams are officially formed and if you were invited we hope that you will come out and join us for this great Ryder Cup style tournament at an amazing course. You can still earn spots to the Buckeye Cup if you have not gotten an invite yet if people decline their invites or can’t make it to the tournament. So you should still try and grab some points in the upcoming tournaments.
Comments are closed.