NCGA members performing well at U.S. Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Championships
July 20, 2012
Pleasanton’s Nicolo Galletti and Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley were both unable to make the semifinals of the U.S. Boys’ Junior Amateur, where the two would have squared off against each other in the semifinals. Galletti, who was out in the first of the four matches today, was the first to get eliminated losing 3 and 2 to Jim Liu of New York. McNealy, on the other hand was the second match to go out, but the last to be eliminated. His match went extra holes before his opponent Matthew Scobie of Canada beat him on the 20th hole with a par to McNealy’s bogey.
Casie Cathrea also lost her quarterfinal match in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur at Lake Merced GC. Cathrea had a tough task ahead of her as she faced Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, this year’s medalist, who had dominated her first three matches preceding this one. Cathrea fought hard and actually held a 1 up lead through 11 holes. However, Jutanugarn would square the match on the 12th with a birdie and then close out the match by winning holes 15, 16 and 17.
July 19, 2012
NCGA members continue to shine as two players advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals for the U.S. Boys’ Junior Amateur and one advanced to the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur. The two to advance in the boys’ championship were Pleasanton’s Nicolo Galletti and Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley.
Galletti’s round of 32 match, which took place Thursday morning went the full 18 holes, before the 17-year-old prevailed 2 up. His afternoon match turned out to be more manageable as he would win in 16 holes, beating his opponent 3 and 2. McNealy, who won his match Wednesday on the 18th hole, had two barnburners again as he won his Thursday morning match 1 up and his afternoon match 3 and 1. Galletti continues his journey in New Hampshire as he will tee off at 8:00 a.m. ET on Friday, while McNealy will tee off in the following group at 8:10 a.m. If the two players are to win their quarterfinal matches, they would face each other in a semifinal match Friday afternoon.
Casie Cathrea of Livermore continues to show off her prowess at Lake Merced GC in Daly City as she advanced to the quarterfinals of U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship. Cathrea snuck by in her round of 32 match winning by a margin of 2 and 1. However, the two-time Junior Tour of Northern California Player of the Year, dominated in the afternoon winning her match 6 and 4. Cathrea will tee off Friday at 7:45 a.m. local time against Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand. Jutanugarn is a formidable opponent as she not only took medalist honors and earned the No. 1 seed for match play, but she has also dominated her three matches so far, winning by margins of 6 and 5, 5 and 4, and 8 and 6.
Other NCGA members that competed in the two events today include Kathleen Scavo, Andrej Bevins, Shintaro Ban and Cameron Champ. Scavo, the only other NCGA member to make it to the match play portion of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur lost her round of 32 match 3 and 2. Champ and Ban lost Thursday morning in the round of 32 as Champ lost 1 up and Ban lost 4 and 2. Bevins, on the other hand, beat the U.S. Open-famous Beau Hossler 4 and 2 in the morning before falling in 19 holes in the round of 16.
July 18, 2012
The first day of match play is complete for both the U.S. Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Championships and quite a few top juniors from northern California are representing the NCGA and their communities well.
In the U.S. Boys’ Junior Amateur Championship at the GC of New England in Stratham, New Hampshire, one-eighth of the match play qualifiers were NCGA members and five advanced to the round of 32. San Jose’s Shintaro Ban earned the No. 3 in the event after finishing 36 holes of play at 141. Ban was a tri-medalist as he was one of three players to post a 141. He won his match Wednesday without much problem beating Hartej Gill of New Jersey 4 and 3.
Andrew Bonner of Ripon earned the sixth seed after he posted a 36-hole score of 142 and was matched up against fellow NCGA member Andrej Bevins of Elk Grove, the 59th seed. In a competitive match that went the distance Bevins prevailed, winning 2 up. His reward for advancing to the round of 32 is having to play 2012 U.S. Open darling Beau Hossler (27th seed) Thursday morning.
Cameron Champ of Sacramento earned the 28th seed and faced off against Anthony Alex of New Jersey on Wednesday. Champ succeeded in his match with a 4 and 2 victory and will tee off Thursday morning at 8:24 ET against the 60th seed Matthew Scobie of Canada. If Champ advances by Scobie he possibly could face fellow NCGA member Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley in the round of 16. McNealy advanced in his match against Cameron Young of New York 1 up. McNealy came into the event as the 45th seed after posting a qualifying score of 150. He’ll tee off tomorrow in the group before at 8:15 ET.
Pleasanton’s Nicolo Galletti also advanced Wednesday. Galletti the 40th seed upset Austin Eoff of Arkansas (the 25th seed) 3 and 2. Galletti will actually be the higher seeded player in his round of 32 match as he faces the 57th seed Vincent Whaley of Texas at 7:48 ET, Thursday morning.
The two players to fall short in their matches Wednesday were San Jose’s Justin Suh and Corey Eddings of Roseville. Suh was evenly matched by seeding against his competitor Jake Shuman of Massachusetts as Suh was the 31st seed and Shuman the 34th. The match was close indeed as Suh lost in 19 holes. Eddings was one of the last players to get into the match play field earning the 61st seed. The Roseville resident lost to the fourth overall seed 4 and 3 Zecheng Dou of China.
The U.S. Girls’ Championship at Lake Merced in Daly City has seen some NCGA players take advantage of their local knowledge. Two-time Junior Tour of Northern California Girls Player of the Year, Casie Cahtrea, made a tremendous comeback to make match play and earn one of the top seeds. The Livermore resident opened with an 82 on Monday, but followed that with a 66 Tuesday—by far the lowest score during qualifying—to earn the eighth overall seed. Cathrea continued her hot play from Tuesday in her opening match on Wednesday as she won without much trepidation 5 and 3. Kathleen Scavo of Benecia also made match play with the 18th overall seed and she survived her opening match winning 1 up. Cathrea will tee off tomorrow morning for her first match at 7:18 a.m. local time, while Scavo will go off at 8:21 a.m.