15th Annual Junior Match Play Championship
June 15-19, 2015
Rivercut Golf Course
Springfield, MO 65810
Back to Back Champion! Windsor does it again!
Brett Windsor of Boonville wins the 2015 Junior Match Play 7 & 6 over Kerry Maguire, Lake Winnebago, Mo. Windsor was also the Medalist with a 2- under par 70. Congratulations to both players.
18 Hole Qualifying Round
Match Play Bracket
Sarah Bell of Jackson wins 3&2 over Rebecca Su of Town and Country. Congratulations Ladies!!
9 Hole Qualifying Round
(due to weather)
Match Play Bracket
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2015 Junior Match Play Press Release
The 2015 Missouri Junior match play championship kicked off Monday, June 15th at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, MO. With overcast and pop up showers nearly all week, the wet playing conditions made the par 72 course a bit challenging for the junior golfers. The first day of the tournament consisted of an 18-hole qualifying round for both the men’s and women’s division. The next three days was strictly match play in a win or go home 32 person bracket.
The field consisted of 69 men and 27 women golfers. Our low score medalist after day one in the men’s division was Brett Windsor who brought in an impressive -2 under par, 70. After all the scores from day one were in, 79 was the magic cut number to advance to the next round. In order to reach our number of 32 golfers for match play, there was a playoff hole between four golfers competing for three final spots. Nick Westrich, Joe Terschluse and Tristan Haltom captured the last three spots after winning the first playoff hole. All 27 women advanced to the first round of match play. Heavy rain showers caused the women’s qualifying round to be cut short from the original 18 holes to playing only 9 holes. The low score medalist of the day went to Olivia Sobaski of Sedalia who shot a front nine score of 37.
Day two of the junior match play began Tuesday morning (round of 32) consisting of 16 men’s matchups and 11 women’s matchups. Olivia Sobaski, Madison Grisham, Taylor Rose Hayes, Taryn Bell and Ashley Childers all drew first round byes after shooting the five lowest qualifying scores for the women. The afternoon matches (round of 16) were close the whole time in which we had three different matches go into extra holes. At the completion of Tuesday’s afternoon matches, the Elite 8 was set for first thing Wednesday morning.
In the men’s division, Brett Windsor (defending match play champion) of Boonville, Walker Kesterson of Hartsburg, Sam Holmes of Springfield, Taylor Haltom of Thornfield, Chris Ferris of St. Louis, Christopher Obert of Ozark, Tommy Rudawsky of Frontenac, and Kerry Maguire of Lake Winnebago were our elite 8 male competitors. Amber Wilson of Linn Creek, Lauren Plunkett of Eugene, Mikala Jungmeyer of Russellville, Rebecca Su of Town and Country, Emma Solovic of Imperial, Sarah Lewis of Chesterfield, Ashley Childers (two-time defending match play champion) of Mount Vernon and Sarah Bell of Jackson made up our elite 8 women competitors.
Our first matchup Wednesday morning was between two mid-Missouri golfers in Walker Kesterson and Brett Windsor. The two were neck and neck all day and at the end of 18 holes, Windsor and Kesterson were all square. A couple of pars on the 19th hole, then with a Windsor par and a Kesterson bogey, we had our victor. Brett Windsor won the match in 20 holes. Sam Holmes matched up against Taylor Haltom in one of our four elite 8 matchups. In the end, Holmes won the match 3 & 2. On the other side of the bracket, Chris Ferris and Christopher Obert faced off as our third men’s group of the morning. It was a hard fought battle by both in which it took 17 holes to declare a winner. In the end, Obert edged past Ferris 2 & 1. Our fourth men’s matchup was between Kerry Maguire and Tommy Rudawsky with Maguire finishing it at 15, winning 4 & 3.
The Wednesday morning matchups in the women’s division first began with Amber Wilson and Lauren Plunkett facing off. Wilson won in 15 holes, 4 & 3. Mikala Jungmeyer and Rebecca Su matched up in which Su won 7 & 5. On the right side of the bracket, Emma Solovic and Sarah Lewis had a close match with Solovic winning 3 & 2. The final match to tee off Wednesday morning was between Ashley Childers and Sarah Bell. The two got through 15 tough holes before Bell took the match 4 & 3.
With another victory under their belt and 18 more holes to play, the final four contestants found their way back to the number one tee ready to begin their afternoon match. The final four matchups starred Brett Windsor vs. Sam Holmes and Christopher Obert vs. Kerry Maguire in the men’s division. Windsor and Holmes played 15 holes before Windsor finished the match 4 & 3. Obert and Maguire were neck and neck through all 17 holes, until Kerry Maguire won the last hole to finish the match 1 up. In the girls division, it was Amber Wilson vs. Rebecca Su and Emma Solovic vs. Sarah Bell. The fight and determination between these two women’s group proved strong as both matches went all 18 holes. In the end, Su and Bell were the victor’s winning both their matches 1 up.
Brett Windsor and Kerry Maguire made their way to the first tee early Thursday morning, ready to begin the final match of the Junior Match Play Championship. A chilled cloudy morning with a steady mist made the final matches a bit wet for our junior competitors. With nine holes complete, Windsor and Maguire headed to the clubhouse to take a break from the rain, hoping it would soon pass. Windsor was currently 5 up through nine holes. After a minor delay and a quick snack, the two headed back to the tenth tee to start their back nine. Windsor increased his lead on the back nine by winning two more holes and bringing the match to an end on the 12th hole, winning 7 & 6. Windsor won this championship in 2014 and with this 2015 win, he is now a back to back champion of the Junior Match Play. Windsor, a two-time state high school champion will be heading to the University of Central Missouri next year to play golf.
Rebecca Su and Sarah Bell were the final two women golfers taking the tee Thursday morning. Su, a resident from St. Louis was competing in her first ever MGA junior match play championship. Bell was in familiar territory, making it to the semi-final round of match play in 2014. Similar to the men’s round, a constant rain made for some tough and wet playing conditions. Battling both the rain and the wind, the two finalists made it to the 15th hole before Sarah Bell ended the match, winning 4 & 3. Sarah Bell, a sophomore attending Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau is celebrating her first Junior Match Play win. Congratulations to all our golfers competing in the championship and congratulations to our 2015 Missouri Junior Match play champions, Sarah Bell of Jackson and Brett Windsor of Boonville.
A huge thank you goes out to all the players, directors, Rivercut Golf Course and all other contributors for allowing the Missouri Golf Association to put on such a successful, fun-filled tournament.
Cameron Backes
USGA Boatwright Intern