Junior Girls' & W.Y. Dear Boys Championship Round 1 Recap: Lu leads Girls'; Han paces Boys
Grace Lu (pictured) of Plainfield West Nine shot a career-best four-under par 68, propelling her to a two-shot lead after the first round of the two-day NJSGA Junior Girls' Championship at the par-72, 5,460-yard Peddie Golf Club in Hightstown. The Girls’ competition is for ages 18 and younger.
Round 2 Groupings and Starting Times
2017 champion Christine Shao of New Jersey National stands in second place at two-under par, while Eunice Kim of White Beeches, Gio Kim of Darlington and Julia McLaughlin of Bedens Brook are tied in third place at one-under-par 71.
“I felt confident off the tee and with my irons. I was accurate and that made my putting easy. I made a lot of birdie putts from inside of ten feet," stated Lu, the 15 year old rising sophomore at the Wardlaw-Hartridge School in her hometown of Edison.
Lu’s round included seven birdies against three bogeys. She had three birdies on her first four holes on the back nine to coast home.
“I’ve been working on my game, especially my putting and it’s made me more confident. I’m excited about tomorrow to see if I can carry it over. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to go,” she said.
Shao, who stands in second place, fashioned a round which included six birdies.
“I was able to be aggressive today. It’s a straight-forward course with everything in front of you,” said Shao, who shot 67-69-136 as runner-up by two shots to Megha Ganne of Colts Neck in the 2018 Junior Girls Championship.
In the concurrent William Y. Dear Boys Championship for boys age fourteen and younger, Jaden Han of Darlington led the way with a one-over-par 73, and leads by two shots over Reed Greyserman of Crestmont. Winston Blank of Hollywood and Jerry Lu of Princeton each shot four-over-par 76.
Han, an incoming freshman at Don Bosco Prep, also recorded his best round ever by one shot. He had three bogeys and two pars.
“It had a lot to do with my short game and my putting. Both were really good today,” he said.
“My tempo was working. The length of the course was comfortable for me. I didn’t have to hit driver all the time. The greens were in good shape and rolling well today.”
Players return for the final round of each championship on Thursday, beginning at 7:00 a.m.
