O’Rear, De Marco and Hofferkamp Win James A. Ragan Memorial
Briefly: Rhett O’Rear fired a 5-under 67 to win the Boys 15-18 Division of the James A. Ragan Memorial at Corpus Christi Country Club. Stephanie De Marco battled all day to secure her first LJT win, with a final round score of 7-over 79, winning by one stroke. Meanwhile, Evan Hofferkamp kept his over-night lead in the end, shooting a 2-over 73, claiming victory by 2 strokes in the Boys 14 & Under Division.
Champions: Rhett O’Rear of Plano won this year’s James A. Ragan Boys 15-18 in comeback fashion. O’Rear started the day two strokes off the lead. He caught fire early, shooting 4-under in his front 9. He played sound golf coming in, with one birdie and eight pars to capture the victory at 8-under. The clean and impressive card from O’Rear earned him his first Legends Junior Tour win of the year. Stephanie De Marco of Southlake finally takes 1st place after close finishes all year in the Legends Junior Tour. While she only managed one birdie in the final round, she showed a winner’s mentality to close out any chances of her fellow competitors making the comeback. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, Evan Hofferkamp of The Woodlands, gets his second victory of the year with the Legends Junior Tour. Evan started rough out of the gates, going 4-over through the first four holes. He leveled out with pars the rest of the front nine, before rattling off three quick birdies and a birdie on his final to claim the win.
Top Finishers: In the Boys Division, Houston’s Evan Rhode finished second at 7-under, while Lakeway’s Tyler Neidel finished third at 5-under after a final round of 66. In fourth due to a scorecard playoff at 5-under was Del Rio’s Isaac Diaz, shooting even par in the final round. In fifth was Austin’s Jacob Gonzalez at 1-under. In the Girl’s Division, Boerne’s Quinn Timmerman fired an even par round to finish solo second. Fischer’s Abigail Archunde shot the only other even par round, finishing solo third. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, Declan Dent of Grapevine came in second, winning a scorecard playoff against fellow competitor, and 3rd place finisher Nathan Lee who both had shot a final round of 2-under.
Player of the Years Points: Rhett O’Rear, Stephanie De Marco, and Evan Hofferkamp all earned 1000 points in the Player of the Year Point Race. Points are awarded at each tournament to the top half of each age division. Click here for more information on the Legends Junior Tour Player of the Year standings.
Weather: Today in Corpus Christi, the skies started and finished with beauty. The temperatures were pleasant, ranging from the mid to upper-80s providing a comfortable atmosphere for players and spectators throughout the final round of the James A. Ragan Memorial.
Course: Corpus Christi Country Club returns as the host of the James A. Ragan Memorial after taking a break in 2022 for a full course renovation which included 18 new green complexes, new bunkers, and a re-grassing of the fairways. Chet Williams Design led the renovation, and the course was re-opened last November during their Centennial Celebration. Previously, Corpus Chrisi Country Club hosted the James A. Ragan Memorial since 2017. The Club was originally opened in 1909, but a hurricane destroyed the original course in 1919. John Bredemus designed a new layout in 1922, and the club expanded to 18 holes in 1938. Robert Trent Jones Sr. was tasked with a redesign in 1964, and the course reopened January of 1965 and has hosted numerous top-level amateur events along the way. Corpus Christi Country Club features an open layout that works its way through a residential area and maneuvers its way across hills and bodies of water. Tall palm trees surround the property, and the wind plays a huge factor into each shot for the player.
About James: James Ragan started playing on the LJT in 2008 and recorded three top-25 finishes. The Corpus Christi native won the 2010 Jimmy Demaret Junior Classic and earned a spot in the Jackie Burke Cup Matches. He would go on to win the LJT’s first Sportsmanship Award and the next year the award was named after him. Ragan was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in 2006, which is a rare type of pediatric cancer. He founded “Triumph Over Kid Cancer” which is an organization that has raised more than $3 million dollars for pediatric cancer research. James passed away in 2014 but TOKC has kept going with the help of the Ragan family.
About TOKC: Founded by James Ragan in 2007, Triumph Over Kid Cancer is dedicated to improving the lives of children with cancer by raising their spirits, raising the public’s awareness and funding research to improve the treatment and survivability of pediatric cancers.
What’s Next: The Legends Junior Tour heads east for the Texas Junior Golf Alliance Invitational at White Bluff Resort in Whitney on Oct. 26-27. For more information on the Texas Junior Golf Alliance Invitational, click here.
For more information on the James A. Ragan Memorial, click here. To see all the scores from the event, click here.