Diaz, De Marco, and Hofferkamp Lead James A. Ragan Memorial
Briefly: Isaac Diaz shot a 5-under 67 in the opening round of the James A. Ragan Memorial at Corpus Christi Country Club and leads the Boys 15-18 Division by two strokes. Stephanie De Marco leads in the Girls Division after shooting a 1-under 71, while Evan Hofferkamp leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by three strokes after a 4-under round of 68.
Leaders: Del Rio’s Isaac Diaz made six birdies with just one bogey on the day to vault him into the lead in his first ever Legends Junior Tour event. Diaz made the most of the par 5’s and followed his one bogey with a comeback birdie. He’s looking for his first win on the Legends Junior Tour. Southlake’s Stephanie De Marco stormed out to a 5 shot lead going into Monday. Her round was capped by an impressive three birdie run in the final 4 holes. The Woodland’s Evan Hofferkamp leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by three strokes after shooting 4-under par today. Hofferkamp kept a clean score card, boosting his chances to get a second victory on the Legends Junior Tour this year.
In Contention: In the Boys 15-18 Division, four players are just two shots back of Diaz. Plano’s Rhett O’Rear, Dallas’s Dylan Wisener, Houston’s Evan Rohde, and Austin’s William Mangione are all 3-under heading into Monday’s final round. In the Girls Division, Dallas’s Ella DeWitt is alone in second place after shotting 4 over 76 in today’s first round. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, Grant Lobner of Dallas is alone in 1-under par. O’Rear and Wisener will join Diaz in the final group tomorrow. Rohde and Mangione will be joined by Austin’s Jacob Gonzalez in the second-to-last group of the morning after shooting even par 72 today.
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.
Weather: The temperature today in Corpus Christi reached 89 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. The wind steadily increased throughout the day, reaching gusts around 15 mph. Tomorrow’s conditions are expected to be similar in both wind and temperature.
Tournament Format: The tournament is a 36-hole stroke play event for players ages 12-18 that are members of the Texas Junior Golf Alliance. Players completed 18 holes on Sunday and will play the final 18 holes on Monday.
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 three 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 Final Round of the James A. Ragan Memorial is scheduled to begin at 8:00 am off the No. 1 and 10 tees on Monday, October 14th. Pairings for the final round were redrawn according to scores from the first round and can be found by clicking here.
For more information on the James A. Ragan Memorial, click here. To see all the scores from Sunday’s round, click here.