Madireddi, Vo and Vargas Win James A. Ragan Memorial
CORPUS CHRISTI – Flower Mound’s Rohit Madireddi completed the wire-to-wire victory in the Boys 15-18 Division at the Fourth Annual James A. Ragan Memorial. Austin’s Keaton Vo won the Boys 14 & Under Division, while Lubbock’s Hailey Vargas won the Girls 12-18 Division.
James Ragan was a former Legends Junior Tour Player that was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer when he was 13 years old. Ragan founded the Triumph Over Kids Cancer Foundation, which has raised more than $2 million for cancer research. He played in more than 20 LJT events before walking on the Rice University golf team.
This is the fourth year the Legends Junior Tour has conducted the James A. Ragan Memorial and the second year it has been held at Corpus Christi Country Club. The first two years, Palmilla Beach in Port Aransas hosted the event.
Madireddi followed up his first-round score of 1-under with a 4-over-par 75 on Monday in windy conditions. With breezes between 25-30 miles per hour on the day and gusts up around the 40 mph mark, Madireddi played solidly, making two bogeys on each side along with 14 pars on the par-71 layout.
Austin’s Thomas Bockholt III fired the low round of the day with a 2-over 73. Bockholt made an early birdie on No. 3 after starting the day with a bogey. Following a double-bogey on the par-3 fourth and a bogey on the par-5 fifth, he made two birdies and then aced the par-3 eighth.
“I had 187 yards and hit a seven iron,” said Bockholt after his round.
The ball landed on the green, took two hops and fell right into the hole for the Austin-native’s fifth career hole-in-one. Bockholt has finished in the top five of both Legends Junior Tour Events this year.
Tied with Bockholt in second was Richmond’s Stephen Campbell Jr., who shot 1-over 72 in the first round, finished the tournament at 5-over 147 overall. Campbell Jr. made his lone birdie on Monday on the par-5 11th hole and then played his final seven holes even to stay at 5-over.
Dallas’ Trip Carter finished fourth in the Boys 15-18 Division, while Mateo Trevino of Dallas finished fifth at 7-over 149.
Brayden Ingebrigtsen and Alex Hernandez tied for sixth, while Randall Fojtasek, Connor Adams and Niko Nebout all tied for eighth and rounded out the top 10.
Vo, who is coming off a runner-up finish at the Winter Classic in January, finished at 8-over 150 after 36 holes at Corpus Christi Country Club. He started with a bogey on No. 10, which was his first hole of the day, and went out in 2-over. After making the turn he made back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3 before scoring a birdie on the par-3 fourth hole. Vo played his last five holes in 2-over, but held on to win by one stroke.
Jacob King of Boerne and Aaron Pounds of The Woodlands finished second to Vo in the Boys 14 & Under Division. King and Pounds each posted rounds of 75-76 to get to 9-over 151 overall. Grant Yerger, Daniel Macias and Jack Usner all tied for fourth in the division.
Lubbock’s Vargas earned her first Legends Junior Tour victory on Monday, edging first-round leader Zoe Slaughter by one stroke. Vargas, who started on No. 10, went out in 2-over before making a double-bogey on the par-4 2nd. She bounced back with a birdie on No. 3 and held on to shoot 6-over 77.
Houston’s Slaughter posted rounds of 72-80 to get to 152 overall and finished second. Plano’s Melena Barrientos finished third at 153 overall and Jensen Jalufka of Austin finished fourth at 154 overall. Julia Garcia and Meagan Winans tied for fifth at 155 overall.
This is the second year that Corpus Christi Country Club has hosted the James A. Ragan Memorial. Corpus Christi Country Club was the home course of James Ragan and the Legends Junior Tour is honored to be able to have known James and run a tournament in his name.
The next event up for the Legends Junior Tour is the Spring Preview, which returns to BlackHorse Golf Club on March 3-4. The event is the third open event on the LJT schedule this year, with the 84-player field taking on the club’s North Course.
To see all the scores from the James A. Ragan Memorial, click here. To learn more about the James A. Ragan Memorial, click here.