Petruzzelli, Brown and Jackson Win at Spring Preview
College Station, Texas – Andrew Petruzzelli fired a blistering 8-under par 63 in the Final Round to win the Spring Preview’s Boys 15-18 Division at The Golf Club at Texas A&M. Shyla Brown captured the Girls 12-18 Division, winning in a four-hole playoff while Henry Jackson won in the Boys 14 & Under Division.
Winners: Dallas’s Petruzzelli trailed by two strokes heading into Sunday’s Final Round. He finished with rounds of 66-63 to get to 13-under 129 overall and three strokes ahead of the field. Andrews’ round came together on the back nine as he fired a 7-under par 29 coming in. The almost course record 63 was an amazing score as the leaders fought 20-30 mph winds throughout their round. Shyla Brown of Dallas captured the Girls 12-18 Division winning in a 4-hole playoff over Maelynn Kim. She overcame a rough mid round stretch to claim her first LJT victory in her first start. Henry Jackson of Lantana won the Boys 14 & Under Division holding onto his first round lead and claiming his 2nd LJT victory. Roberts finished the tournament at 3-over par 145.
Top Finishers: Austin’s Trenton Mierl followed up his first round 64 with a final round 68 to finish second behind Petruzzelli by 3 strokes. Katy’s Shauak Nair matched the low score of the day with an 8-under par 63 of his own to climb the leaderboard all the way up to third place. First round leader, The Woodland’s Austin Hofferkamp fought through an illness and held on for a 4th place at 6-under par. Montgomery’s Tyler Sanford finished up his tournament in 5th place after a final round 5-under par 66. In the Girls 12-18 Division, Katy’s Maelynn Kim finished runner-up in the Spring Preview for the second straight year. Maelynn started the day 3 shots behind the first round leader Brown. That deficit quickly turned into 6 shots through the first 3 holes, but Maelynn fought back to post a final round 72 to force the 4-hole sudden-death playoff. The Woodland’s Veronika Exposito finished third finishing at 4 over par for the tournament. Austin’s Claire Wan and Mansfield’s Lauren Madson finished in a tie for 4th at 5-over par. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, College Station’s Ryan (Woojin) Lee finished second, one shot behind Jackson and Austin’s Dylan Knox finished third, two shots behind the leader. Selma’s Aadi Parmar finished fourth at 6-over with Prosper’s Grant Clapp rounding out the top 5 at 8-over par.
Weather: Sunday’s weather started with temperatures in the mid-60s and calm winds. Conditions would quickly change by the time the leaders teed off as the temperature rose into the low 80’s and the calm wind transformed into very gusty conditions with winds topping of over 30 mph at times.
Host Course: The Golf Club at Texas A&M is hosting the Spring Preview for the second time in the event’s 18-year history. The club took on a $5 million renovation in 2013 and Texas A&M’s own Jeff Blume handled the redesign. The par-71 course is playing at around 6,700 yards in the Boys 15-18 Division, 6,300 yards in the Boys 14 & Under Division and 5,800 yards in the Girls 12-18 Division.
Tournament History: The Spring Preview has been played every year since its inception in 2006. Past champions of this event include William Zalatoris, Maddie Szeryk, Stratton Nolen, Brad Dalke, Nathan Weant, Brendan Redfern, Travis Vick, Julia Beck, Cole Hammer, Hailee Cooper, Kyle Hogan, Turner Hosch and Hanna Alberto.
Next Up: The Legends Junior Tour heads to Gladewater on March 13-15 for the Texas Cup Invitational. Tempest Golf Club is hosting the first Boys Major event in 2023 and the 84-player field will be set on March 2.
To see all the scores from the Spring Preview, click here. For more information on the LJT Spring Preview, click here.