Preston Stout and Maelynn Kim Lead Texas Junior Amateur

KINGWOOD – Richardson’s Preston Stout lit up the Clubs of Kingwood’s Island course, barreling into the clubhouse with a 5-under par 67 for Monday’s round of the 95th Texas Junior Amateur. The Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Champion leads the field by 2 strokes. Maelynn Kim of Katy finished her opening round at 1-under par 71 at Clubs of Kingwood’s Lake Course. Kim carded the only under par round of the day in the girl’s division and leads the field by 1 stroke going into the Tuesday’s round.

The J.J. Pearce High School junior started off strong Monday morning, with a birdie on his first hole out of the gate, par-5 1st hole. He would accumulate 3 more birdies on the front nine to turn at 4-under par 32.

“I made a lot of good putts today,” Stout said of his round. “I had a lot of 10-footers for par that I was able to make and made some good birdie putts too.”

Stout wobbled on the back, where he had a lone bogey on the par-4 13th but made up for it with a birdie on the 16th and 18th holes. He’s dialed in, confident and ready for the play in the days to come.

“Just keep the good play going the next couple days,” Stout said of his game plan for the upcoming days. “Maybe tidy up some things on the range, keep my putting and short game where it’s at and I think I’ll like where I’m at.”

In the girl’s division, Kim got off to a rough start, carding 3 bogeys on the front 9, with only a single birdie to turn at 2-over 38. Kim found her groove on the back nine, starting with a birdie on the par-5 10th hole, birding the 15th and rounding out her day with yet another birdie on the par-5 18th hole.

The 16-year-old also competed in this year’s LJT Winter Classic and Spring Preview finishing within the top 5 in both events. Kim’s LJT all-time top finish is runner-up in the 2021 Spring Preview. She finished 5-over par for the 36-hole tournament, scoring 77-70 for a total 147.

Austin’s Kate Pickrell and Sidney Robertson of Chandler share the number two spot at even-par 72 behind Kim heading into the second round of the 54-hole championship. Julia Vollmer and Grace Jin both hailing from San Antonio and Bellaire’s Kenna Lee trail behind all tied for 4th at 1-over par 73.

Noah Hankinson of Frisco skyrocketed to the top of the leaderboard in the boys 14 and under division entering the clubhouse at 7-under par 65. The clubs of Kingwood’s Lake course proved no match for Hankinson, who fired off a back-to-back birdie-eagle combo on his first two holes. Hankinson didn’t slow down, making the turn at 5-under 31. He continued to score well on the back, with two birdies. Hankinson coasted from 14 on, solidifying his score at 7-under 65. Hankinson leads the field by 3 strokes over Selma’s Shiv Parmar who grabbed solo second with a first day round of 4-under 68.

Dallas’s Adrienne Ahn holds the no. 1 spot in the girls 14 and under division with the only under par round on 3-under par 69. Ahn kept things interesting throughout the round carding 5 birdies with 2 bogeys sprinkled in. She leads the field by 3 strokes ahead of Khloe Jones of Kingwood, who sits at even-par 72. Syna Nijhawan of Houston and Charlotte Stick of the Woodlands are tied for third at 2-over 74.

Round 2 of the 95th Texas Junior Amateur kicks off Tuesday at 7:30.

For more information, including leaderboard and pairings, click here.