Verret, Dent, Bandelier, Esparza, and Diaz Lead James A. Ragan Memorial
Briefly: Brayden Verret and Declan Dent shoot 2-under 70 in the opening round of the James A. Ragan Memorial at Corpus Christi Country Club to lead the Boys 15-18 Division. Addison Bandelier and Alyssa Esparza lead in the Girls Division after shooting a 1-under 71, while Isaiah Diaz leads the Boys 14 & Under Division by two strokes after a 2-under round of 70.
Brayden Verret, out of Farmers Branch, played a very solid round accumulating four birdies with two bogeys. Three of those birdies coming from the front nine. He will look to do the same tomorrow while also adding some more to his back nine.
Tied with Verret from Grapevine, Declan Dent had a fantastic round going as he was five under par through 15 with no bogeys. Unfortunately holes 16 and 17 got the best of him as he scored back-to-back double bogeys. Dent, however, was able to bounce back on 18 with a birdie to ease the pain.
Austin’s Addison Bandelier is tied with Laredo’s Alyssa Esparza at one under par 71. Bandelier, similarly, to Brayden Verrett, had a good front nine but lost a few strokes to bogeys on the back nine. Esparza on the other hand had a tough start as she was two over after four. After settling down, she made a surge on the back nine with three birdies, no bogeys to share the number one position.
Diaz kept a relatively clean score card with four birdies and just two bogeys. He will look to capitalize on his lead tomorrow, but it won’t be easy as Austin Anderson and Lincoln Rubis are both at even par.
In Contention: In the Boys 15-18 Division, six players are just two shots back of Verret and Dent. Those players include Luke Olive, Jackson Straley, Ian Chen, Hayden Gold, Gavin Hymer, and Connor Redmond. Each all very capable of moving up in tomorrow’s final round. In the Girls Division, Coppell’s Alicia Bellendir sits two strokes back at +1 and will join Bandelier and Esparza in the girl’s final pairing. Coppell’s Elizabeth Bellendir along with Boerne’s Quinn Timmerman are at +2 sharing the fourth spot on the leaderboard. In the Boys 14 & Under Division, Austin Anderson and Lincoln Rubis are tied for second at even par. Although sitting 4 strokes back at +2, Bryar Murphy is very much in contention sitting in third and will be joined by Ryan Chen (+3) and Miguel Castillo IV (+5) in their final round pairings.
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 86 degrees under mostly clear skies. Although the wind wasn’t a huge factor all day, the afternoon saw a few wind gusts reaching around 12 mph. Tomorrow’s temperature conditions are expected to be very similar, as will the wind with potential gusts up to 19 mph.
Tournament Format: The tournament is a 36-hole stroke play event for players aged 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 13th. 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.