Woodstock Teen Wins Georgia Junior Golf Championship

WOODSTOCK, GA — Brock Hoover of Woodstock pulled away from the field in the final round and won the 53rd Georgia Junior Championship at Augusta Country Club. Hoover's final score of 11-under-par 205 (68-68-69) was good for a two-stroke advantage over Jack Boltja of Thomasville, who earned runner-up honors.

The final round began with a three-way tie between Hoover, Boltja and Bruce Murphy of Johns Creek. With birdies on three of the first five holes, Hoover quickly took control of the lead and really never looked back. Making the turn at 3-under on the day, the 17-year-old remained steady on the back. He made birdies on 12 and 15, with bogeys on 14 and 18.

Jay Spivey of Macon finished third at 8-under-par 208 (69-69-70), and Murphy finished fourth. Beck Burnette of Blairsville came in fifth at 6-under-par 210 (69-73-68). Four players tied for sixth at 4-under-par 212, including Luke Phillips of Peachtree City (74-66-72), Myles Jones of Suwanee (73-68-71),Preston Topper of Duluth (70-73-69) and Shaun Cook of Peachtree Corners (73-70-69).

Once 36 holes were played, 78 players at 6-over-par 150 and better made the cut.

The top eight finishers from the Georgia Junior Championship qualify to represent the Peach State at the Georgia-South Carolina Junior Challenge Match. Team Georgia will include Brock Hoover, Jack Boltja,Jay Spivey, Bruce Murphy, Beck Burnette, Luke Phillips, Myles Jones and Shaun Cook. This year's Junior Challenge Match takes place across the border at the Country Club of Spartanburg, July 19-20.

In the 40th Georgia Girls' Championship, Ainsley Cowart of Winston goes wire-to-wire finishing nine strokes ahead of the field to capture the Nanci Bowen Trophy.

Cowart entered Wednesday's final round with a five-stroke lead after rounds of 5-under-par 67 and 1-under-par 71 the first two days. She showed no nerves during the final 18 holes finishing the front nine at 2-under before rolling in birdies on two of the final four holes to close it out. Cowart finished with a 3-under-par 69 to tie the championship scoring record with a three-day total of 9-under-par 207, which was set by 2018 champion Jenny Bae at the Country Club of Roswell.

Sara Im of Duluth (70-73-73) finished in second, while Ava Merrill of Johns Creek fired the round of the day with a 4-under-par 68 to move into third place following rounds of 72 and 77 the two first days.Kimberly Shen of Johns Creek (75-72-71) and Mikayla Dubnik of Gainesville (73-71-76) rounded out the top five.

Catie Craig of Sautee Nacoochee (75-75-76) defeated Madeline Ananthasane of Auburn (72-74-80) in a playoff for sixth place to determine who would join Cowart, Im, Merrill, Shen and Dubnik this August for the Georgia-South Carolina Girls' Junior Challenge Match. The Girls' Junior Challenge Match will take place August 3-4 at Palmetto Hall in Hilton Head, South Carolina.