Stanton High School freshman Leela Clark wasn't headed for her best day on the golf course at the Brentwood Golf Course on Sept. 3 during a tri-match with Wolfson and Baldwin.
Through four holes, she was 2-over, with bogeys at Nos. 3 and 4. Clark later admitted to Blue Devils coach Liz Marscheck that, over her tee shot on the par-3 fifth hole, she was thinking about that night's homework assignments.
"Typical Stanton fashion," said Marscheck, herself a Stanton graduate.
But Clark's day got a lot better with one swing.
Clark knocked her tee shot on the green and with one hop and a roll, it found the cup for a hole-in-one. Clark, playing only her second high school match, used a 9-iron from 111 yards.
Although Clark bogeyed No. 6, she parred her final
three holes for a 1-over 35. Teammate Lily Chiang shot even-par 34 and the Blue Devils posted a team score of 163 to edge Wolfson by two shots and Baldwin by six.
Marscheck has also been Clark's coach at The First Tee-North Florida.
"She is really coming into her own," Marscheck told the Times-Union in a text message. "She has shown a high level of maturity on the course but still keeps it fun."
Ponte Vedra gets a good test in Palm Coast
The Ponte Vedra boys golf team had a three-shot lead after the first round of the Titan Invitational Aug. 27-28 at the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast but faltered in the second round and finished second by five shots to Orlando Bishop Moore at 6-under.
Bishop Moore shot 9-under as a team in the second round, matching Ponte Vedra's first-round score. The Sharks shot 3-over in the second round.
However, Ponte Vedra had some good individual performances. Junior Maxwell Morgan was fifth overall (66-74―140), junior Jude Johnson was sixth (71-70―141) and senior Jake Mason tied for 10th (72-72―144) with Episcopal's Brody Tran (71-73―144).
Morgan made six consecutive birdies in the first round, from Nos. 1-6.
Episcopal finished fifth at 13-over.
Weather plays havoc with FJT schedule
Last weekend's erratic Florida weather played havoc with Florida Junior Tour events, but First Coast players got a victory and three runner-up finishes out of the proceedings.
Jiratarn Pornchai of Middleburg shot 75-39--114 to win the girls 9-10 division of the FJT Tampa Bay Open at the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club. The second round was reduced to nine holes because of rain. She won by three shots, with Teegan Chen of Ponte Vedra Beach (120) tying for fourth, her sister Avery Chen (121) finishing sixth, and Veda Sinoj of Jacksonville (126) finishing ninth.
Kiryn Chary (118) was fourth in the boys 9-10 division and Jaran Chary (132) was seventh. Both are from Ponte Vedra Beach. Eduard Tervooren of Ponte Vedra (114) was seventh in the boys 11-12 division, and Nia Leonard (123) of St. Augustine was eighth in the girls 11-12 division.
In the Hawks Landing Open (13-15), at the Hawks Landing Golf Club in Orlando, Atharva Rajeshkumar and Rafael DeCarvalho of Ponte Vedra Beach went to a playoff with Yuhao Wang of Orlando after all three tied at 4-under 136. Wang then won on the first playoff hole. Rajeshkumar and DeCarvalho both shot 3-under with no bogeys on the back nine to earn their playoff spots.
Jack Cole of Jacksonville Beach (139) finished eighth and Riley Powell of St. Augustine (148) tied for fifth in the girls division.
In the 16-18 Vineyards Open in Naples, Lily Wachter of St. Augustine finished second but it took a historic round by Grace Carter of Jupiter to beat her. Carter recorded the second-lowest 18-hole score for a girl in FJT history with a 63, topping Wachter's 68. The second round was rained out.
Aspen Bikowski of St. Johns (71) was fifth.
Tama Caldabaugh qualifies for U.S. Senior Amateur
Tama Caldabaugh of Ponte Vedra Beach survived a tough day for scoring at the Tampa Palms Golf Club to qualify for the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Sept. 26-Oct. 1 at the Portland (Ore.) Golf Club.
Caldabaugh shot 85 for the third and final qualifying spot. Lin Culver of Palm Coast is the first alternate after matching Tricia Good of Venice for fourth with an 86. Shauna Snyder of Fernandina Beach finished one shot out of the playoff with an 87.
Caldabaugh will play in her 10th U.S. Senior Women's Amateur and her 15th USGA national championship overall.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Leela Clark was worried about homework. A hole-in-one got her attention
