HAYMARKET — Penn Laird’s Ryan Slonaker posted a 4-under-par 58 at
Regency at Dominion Valley Monday to take a four-stroke lead in the 12-13 boys
age division of the 13th Virginia State Golf Association Youth
Championship.
The VSGA Youth Championship is
for players ages 13 and under. Other age-division leaders after one round of
the two-day championship were Barboursville’s Carter Knick (boys 10-11); Great
Falls’ Alina Ho (girls 12-13); and Fairfax Station’s Ethan Evans (boys 8-9).
Slonaker navigated Regency at
Dominion Valley’s 4,052-yard layout with precision, finishing with five birdies
and one bogey. Regency features eight par-4 holes and 10 par-3 holes, with the
longest hole checking in at 380 yards. Slonaker birdied that hole, the par-4 9th,
to make the turn at 3-under on Monday. He added birdies at Nos. 12 and 15 to
shoot 30 on the back and come in at 4 under for the day.
He leads Fairfax’s Michael Lee
by four strokes. Glen Allen’s James Oh is in third after returning a 1-over 63,
and Christiansburg’s Jake Albert is in fourth after signing for a 64.
Ho holds a one-shot lead over
Bristow’s Addison Butler in the girls’ 12-13 division. Ho’s birdie on the par-3
10th hole proved to be the difference on Monday.
Knick holds a three-shot lead in
the boys 10-11 division. He made three birdies in shooting a 7-over 69.
Charlottesville’s Liam Foster is his closest pursuer, three shots back after
posting a 10-over 72.
Evans shot a 1-over 34 in the
boys 8-9 division to take a five-stroke lead over Haymarket’s Daniel Fant and
Herndon’s William Yoon. Those in the 8-9 division play nine holes each day of
the championship.
The second and final round of
the event is scheduled for Tuesday.