HAYMARKET — Penn Laird’s Ryan Slonaker made his outstanding
first-round stand and won the boys 12-13 age division title at the 13th
Virginia State Golf Youth Championship, which was completed on Tuesday at
Regency at Dominion Valley.
The VSGA Youth Championship is
for players ages 13 and under. Joining Slonaker as age-division winners were Charlottesville’s
Liam Foster (boys 10-11); Great Falls’ Alina Ho (girls 12-13); and Fairfax
Station’s Ethan Evans (boys 8-9, playing nine holes on each day).
Slonaker opened the 36-hole
championship with a 4-under-par 58 on Regency at Dominion Valley’s short par-62
layout. He wasn’t quite as sharp on Tuesday, but his four-shot cushion over
runner-up Michael Lee of Fairfax held up. Slonaker made two birdies on Tuesday,
enough to counter two bogeys and a double bogey, and returned 64, finishing
with a two-day total of 122.
Lee finished with a pair of
birdies against four bogeys and could never quite mount a charge against
Slonaker. Glen Allen’s James Oh was in third after returning 70 on Tuesday for
a two-day 133. Ashton Harper (Roanoke) and Luke Libbey (Lynchburg) tied for
fourth at 134.
Ho opened the day in the girls
12-13 division with a one-stroke lead over Addison Butler. She posted a 76 on
Tuesday while Butler struggled to an 85, giving Ho a two-day 150 and a 10-shot
win.
In the boys 10-11 division,
Foster entered the day three strokes behind Carter Knick of Barboursville but
posted a second-round 74 to finish with a two-day 146. Knick signed for an 80
and a two-day 149.
In the boys 8-9 division, Evans
carded a 35 in Tuesday’s nine-hole round, giving him a two-round total of 69,
five shots better than William Yoon.