Cicero, IN –
Hot, humid, and beautiful; those were the conditions on June
21 in Cicero at Bear Slide GC in the final day of the 2014 Central Jr. Masters
Tournament. Kevin Stone (Carmel, IN) and Emily Tilton (Pendleton, IN) took home
the honors of Central Jr. Masters Champions after two great rounds of golf.
For Tilton, it was a battle amongst three other girls to
grab and hold the lead on the final day. Along with Tilton, Rachel Johnson,
Kayla Benge, and Caroline Smith all shot an 8-over round of 79. Day two, Tilton
began to separate. Rachel Johnson bogeyed her first two holes and was never
able to recover, while Kayla Benge bogeyed three out of the first five holes, hurting
her chances at the trophy. Caroline Smith began the day taking the lead on hole
1 after a birdie while others gave up a stroke, but would not birdie another
hole all day, finishing T4 along with Rachel Johnson.
Kayla Benge kept things interesting for Tilton in the final
group after Tilton triple-bogeyed the par-4 11th, Benge had the lead
and was charging. However, Benge bogeyed or double-bogeyed four out of her
final six holes to shoot a 7-over round of 78. Tilton, meanwhile, birdied holes
16 & 17 to jump one stroke ahead of Kennedy Holtsclaw, a lead she would not
relinquish. Holtsclaw shot a 10-over round of 81 the first day, but was
attempting a comeback on the second day shooting a day-best 4-over round of 75.
Emily Tilton finished with a total of 13-over, with
Holtsclaw close behind at 14-over, and Benge placing third with a total of
15-over.
For more information on the girl’s leaderboard, see here.
In the boys group, Kevin Stone kept it simple. Leading the
field by three strokes with the only under-par round after day one, Stone knew
he had to keep up the solid play if he wanted to lift the trophy at the end of
the tournament. After two birdies the first three holes, Stone calmed his hot
start and kept things consistent.
Logan Kauffman (Nappanee, IN) trailed Stone by three strokes
after day one and made a valiant effort to challenge Stone, falling just short
finishing two strokes behind the leader, tied for second place. Brady
Sappenfield (Martinsville, IN) made a run at Stone in his second round after a
4-over round of 75 the first day. Sappenfield had four birdies in total,
thwarted only by a bogey on hole 15, and a double on hole 18. Like Kauffman,
Sappenfield finished 3-over overall, just two shots behind the winner.
Stone, a sophomore at Carmel High School, said that he was
happy to get the win and looks forward to the next few tournaments to come.
For more information on the boy’s leaderboard, see here.