Day One at the AJGA Randy Wise Open at Warwick Hills

Day One at the AJGA at Warwick Hills for the Randy Wise Open
http://youtu.be/Hhvt2gw8prg
Interview with Aaron Knutson, Charlie Green and Bailey Truesdell
 http://youtu.be/pDdXpRsxNbQ
Interview with Jeremy Ball and Alex Waelchli

Jessica Porvasnik of Ohio leads the Girls after Day One

           Grand Blanc- When the two-time defending champion of a tournament decides not to show up, you would expect the other competitors to breathe a sigh of relief. At the Randy Wise Open at Warwick Hills, the AJGA field just shrugged their shoulders like Henry Do meant little because golf is not about opponents but what you do with the game you have that day.  Do dropped out due to an undisclosed hand injury and the rest of the field didn't lick their chops and for good reason. We didn't really (miss Do)," said Aaron Knutson of Lake Orion. "There are a ton of great players out here and you still have to go out and beat everyone and beat the course as well."

     One player who did not have trouble breaking par is leader Michael Howe of Temecula, California. Based on the strength of four birdies and two bogeys, Howe leads the strong Michigan contingent including Patrick Luther of Novi who produced a one under score of 71.

     If you are looking for Pure Michigan, 11 of the top 14 golfers are from Michigan but not three of the top four. Will Seger of Jasper, Indiana is three back after shooting a 73. Seger is verbally committed to Indiana University and played a strong first day round. Luther is playing well on a big stage as he birdied the 567 yard par five first. Luther kept the momentum going with two more front nine birdies before a bogey at number eight. The back nine saw Luther add another birdie on number ten to put him three under but a pair of bogeys gave him a finishing score only one shot behind the leader. Ryan Jahn  (Jupiter, Fla) is three back at 73. Then the Michigan contingent took over. Adam Firavich of Hartland is tied with Jahn three strokes back. For Firavich it was a round he would like to have one mulligan. He started off his very polished round with six straight pars before he birdied the 584 yard par five seventh. Firavich was on cruise control until number 17. Remember the old days when the 17th was a party hole and the bleachers were littered with a lot of tipsy people who embarrassed civil society. For Adam, he  earned a triple bogey six and was going into the 18th two over before a birdie on the closing hole quickly gave Firavich a good frame of mind for day two. Alex Kleckner of Commerce Township plays for Lakeland High School and his 75 was a round of redemption. After carding a double bogey and two more bogeys, Kleckner shot a 40 on the front nine. But the back nine shows what can happen when you play an entire 18 holes. He birdied three holes on the back nine but doubled the 18th and his 75 shows how this former PGA Tour stop can bite you. While it has been said that you cannot win a golf tournament after one day, you certainly can lose one. Charlie Green  (Ann Arbor) kept a level head after carding an opening round of 75.  I played solid today, said Green. " I did not try to do too much. Hopefully I should be right there. "

     For the girls, Jessica Porvasnik is not only committed to Ohio State to play golf but she is committed to winning an AJGA event in the backyards of her two instate rivals. On a course marked at just over 6,000 yards (6,024) Porvasnik put together an even par round  and was very steady in building a one shot lead. With birdies on two medium par fours, she built an early lead and even her bogey on number nine did nothing to slow her down. She played one over the rest of the way and left Emily Mills (Farmingdale, NJ) one stroke back. The field is bunched up for the girls with 21 players in the field within ten strokes of the lead. Jacqueline Setas of East Lansing is only two shots back after carding a 74. Julia Montgomery of Shelby Township was five over par after five holes but kept grinding her round out and it paid off. She started her back nine off with six consecutive pars before an eagle gave her some redemption. The 431 yard par five 16th was just the elixir she needed. She finished her round four over par and with the field bunched up tight on the girls side, truly anything can happen on day two. 

Howe and Porvasnik capture first-round leads at the Randy Wise Junior Open Leaders hold one-stroke advantage over competition at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club GRAND BLANC, Mich. — Michael Howe of Temecula, Calif., carded a 2-under-par 70 to lead the Boys Division, while Jessica Porvasnik of Hinckley, Ohio, leads the Girls Division with an even-par 72. Howe and Porvasnik each hold a one-stroke lead over their respective fields heading into the second round. more

Boys Division Name Grad Hometown Score 1 Michael Howe 2013 Temecula, Calif. 35-35--70 2 Patrick Luther 2012 Novi, Mich. 34-37--71 T3 Will Seger 2013 Jasper, Ind. 39-34--73 3 Ryan Jahn 2013 Jupiter, Fla. 37-36--73 3 Alexander Dombrowski 2012 Gaylord, Mich. 35-38--73 3 Adam Firavich 2013 Hartland, Mich. 35-38--73 T7 Chris Beltzer 2012 Haslett, Mich. 38-36--74 7 Nick Carlson 2015 Hamilton, Mich. 37-37--74 T9 Connor Carey 2012 Grand Blanc, Mich. 37-38--75 9 Alex Kleckner 2014 Commerce Twp, Mich. 40-35--75 9 Andrew VanAelst 2013 Spring Lake, Mich. 40-35--75 9 Sam Weatherhead 2013 Grand Rapids, Mich. 37-38--75 9 Dustin Pumford 2014 St Charles, Mich. 39-36--75 9 Charlie Green 2013 Ann Arbor, Mich. 40-35--75 T15 Donald Qiu 2014 Surrey, British Columbia 39-37--76 15 Otto Black 2012 Pinckney, Mich. 40-36--76 15 Rodrigo Munoz 2013 Bradenton, Fla. 37-39--76 15 Michael Makris 2014 South Bend, Ind. 40-36--76 15 Colin Proctor 2014 Anderson, Ind. 37-39--76 15 Donnie Trosper 2015 Canton, Mich. 40-36--76 15 Will Grimmer 2015 Cincinnati, Ohio 38-38--76 15 Dylan Siebenaler 2013 Sugar Land, Texas 40-36--76 15 Kyle Rodes 2013 Plymouth, Mich. 37-39--76 15 Dean Hitt 2013 Jackson, Mich. 40-36--76 T25 Alex Waelchli 2013 Clarkston, Mich. 38-39--77 25 Reed Hrynewich 2013 Muskegon, Mich. 37-40--77 25 Daniel Wetterich 2015 Cincinnati, Ohio 40-37--77 25 Sameer Kalia 2012 Campbellville, Ontario 40-37--77 25 Daniel Schwarz 2012 Cincinnati, Ohio 39-38--77 25 Ryan Allison 2013 Melbourne, Fla. 38-39--77 25 Matthew Allison 2014 Melbourne, Fla. 38-39--77 25 Caulen Coe 2013 Gulfstream, Fla. 41-36--77 25 Osama Khan 2014 (Canada) St. James, Barbados 39-38--77 T34 Kyle Meihofer 2013 Valparaiso, Ind. 38-40--78 34 Jason Brandt 2015 Mason, Mich. 40-38--78 34 Bryce Evon 2013 Windsor, Ontario 39-39--78 34 Brett Rinker 2013 Slippery Rock, Pa. 39-39--78 34 Kitwana Ashford 2015 Farmington Hills, Mich. 40-38--78 T39 Cameron Murray 2013 Traverse City, Mich. 40-39--79 39 Justin Pahl 2014 White Lake, Mich. 41-38--79 39 Chet Ryeson 2013 Metamora, Mich. 39-40--79 39 Adam Decker 2012 Ada, Mich. 39-40--79 39 Matthew Wetterich 2013 Cincinnati, Ohio 36-43--79 39 Max Kollin 2012 Farmington Hills, Mich. 45-34--79 39 Brandon Barrows 2015 Lake Orion, Mich. 39-40--79 39 David DeMarois 2014 Brighton, Mich. 39-40--79 39 Kenneth Li 2016 Westmont, Ill. 40-39--79 39 Ian Kelsey 2014 Deerfield, Ill. 40-39--79 T49 Kyle Gaines 2013 Oxford, Mich. 41-39--80 49 Zak Fadden 2014 Plymouth, Mich. 40-40--80 49 Michael Sharp 2014 Kendallville, Ind. 40-40--80 49 Aaron Knutson 2012 Lake Orion, Mich. 39-41--80 T53 Benjamin Zyber 2014 Swartz Creek, Mich. 38-43--81 53 Chase Brincat 2013 San Antonio, Texas 42-39--81 53 Michael Doyle 2014 Rochester, Mich. 40-41--81 53 Blaze Hogan 2012 Big Rapids, Mich. 42-39--81 53 Jackson Heazel 2013 Atlanta, Ga. 44-37--81 53 Tim Taylor 2014 Iowa Falls, Iowa 43-38--81 T59 Matt Stoner 2013 Mokena, Ill. 43-39--82 59 Bailey Truesdell 2012 Grand Blanc, Mich. 41-41--82 59 Holden Pahr 2012 Chardon, Ohio 44-38--82 T62 Joshua Bumgarner 2013 Scott Depot, W.Va. 42-41--83 62 Johnny Fortuna 2013 Bloomfield Hills, Mich. 39-44--83 62 Max Rispler 2014 Alto, Mich. 44-39--83 62 Austin Rivet 2014 Howell, Mich. 40-43--83 62 Bobby Jacobs 2013 Valparaiso , Ind. 42-41--83 62 James Russo 2013 Scottsdale, Ariz. 43-40--83 62 Camden Nierman 2012 Scottsdale, Ariz. 38-45--83 62 George Qian 2013 Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. 43-40--83 T70 Jeremy Ball 2014 Bloomfield Hills, Mich. 43-41--84 70 Brendan Seys 2016 Port Lambton, Ontario 42-42--84 72 Jai Sharma 2013 Duluth, Ga. 42-45--87 Girls Division Name Grad Hometown Score 1 Jessica Porvasnik 2013 Hinckley, Ohio 35-37--72 2 Emily Mills 2014 Farmingdale, N.J. 36-37--73 T3 Jillian Hollis 2015 Rocky River, Ohio 37-37--74 3 Jacqueline Setas 2014 East Lansing, Mich. 38-36--74 5 Nina Fairbairn 2013 Orinda, Calif. 37-38--75 T6 Ayaka Suzuki 2013 Bradenton, Fla. 38-38--76 6 Julia Montgomery 2013 Shelby Township, Mich. 41-35--76 6 Muni He 2017 pitt meadows,BC 39-37--76 9 Joo Youn Seo 2014 Laguna Niguel, Calif. 41-36--77 T10 Ali Nageotte 2014 Westlake, Ohio 43-36--79 10 Hailey Hrynewich 2013 Muskegon, Mich. 38-41--79 10 Grace Choi 2013 Dallas, Texas 43-36--79 T13 Sarah Kolodzik 2014 Bellbrook, Ohio 40-40--80 13 Elle Nichols 2014 Okemos, Mich. 41-39--80 13 Janie Fineis 2013 East Lansing, Mich. 42-38--80 13 Tenley Shield 2014 Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. 39-41--80 T17 Hannah Lewis 2012 Plainwell, Mich. 41-40--81 17 Morgan Smith 2013 Muskegon, Mich. 39-42--81 17 Danielle Crilley 2013 East Lansing, Mich. 41-40--81 17 Samantha Stewart 2013 Oklahoma City, Okla. 41-40--81 21 Aya Johnson 2013 North Muskegon, Mich. 42-40--82 22 Samantha Moss 2014 Fenton, Mich. 46-38--84 23 Greer Clausen 2014 Bloomfield Hills, Mich. 43-43--86 24 Julie Guckian 2013 Linden, Mich. 44-45--89