published: Friday, July 03, 2009

Wang goes wire-to-wire to win

FRANK JOLLEY

Staff Writer

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS -- Xin Wang turned Mission Inn Resort and Club's El Campeon golf course into her personal playground.

The Montverde Academy student began Thursday's final round at the American Junior Golf Association's Junior All-Star event with an eight-shot lead and used a 4-over par 76 to cruise nine-shot, wire-to-wire, victory.

Wang, who built onto her lead in each of the tournament's three rounds, failed to record a birdie on her final loop around the 5,696-yard layout, but was never challenged for the lead. She recorded her only double-bogey of the tournament on the 140-yard par-3 eighth hole.

Wang used her experience on El Campeon to her advantage. She entered the tournament having played the course more than 20 times and is a member of the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy, a full time junior golf training and development program based at Mission Inn.

"I live near the course and play it a lot," Wang said. "But I'm always just practicing and not playing seriously. So it's interesting to play in a tournament and do pretty well."

The oldest course at Mission Inn, El Campeon bared its fangs Thursday, allowing none of the 18 girls competing to shoot par. Wang's final round was the third-lowest of the day, trailing only Mackenzie Boydston (73) and Vivian Hsuan Chen (74).

Boydston finished sixth at 234, while was second at 229.

Wang was the only Lake and Sumter County girl competing.

In the boys division, Peter Mathison carded a 73 and held off a late charge by James Yoon, who fired a blistering 3-under 69, for a four-shot win.

Mathison had two birides and three bogeys over the 6,655-yard trek. After parring his first three holes, Mathison birdied the 380 yard par-4 fourth hole.

He birdied the par-3 15th hole before bogeying his next two holes. Mathison closed out his round with a par on the 394 yard par-4 18th hole.

Mathison's round wasn't without trouble, however. On No. 8, he found himself searching for his tee shot in the woods. But Mathison found a way to make the best of a potentially bad situation.

"I hit a low hook shot with my four-iron from 180 yards out and landed it five feet from the hole," Mathison said.

Yoon began the day in a tie for 12th place. He started his charge with birdies on the first and second holes, after closing Wednesday's round with a triple-bogey. He had five birdies on the day. Bogeys on 11 and 18 were his only blemishes.

The tournament field featured 53 boys and 18 girls between the ages of 12 and 15 from 16 states as well as Colombia and Mexico. El Campeon is measuring at 6,628 yards for the boys and 5,714 yards for the girls.

The Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series is a collection of nine events specifically designed for boys and girls and presents opportunities for younger members to develop their skills and earn entry into Open tournaments. Juniors are limited to a maximum combination of five AJGA Open and Junior All-Star Series events during a calendar year. The series concludes with the Junior All-Star Invitational over Columbus Day weekend for winners and top finishers in the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series events.