In a dazzling display of young talent, four promising junior golfers have stormed into the lead after an exhilarating first round at the Jack Newton International Junior Classic hosted by Cypress Lakes Golf & Country Club.
Kayun Mudadana of NSW GC has taken the spotlight in the boys division, shooting a jaw-dropping five-under-par round, positioning himself a mere stroke ahead of his rivals.
“I played alright today. I putted pretty well, and I just thought if I hung on and played well then, I’d shoot a good score,” he said.
The front nine saw Mudadana maintain unwavering consistency, but the back nine featured a breathtaking flurry of five birdies on the scorecard.
“I started on 10 and I was only one under through nine, I got to the back nine and I had two birdies in a row quickly, so I got three under and then I played pretty steady until six and had three in a row and parred nine.”
Amidst stiff competition from junior golfers hailing from all corners of the globe, Mudadana expressed his sheer enjoyment, saying, “It’s good fun. I always relish the thrill of competing here, and the week always seems to fly by.”
Trailing closely with an impressive four-under-par performance is Brisbane’s Campbell Kerr, who makes his debut appearance in the International event.
“It’s my first time here and the first time I’ve played Cypress Lakes. I really enjoyed the course, it’s in really good condition and the greens are mint. I love playing on bank grass so it’s a great course to be on,” he said.
“I feel like I played well and hit it really well off the tee. This is the sort of course where you need to go out there and if you’re well off the tee and you have good approach shots in then you’ll be okay, and I felt like I did that today. I gave myself a lot of good chances for birdie.”
Tied for third in the boy’s division is the NSW trio of Avondale’s Riley Millers, Dubbo’s Cooper Giddings and St Michael’s Alex Radevski.
Meanwhile, in the boys’ division of the Jack Newton International Sub-Junior Classic, Wollongong’s Zac Oyston takes the lead after a stellar round of 69 at Rydges Resort.
Three girls are currently leading the field after round one of the Jack Newton International Junior Classic, those being Southport’s Yuuki Takada, Emerald Lakes Sarah Hammett and Yui Yanahara from Japan.
The trio shot two under par today, Queenslander Takada saying she was happy to be at the top of the leader board.
“I played pretty solid out there, my putting wasn’t the greatest to be honest, but my shots were really consistent. I only missed two greens which is pretty good so I’m just hoping my shots stay the same throughout the week and obviously holing some putts would be nice,” she said.
“On hole 11 I hit it to two feet for a tap in birdie, so that was nice.”
She’s now hoping her game can see her take home a good score by the end of the week.
“I’m not really here to win but it’ll be good to see how my game fairs against the great players out here. I trust my game so if it’s good enough, I’ll get there.”
Just a single stroke behind and tied for fourth are Amy Jo of Surfers Paradise, Monami Tamura from Japan, Ann Jang of NSW GC, and Sophie Eppelstun representing Catalina.
Eppelstun, the top-performing girl from New South Wales, is bubbling with excitement as she heads into the second round.
“I’m happy, I hit a lot of good shots. Obviously, I made a couple of mistakes but I’m overall happy with my performance. I would like to sink a couple more putts, and three putting the last was not ideal but I’ll try again tomorrow and try and shoot a better score,” she said.
While a win at the end of the week would mean the world to her, she’s just hoping to do her best.
“I don’t really make goals with the leader board, I just want to play my best golf and progressively get better scoring.”
Leading the girl’s division after the first round of the Jack Newton International Sub-Junior Classic is the Australian’s Camilla Kim after shooting two under par.
Round two of the Jack Newton International will begin from 6:15am tomorrow morning.
