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Vaughn wins flight at Oregon Junior Amateur
By John Gunther, Sports Editor
Friday, July 04, 2008 | No comments posted.
BANDON — Monica Vaughn completed a magical week at Bandon Dunes by winning her flight at the Oregon Junior Amateur golf tournament on Thursday.
Vaughn, a 13-year-old Reedsport resident, was 2-under par through 11 holes while beating Hannah Swanson 8 and 7 to win the first flight in the intermediate girls division, for golfers 12 to 14 years old.
The 78th Oregon Junior Amateur concludes today with the championship matches in seven divisions, as well as several of the other flights for players who lost their first matches in the championship flights or didn’t qualify for the top flight.
Vaughn was the medalist in the intermediate girls division with a career-best score of 72 on Monday. She lost her opening match in the championship flight to Tess Jennings, but bounced back with two convincing victories to win the first flight.
In Thursday’s round, she was nearly perfect. She hit her drives into the fairways on all nine of the holes that weren’t par-3s and hit all 11 greens in regulation. Her only slip-up was a three-putt bogey on No. 8, and she countered that with three birdies. On the par-5 third hole, she hit the green with her second shot and had a two-putt birdie. She was just off the green with her second shot on the par-5 ninth and chipped close, leading to another birdie. Her other birdie came on the par-3 sixth hole.
“I’m really happy,” said Vaughn, who was on pace to shoot a career-best score when the match ended early.
Vaughn was thrilled with how she hit her driver and also how she putted. After having five three-putts in her loss on Tuesday and three more in her win Wednesday, Vaughn had just one three-putt Thursday.
“I changed putters last night,” she said. “I think it worked better.”
While Vaughn was a little disappointed to lose her first match this week, she was generally thrilled with the tournament.
It started with her big round Monday, which ended with a bang.
Vaughn was battling two-time defending champion Ashley Pickerell and Morgan Thompson for medalist honors, while holding a slim lead when she got into trouble on the 17th hole. After hitting her drive into a bunker and just being able to punch out, she hit a poor approach shot. That left an 80-foot putt for par. She drained that, though, and carried the momentum to the 18th hole.
On the finishing par-5 at Bandon Dunes, Vaughn hit a huge drive, then hit her second shot three feet from the hole and made the putt for an eagle, giving her a two-shot win over Thompson for medalist honors, with Pickerell another shot back.
Pickerell and Thompson played a great match during the semifinals of the division Wednesday. Pickerell was 3-under par in the match, and lost.
“I’m impressed with our girls,” said Charlotte Plank, the Oregon Golf Association’s director of junior golf, who was in charge of this week’s tournament.
Plank has been delighted with the tournament, the first Oregon Junior Amateur held on the South Coast.
“It’s gone wonderful,” she said, heaping praise on the staff at Bandon Dunes for the resort’s support and the quality of the golf courses used in the event — Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails.
“Bandon Dunes — you can’t get any better,” Plank said of holding the tournament at the resort.
Matt Allen, the assistant general manager at Bandon Dunes until becoming the general manager at Chambers Bay Golf Course in Washington earlier this year, helped coordinate Bandon Dunes hosting this week’s tournament, Plank said. Before coming to Bandon Dunes, Allen worked for the Oregon Golf Association.
Plank said it “goes without saying” that OGA would like the tournament to return to the resort, though she added that about 15 courses are in the rotation for the event.
For most of the golfers, including Vaughn, this week was their first time playing at the resort.
“It was really fun playing at Bandon Dunes,” she said.
In all, 240 golfers competed in the tournament this week, with the champions in each of the seven divisions to be decided today.
In the junior boys (16-17 years old) division, Connor Rumpf of Sherwood beat Nick Sherwood of Albany in a semifinal that went to 19 holes, by holing a 40-foot par putt on the 18th hole and a 30-foot putt on the 19th hole. He will face Bobby Monaco of Eugene, who beat Travis Johnson of Wilsonville 3 and 2 in the other semifinal.
In the girls (15-17) division, Amy Beth Simanton of Lake Oswego beat defending champion Aver Collura 7 and 6 to reach the final. She’ll face Seshia-Lei Telles of Tualatin, who beat Katie Zajicek by a 7 and 6 margin.
In the boys (14-15) division, defending champion Thomas Arand of McMinnville beat Zach Foushee of Tigard on the 19th hole to reach the final. Alex Kang of Portland beat Sulman Raza 1-up in the other semifinal.
In the intermediate boys (12-13) division, medalist Beau Scott of Washougal, Wash., beat Joseph Knight 3 and 2 to reach the final, where he’ll face Conor Oliver of Sandy. Oliver beat Conner Kumpula 1-up.
The other championship participants were determined Wednesday.
In the intermediate girls division, Jennings will face Thompson.
The pee wee boys (8-11) final features Dylan Wu against John Nichols. In the pee wee girls (8-11) division, GiGi Stoll faces Deanna Salvatori.
Only three South Coast golfers were in the tournament, and Vaughn was the only one to make it to Thursday.
Though Vaughn is just entering eighth grade this fall, she is a seasoned golfer who has been playing junior events for several years.
In 2006, she won the pee wee division of the Oregon Junior Amateur at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn, beating Swanson in a championship match that stretched to 10 holes — one more than the peewees usually play.
Next week, Vaughn will join many of the same girls she faced this week in the 11th-annual Oregon Junior Stroke Play Championship at the OGA Golf Course. That three-day tournament starts Tuesday.
Several other tournaments also are on Vaughn’s schedule before school starts again in the fall. She also plays both volleyball and basketball, but golf has been a bigger priority this year.
“This year was a really big year for me,” she said. “I practiced way more than I have before.”
Vaughn doesn’t mind committing so much time to golf.
“It’s been better than sitting at home watching TV,” she said.
Vaughn, a 13-year-old Reedsport resident, was 2-under par through 11 holes while beating Hannah Swanson 8 and 7 to win the first flight in the intermediate girls division, for golfers 12 to 14 years old.
The 78th Oregon Junior Amateur concludes today with the championship matches in seven divisions, as well as several of the other flights for players who lost their first matches in the championship flights or didn’t qualify for the top flight.
Vaughn was the medalist in the intermediate girls division with a career-best score of 72 on Monday. She lost her opening match in the championship flight to Tess Jennings, but bounced back with two convincing victories to win the first flight.
In Thursday’s round, she was nearly perfect. She hit her drives into the fairways on all nine of the holes that weren’t par-3s and hit all 11 greens in regulation. Her only slip-up was a three-putt bogey on No. 8, and she countered that with three birdies. On the par-5 third hole, she hit the green with her second shot and had a two-putt birdie. She was just off the green with her second shot on the par-5 ninth and chipped close, leading to another birdie. Her other birdie came on the par-3 sixth hole.
“I’m really happy,” said Vaughn, who was on pace to shoot a career-best score when the match ended early.
Vaughn was thrilled with how she hit her driver and also how she putted. After having five three-putts in her loss on Tuesday and three more in her win Wednesday, Vaughn had just one three-putt Thursday.
“I changed putters last night,” she said. “I think it worked better.”
While Vaughn was a little disappointed to lose her first match this week, she was generally thrilled with the tournament.
It started with her big round Monday, which ended with a bang.
Vaughn was battling two-time defending champion Ashley Pickerell and Morgan Thompson for medalist honors, while holding a slim lead when she got into trouble on the 17th hole. After hitting her drive into a bunker and just being able to punch out, she hit a poor approach shot. That left an 80-foot putt for par. She drained that, though, and carried the momentum to the 18th hole.
On the finishing par-5 at Bandon Dunes, Vaughn hit a huge drive, then hit her second shot three feet from the hole and made the putt for an eagle, giving her a two-shot win over Thompson for medalist honors, with Pickerell another shot back.
Pickerell and Thompson played a great match during the semifinals of the division Wednesday. Pickerell was 3-under par in the match, and lost.
“I’m impressed with our girls,” said Charlotte Plank, the Oregon Golf Association’s director of junior golf, who was in charge of this week’s tournament.
Plank has been delighted with the tournament, the first Oregon Junior Amateur held on the South Coast.
“It’s gone wonderful,” she said, heaping praise on the staff at Bandon Dunes for the resort’s support and the quality of the golf courses used in the event — Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails.
“Bandon Dunes — you can’t get any better,” Plank said of holding the tournament at the resort.
Matt Allen, the assistant general manager at Bandon Dunes until becoming the general manager at Chambers Bay Golf Course in Washington earlier this year, helped coordinate Bandon Dunes hosting this week’s tournament, Plank said. Before coming to Bandon Dunes, Allen worked for the Oregon Golf Association.
Plank said it “goes without saying” that OGA would like the tournament to return to the resort, though she added that about 15 courses are in the rotation for the event.
For most of the golfers, including Vaughn, this week was their first time playing at the resort.
“It was really fun playing at Bandon Dunes,” she said.
In all, 240 golfers competed in the tournament this week, with the champions in each of the seven divisions to be decided today.
In the junior boys (16-17 years old) division, Connor Rumpf of Sherwood beat Nick Sherwood of Albany in a semifinal that went to 19 holes, by holing a 40-foot par putt on the 18th hole and a 30-foot putt on the 19th hole. He will face Bobby Monaco of Eugene, who beat Travis Johnson of Wilsonville 3 and 2 in the other semifinal.
In the girls (15-17) division, Amy Beth Simanton of Lake Oswego beat defending champion Aver Collura 7 and 6 to reach the final. She’ll face Seshia-Lei Telles of Tualatin, who beat Katie Zajicek by a 7 and 6 margin.
In the boys (14-15) division, defending champion Thomas Arand of McMinnville beat Zach Foushee of Tigard on the 19th hole to reach the final. Alex Kang of Portland beat Sulman Raza 1-up in the other semifinal.
In the intermediate boys (12-13) division, medalist Beau Scott of Washougal, Wash., beat Joseph Knight 3 and 2 to reach the final, where he’ll face Conor Oliver of Sandy. Oliver beat Conner Kumpula 1-up.
The other championship participants were determined Wednesday.
In the intermediate girls division, Jennings will face Thompson.
The pee wee boys (8-11) final features Dylan Wu against John Nichols. In the pee wee girls (8-11) division, GiGi Stoll faces Deanna Salvatori.
Only three South Coast golfers were in the tournament, and Vaughn was the only one to make it to Thursday.
Though Vaughn is just entering eighth grade this fall, she is a seasoned golfer who has been playing junior events for several years.
In 2006, she won the pee wee division of the Oregon Junior Amateur at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn, beating Swanson in a championship match that stretched to 10 holes — one more than the peewees usually play.
Next week, Vaughn will join many of the same girls she faced this week in the 11th-annual Oregon Junior Stroke Play Championship at the OGA Golf Course. That three-day tournament starts Tuesday.
Several other tournaments also are on Vaughn’s schedule before school starts again in the fall. She also plays both volleyball and basketball, but golf has been a bigger priority this year.
“This year was a really big year for me,” she said. “I practiced way more than I have before.”
Vaughn doesn’t mind committing so much time to golf.
“It’s been better than sitting at home watching TV,” she said.
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