Grace Quintanilla punched in a four-over 148 to snare the overall championship in the 2019 Southern Junior Open held last April 15 to 16 at the Cebu Country Club in Cebu City.
The 11-year old Quintanilla, who played in the girls’ 13 to 14 division, posted a pair of 74 during the 36-hole competition to crown the inaugural queen of the grassroots tournament in the Southern Philippines.
She also topped the girls’ 13 to 18 division and was followed by first runner-up Martina Marie Minoza at 158 and second runner-up Ahsley Llena at 171.
Completing the Top 5 in the girls’13-18 were Ma. Pilar Aguirre (194) and Jordan Paige Ouano (228).
In the boys’13-18 division, Jacob Victor Cajita had rounds of 79 and 77 to finish with 156 and beat Franco Rafael Rivera by four strokes at 160 and David Guangko by six at 162.
Nino Miguel Minoza had 163 while Rho Hyun Ho finished with 164 to settle at fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Abby Abarcas, meanwhile, won by playoff against Alethea Paige Gaccion after both players tied at 159 in the girls’12-under division. Francesca Nicole Gan landed at third with 174 followed by Tashanah Balagauan who scored a 194 and Chloe Nicole Rada with 203.
Clement Ordeneza got a level of 160 to top the boys’ 12-under while Cliff Richard Nuneza finished off 170 for first runner-up honors. Third placer Anhan Chan won by countback over Geofrey Drew Tan at 171. Rey Del Rosario completed the top five players with 176.
The Southern Junior Open gathered 52 participants during the two-day tournament organized by the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines.
The event is a JGFP ranking event, where the scores of all participants in the 13-18 years old categories shall be recorded as part of the Leaderboard Ranking System to be used in determining the JunGolf Order of Merit.
On the other hand, the JGFP age group winners in the girls’ group were: 15-18 – Martina Marie Minoza (158) and Ma. Pilar Isabel Aguirre (194); 13-14 – Grace Quintanilla (148), Ashley Llena (171), Jordan Paige Ouano (228); 11-12 – Abby Abarcas (159), Alethea Gaccion (159), Amanda Chongbian (246); 10-under – Francesca Gan (156), Tashanah Balangauan (194), and Chloe Nicole Rada (203).
The boys’age group top finishers were: 15-18 – Jacob Victor Cajita (156), Franco Rafael Rivera (160), David Guangko (162); 13-14 – Rho Yhun Ho (164), Bryan Choi (171), John Gabriel Canlas (175); 11-12 – Cliff Richard Nuneza (170), Rey Del Rosario (176), Jun Ochiai (196); 10-under – Clement Ordeneza (160), Ahn Chan (171), and Geoffrey Drew Tan (171).
The Southern Junior Open aims to provide more playing opportunities to JGFP members all over the country as well as establish strong presence in the Southern region of the country.
Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines 