HHIJGA Sweeps the Titles

HHIJGA Students’ Dominate IJGT Georgia Open at Savannah

Written By: Robert "Bobby" Fiala

This past weekend the International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT) hosted the Georgia Open at Savannah Harbor. The Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy (HHIJGA) had a strong attendance at this event with many standouts. The event was broken up into three divisions which were a Boys 15-19 Division, a Girls Division, and a Boys 14 & Under Division. The HHIJGA had students finish first, second, and third, in all three divisions.

In the Boy 15-19 Division, Shosei Inokawa of Atamishi, Japan walked away from the Georgia Open at Savannah Harbor with the victory. Inokawa shot rounds of 2-over-par 74 and 1-over-par 73, giving him an event total of 147. This is his first victory after having a third place finish at the IJGT Winter Shootout at Eagles Pointe.

Finishing in the second was Moe Numpituckchaikul from Bangkok, Thailand. Numpituckchaikul fired rounds of 75 and 74 while collecting four birdies and 24 pars. This was his first event of the spring season. Next weekend Moe will compete in the IJGT Carolina Championship at Kiawah Island as he looks to continue his strong start.

Shota Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan was the third place finisher in the Boys 15-19 Division for this event with a two-round total of 150. Ozaki had rounds of 2-over-par 74 and 4-over-par 76. This was also Shota’s first event of the spring season. Shota has shown that he can be a top contender in any tournament and the HHIJGA is looking for him to continue his strong competition this spring.

For the Girls Division Saya Aono of Hokuto-shi, Japan won her first title at the IJGT Georgia Open at Savannah Harbor. Saya has been a standout in every event that she has played this spring but this past week she had the focus and ambition to walk away with the victory. With rounds of 77 and an impressive final round of 1-over-par 73, Aono looks like she has settled in for the spring season. The HHIJGA is excited about this new young talent and is expecting Anon to make a solid impact for HHIJGA.

Second place was wrapped up by Phyllis Tang from Hong Kong, China after scores of 81 and 76. The 76 was her lowest score ever in an IJGT tournament. This was Tang’s second event as she had a top-ten finish at the IJGT Winter Shootout at Eagles Pointe.

Rounding out the Girls Division in third place was Julia Shin of Campinas, Brazil with a tournament score of 161. Shin had one birdie and 19 pars for the weekend. This was Juila’s first event this spring and it was exciting to see her standout for the HHIJGA.

In the Boys 14 & Under Division the HHIJGA students were not hard to miss. Lohith Ramaraju of London, England took the first place prize after firing a 2-under-par 70 on the final round of the event. This was an impressive comeback after he shot an 11-over-par 83 on the first day of the event. This gave him a total of 153 for the event. This was the second event that Lohith has played in this season. Ramaraju also collected the third place prize at the IJGT Winter Shootout at Eagles Pointe.

Peter Kelesis from Las Vegas, Nevada placed second in the event after shooting a total of 159. This was his first event this spring season and the HHIJGA is looking forward to watching Peter make big strides this spring.

In third place for the event was Christian Thornton of Chicago, Illinois with a total of 160. After bouncing back off a minor injury Thornton looked to be back in full form. Thornton shot consecutive rounds of 80 for both days.

HHIJGA continues to make an impact throughout the United States as over 40 students travel next weekend (Feb.18-19) to the IJGT Carolina Championship at Kiawah Island played at Turtle Point and the course of the 2012 PGA Championship, Ocean Course.