Oak Ridge: Rudolph birdies final hole to claim first AJGA victory

 

Cason tops Girls Division in final AJGA tournament

By American Junior Golf Association

Goodman Rudolph of Cordova, Tennessee, tapped in for birdie on the par-5 18th hole to secure the victory with a final-round 5-under-par 67 at the Under Armour/Scott Stallings Championship, which was in Oak Ridge from July 27-30.

Olivia Cason of Owensboro, Kentucky, finished her AJGA career in style at Oak Ridge Country Club, getting up-and-down on No. 18 to win her first AJGA tournament.

Rudolph, the grandson of five-time PGA TOUR winner Mason Rudolph, carded seven birdies during the final round to win the tournament by one stroke. The rising high school junior finished with a tournament total of 11-under-par 205 over a contested Boys Division leaderboard.

“I started off the round really well hitting basically every flag,” Rudolph said. “I had a couple of putts drop as well and then was able to make some shots down the stretch.”

Despite beginning the day in the leader group, Rudolph needed a late push to clinch the victory. The 17-year-old sealed the tournament with birdies on two out of the final three holes.

“When I hit it to about a foot on No. 16, that’s when the momentum changed,” said Rudolph. “On No. 18, I had to go for it in two. I knew if I could get it on the green I could two-putt for a win.”

Rudolph was followed by two additional Tennessee natives at the top of the leaderboard. Ryan Hall of Knoxville shot an 8-under-par 64 in the final round, four shy of Scott Stallings’ course record, to finish in second place at 10-under-par 206. Brayden Garrison of Nolensville, Tennessee, tallied five birdies and an eagle on No. 9 to record a tournament total of 9-under-par 207 and place third.

Ryan Gerard of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Trenton Johnson of Brentwood, Tennessee, rounded out the top five at 8-under-par 208.

In the Girls Division, Cason notched her second consecutive bogey-free round to finish her four-year AJGA career. The future University of Louisville golfer sunk a five-foot putt to win by one stroke.

“I was nervous at the start of it, but I just had to stick to my game,” said Cason. “I was hitting it well all day, and I knew I had to get up-and-down on No. 18 to finish it. I hit a great chip shot to five feet and was able to make the putt and then gave a huge sigh of relief.”

The recent graduate of Owensboro Catholic High School carded three rounds under par to finish with a tournament total of 9-under-par 207. Cason touted the victory as a building block for her upcoming college experiences.

“This is a huge confidence-builder for me, especially with college tournaments this fall,” Cason said. “Everyone was really good in this field similar to how it will be in college. I’m proud of how I’ve grown since my freshman and sophomore year and I was able to approach today with a lot more confidence because of my experiences in the AJGA.”

Atlanta-native Amanda Doherty tallied birdies on Nos. 9 and 13 during the final round to finish one stroke shy of Cason at 8-under-par 208. The Florida State University verbal commit finished in the top 10 for the third straight AJGA tournament. Abigail Heck of Memphis, Tennessee, finished in third at 4-under-par 212.

	Name	Grad	Hometown	Score
1	Goodman Rudolph	2017	Cordova, Tenn.	70-68-67–205
2	Ryan Hall	2018	Knoxville, Tenn.	70-72-64–206
3	Brayden Garrison	2016	Nolensville, Tenn.	71-69-67–207
T4	Trenton Johnson	2019	Brentwood, Tenn.	73-67-68–208
T4	Ryan Gerard	2017	Raleigh, N.C.	69-68-71–208
T6	Spencer Cross	2017	Sevierville, Tenn.	70-70-69–209
T6	Austin Fulton	2017	Villa Rica, Ga.	69-71-69–209
T6	Matthew Giles	2015	Louisville, Tenn.	69-69-71–209
T6	Benton Weinberg	2016	Potomac, Md.	69-70-70–209
10	Yin Ho Yue	2018	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	71-70-69–210
T11	Eddie Karst	2016	Kingsport, Tenn.	71-71-69–211
T11	Ethan Shepherd	2017	Greenwood, Ind.	72-69-70–211
T13	Zach Norris	2017	McKee, Ky.	73-69-70–212
T13	Chip Thomas	2016	Farragut, Tenn.	68-74-70–212
T13	Zach Miller	2018	Richmond, Ky.	72-70-70–212
T13	Sean Wilcox	2016	Frisco, Texas	68-73-71–212
T13	Hunter Hammett	2017	Hattiesburg, Miss.	69-71-72–212
T18	Joe Weiler	2017	Bloomington, Ind.	74-72-67–213
T18	Tyler Johnson	2016	Knoxville, Tenn.	73-73-67–213
T18	Nick Giles	2016	Germantown, Tenn.	71-67-75–213
T18	Cooper Sears	2017	Old Hickory, Tenn.	69-69-75–213
T22	Winston Margaritis	2018	Collierville, Tenn.	76-70-68–214
T22	Jake Hall	2018	Knoxville, Tenn.	74-67-73–214
T22	Brock Ochsenreiter	2016	Nashville, Tenn.	72-69-73–214
T25	Landon Cottrell	2016	Collierville, Tenn.	69-76-70–215
T25	Kyle Jeffers	2016	London, Ky.	72-71-72–215
T25	Austin Bratton	2017	Newburgh, Ind.	72-71-72–215
28	Chase Roswall	2017	Bristol, Tenn.	76-68-72–216
T29	Kyle Cottam	2017	Knoxville, Tenn.	77-71-69–217
T29	Wil Gibson	2018	Jonesboro, Ark.	72-73-72–217
T31	Robert Howard	2018	Acworth, Ga.	71-76-71–218
T31	Grant Sutliff	2018	Suwanee, Ga.	73-73-72–218
T31	Jay Fox	2017	Springfield, Tenn.	73-74-71–218
T34	Brian Clark	2016	Knoxville, Tenn.	76-74-69–219
T34	Dario Ayala	2016	Alpharetta, Ga.	75-74-70–219
T34	Chris Akers	2016	Asheville, N.C.	75-72-72–219
T34	Sebastian Darmo	2016	Roswell, Ga.	72-74-73–219
T34	Ryan Joiner	2016	Roswell, Ga.	73-72-74–219
T34	Kevin Jackson	2015	Atlanta, Ga.	71-71-77–219
T34	Oliver Whatley	2017	Potomac, Md.	68-74-77–219
T41	Drew Jurs	2016	Gastonia, N.C.	75-73-72–220
T41	Jack Story	2016	Dickson, Tenn.	74-73-73–220
T41	Brett Barron	2016	Suwanee, Ga.	73-73-74–220
T41	Brandon Kewalramani	2017	Simi Valley, Calif.	76-69-75–220
T41	Garrett Whitfield	2017	Johnson City, Tenn.	70-74-76–220
T46	Andrew Yowell	2016	Marietta, Ga.	73-77-71–221
T46	Caden Mclaughlin	2016	Alcoa, Tenn.	77-71-73–221
T46	Daniel Fienemann	2017	Peachtree City, Ga.	73-74-74–221
T46	Kenny Park	2016	(South Korea) Cumming, Ga.	72-73-76–221
T50	JonErik Alford	2017	Roswell, Ga.	75-76-71–222
T50	Reagan Harrell	2016	Guntersville, Ala.	72-80-70–222
T50	Mason Rudolph	2017	Cordova, Tenn.	76-74-72–222
T53	Ryan Hicks	2017	Clearwater, Fla.	72-77-74–223
T53	Oliver Simonsen	2016	Ooltewah, Tenn.	73-72-78–223
T55	Matthew Guo	2017	Clemmons, N.C.	74-77-73–224
T55	Cameron Yeary	2016	Knoxville, Tenn.	74-72-78–224
T57	Raj Chekuri	2017	Pleasanton, Calif.	78-75-72–225
T57	Brady Keran	2017	Canton, Ga.	79-70-76–225
T57	Matt Liddon	2017	Yazoo City, Miss.	73-75-77–225
60	Jordan Botwinick	2016	Germantown, Tenn.	76-76-74–226
T61	Steven Bagwell	2016	Maryville, Tenn.	72-81-74–227
T61	Caleb Jensen	2017	Woodstock, Ga.	76-75-76–227
T61	Blake Martin	2015	Pinehurst, N.C.	72-78-77–227
T64	Coleman Jones	2018	Franklin, Tenn.	75-76-78–229
T64	Tim Rotermund	2017	Madison, Conn.	76-75-78–229
T66	Davis Kirk	2017	Dalton, Ga.	70-85-75–230
T66	Brian Nichol	2016	St. Augustine, Fla.	75-79-76–230
T68	Dawson Dally	2017	Katy, Texas	78-76-77–231
T68	Braedon Wear	2020	Maryville, Tenn.	75-81-75–231
70	Luke Scealf	2017	Knoxville, Tenn.	80-79-73–232
71	Kirran Magowan	2016	Loveland, Ohio	81-78-78–237

 

	Name	Grad	Hometown	Score
1	Olivia Cason	2015	Owensboro, Ky.	71-66-70–207
2	Amanda Doherty	2016	Atlanta, Ga.	71-66-71–208
3	Abigail Heck	2017	Memphis, Tenn.	70-69-73–212
4	Brooke Graebe	2015	Yorba Linda, Calif.	68-73-73–214
T5	Claire Cameron	2017	Martinsville, Ind.	69-71-78–218
T5	Rachel Heck	2020	Memphis, Tenn.	72-70-76–218
T7	Aubree Jones	2017	Covington, Tenn.	71-78-70–219
T7	Alyssa Montgomery	2019	Knoxville, Tenn.	74-74-71–219
T9	Jordan Susce	2017	Birmingham, Ala.	73-75-73–221
T9	Malia Stovall	2018	Winchester, Tenn.	74-75-72–221
11	Kristin Engle	2017	Barbourville, Ky.	75-72-75–222
12	Kimberlee Tottori	2017	Las Vegas, Nev.	72-78-74–224
13	Katherine Holmes	2016	Signal Mountain, Tenn.	76-76-73–225
T14	Allison Herring	2015	Skillman, N.J.	73-75-78–226
T14	Kathryn Carson	2017	Mooresville, N.C.	75-71-80–226
16	Elizabeth Reedy	2017	Marietta, Ga.	78-73-76–227
17	Skylar Thompson	2018	Buford, Ga.	73-76-79–228
18	Hannabeth Owens	2016	Crab Orchard, Ky.	76-76-77–229
19	Erin Rowland	2018	Louisville, Ky.	76-80-76–232
20	Harmanprit Kaur	2016	Lawrenceville, Ga.	77-79-81–237
21	Amanda Leslie	2016	Parkland, Fla.	79-77-82–238
22	Caroline Cavin	2017	Knoxville, Tenn.	81-78-80–239
23	Anna Fassnacht	2016	Killen, Ala.	81-80-80–241
24	Bethany Burns	2016	Signal Mountain, Tenn.