Over a thousand junior golfers attempted to qualify across the country for the United States Junior Amateur Championship, yet only 156 made it to the championship, and after the first round, it is Florida Junior Tour standout, Brandon Mancheno who sits at the top of the leaderboard.
Mancheno, a native of Jacksonville, set the course record at Flint Hills National Golf Club yesterday after a stellar eight-under par round of 63. This year, the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship is being held in Andover, Kansas at one of the state's finest courses. Throughout the duration of the championship, the participants will be playing the par-71 course at a lengthy 7,049 yards. The tournament format is similar to the FSGA Match Play events with two rounds of stroke play before the field gets drastically cut for match play to begin. Of the 156 players competing in the stroke play rounds, only the top 64 will move on to the match play portion of the championship. Once situated in their bracket, the player's will compete in daily matches until they are eliminated from the championship. Those two talented individuals that advance to the finals will play in a 36-hole match that will be conducted on Saturday, July 22nd.
Brandon Mancheno is hoping he is still sticking around Flint Hills National on Saturday morning, and is showing the field he's in it to win it.
Beginning his run to become the U.S. Junior Amateur Champion early Monday morning, Mancheno came out with a bang after shooting an eight-under par, 63 to break the course record that was previously shared by Collin Morikawa and Rylee Reinertson. Both Morikawa's and Reinertson's record rounds were recorded at the 2015 Trans-Miss Amateur Championship after pairs of seven-under par, 64's were carded. Manceno's 63 was also good enough for the second-lowest score ever in a U.S. Junior Amateur. The only individual who has shot lower than a 63 in a U.S. Junior Amateur is Texas Longhorn standout, Gavin Hall. Hall shot a 62 in stroke play qualifying at the 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur in Egypt Valley to earn medalist honors before falling surprisingly early in match play.
Brandon Mancheno is a familiar face to the winner's circle, however. In 2015, Mancheno shot consecutive rounds of three-under par, 69 to take medalist honors at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Colleton River Plantation Club in Bluffton, South Carolina. "If you hit the fairways, you will have wedges in [to the green] most of the day, so you can get something going low," said Mancheno in an interview with the USGA. If Mancheno qualifies for match play this afternoon, he will make his third consecutive trip to match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur, an accomplishment that is rare.
Starting off his round hot, the University of Auburn commit eagled the par-five fifth hole by holing out from just over 80 yards with a lob wedge. Another time Mancheno started off well? Last month at the 100th Amateur Championship. After bogeying his first hole of the day in the final round, Mancheno made hole-in-one on the par-three second hole to make a charge for the title before falling just short to eventual champion, Cristian DiMarco. Playing in Florida's most prestigious amateur event of the year, Mancheno shot rounds of 70-68-77-69 to card a four-under total of 284, good enough for second place. The Florida Junior Tour standout has participated in a number of FJT and state events, finishing in the top ten in every tournament since March 2015.
Teeing off in one of the last groups, Mancheno will begin his second round at 1:47 P.M. CDT and will have to shoot at least two-under par to tie the leader in the clubhouse this from morning, Austin Eckroat of Edmond, Oklahoma.
Hole-by-hole live scoring is available for the U.S. Junior Amateur.
