What Happened
The 68th Boys’ Junior Amateur Championship got underway on Wednesday at Seminole Legacy Golf Club and Golden Eagle Golf & Country Club. Colton Swartz took the lead in the Boys (16-18) division at 5-under 67, while Shawn Coultoff moved to the top of the Boys (13-15) leaderboard with a 5-under 67.
Swartz used a bogey-free first round at Golden Eagle to take the first-round lead in the Boys (16-18) division. He got off to a quick start on Wednesday with a birdie on the 10th, his first hole of the day. The Fleming Island native closed out his first nine with birdies on three of the four final holes. Swartz added another on the first and finished the day with a 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead.
Armand Loscalzo and Wyatt Plattner finished the day one shot back of Swartz in a tie for second at 4-under 68.
Coultoff got off to a tremendous start in the first round at Golden Eagle. Beginning on the 10th hole, the Winter Garden native birdied his first three holes of the day and added an eagle on the par-5 15th hole. He added a birdie on the 18th to close out a bogey-free 30 on his first nine. Coultoff finished the day with a 37 on his second nine to take a three-shot lead over the field at 5-under 67.
Parker Severs and Ronav Benak both carded a 2-under 70 to sit in a tie for second.
What’s Next
The second round of the Boys’ Junior Championship will begin Thursday with a cut to low 70 and ties following the second round
Notable
- Eighty-four players teed it up at Seminole Legacy Golf Club, while 84 players teed it up at Golden Eagle Golf & Country Club.
- Coultoff carded the most birdies of the day with seven, while five players finished the round with six birdies.
- Eleven players finished the first round under par in the Boys (16-18) division, while four competitors posted under-par rounds in the Boys (13-15) division.
- Coultoff, who holds the first-round lead in the 13-15 division, finished runner-up at the 2021 Boys’ Junior Championship.
- The field will be cut to low 70 and ties following the second round.
Quotable
“My putting really felt good today. Hitting the ball in the right spots helped but the putting did it for me. The greens at Seminole are going to be faster and harder, so it is going to be a different kind of test tomorrow." – Colton Swartz on his first-round 67
“Seminole is a little different than Golden Eagle. I played pretty conservative today at Golden Eagle, a lot of 3-irons off the tee. At Seminole, I can really take advantage of how far I hit it and attack the course a lot more.” – Shawn Coultoff on heading to Seminole for the second round
“It was pretty solid, and I hit it really well. I had a few stupid bogies, but I eagled the ninth hole so that was a good start to the back nine. I wished I had finished a little bit lower, but it should be good going into the next few days.” – Wyatt Plattner on his first-round 68
“Hitting the fairways is going to be really important tomorrow at Golden Eagle. The fairways are narrower that Seminole, and some of the greens aren’t as undulate so putting will be a little easier." - Elijah Zamarron on heading to Golden Eagle tomorrow
