Kim Captures First FSGA Championship at Junior Match Play
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Junior Amateur Match Play Championship is always a test of endurance, physicality, and mental toughness with how many holes are being played. This year was no different as some of the best boys between the ages of 16 to 18 took on the Jones Course at LPGA International to see who would capture this year’s title.
Day one of stroke play began with Jaden Peterson holding the outright lead after a seven under 65. Storms in the afternoon delayed play, but play was able to continue with a marathon of a day happening on Tuesday. An 8:00 AM shotgun was sent out with the cut line lurking and players needing to make a move. Another storm moved in, with players needing to wait two hours to get back out onto the golf course, making the day even longer and mentally draining. Peterson held onto his medalist spot, while a six for 1 playoff commenced to finalize the bracket of 32 and the real fun to begin.
Both defending champions (Oscar Crowe in the 16-18 division & Henry Crowe in the 13-15 division) won their matches, however that meant the two brothers needed to play each other during the round of 16. Jaden Peterson continued his hot streak defeating Joey Hage 4 & 3, while Shawn Coultoff took down Geoffrey Laklak 4 & 3.
On opposite sides of the bracket, Nicholas Pisarski started his quest to the championship match by taking down Jack Vanderschuur 3 & 2 while Shayaan Kim beat Grant McCall 2 & 1. Pisarski then proceeded to win his match in the round of 16 to face medalist Jaden Peterson in the quarterfinals. Afterg going all the way to 18, the incoming Temple Owl won 2 up, going all the way to the 18th hole.
Kim’s journey to the championship match began by seeing the 17th hole for the only time all week. He then proceeded to beat Jordan Paulshock 4 & 3, Tommy Wang 5 & 3, and finally Jack Ryan Donovan in the semifinals 3 & 2.
Pisarski’s match in the semifinals was a tight one, being all square through 13 winning 14 and then making a huge eagle putt on 16 was the dagger in Clark Mason, defeating him on the 17th hole 2 & 1.
The championship match between Kim & Pisarski was very one sided throughout the front nine, with Kim taking a 4 up lead through 10 holes. However Pisarski began to battle back winning 11 and 12 to make it a two hole match. After missing a short birdie putt on 13, a clutch up and down on 14 brought Kim’s lead to 1 up with 4 to play.
Coming down the stretch, both players came to the final hole with Kim maintaining his one up lead. They both missed the green on the last, with Pisarski hitting his chip shot up to about 8 feet. Kim however, was shortsided on a side hill lie needing to hit a high soft flop shot. He did just that. Hitting it to about 3 feet while Pisarski missed the putt, Shayaan Kim became the Junior Amateur Match Play Champion.
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