Upcoming Schedule:
November 27-30
Prestige Junior Championship
West Palm Beach, Florida
February 14-16, 2009
USKG Regional
Jekyll Island, Georgia
Latest News:
| OCTOBER 2008 |
USKG PGA Golf Club Invitational - Port St. Lucie, Florida
52 boys made up Russell's 10 year old division at the USKG PGA Golf Club Invitational at Port St. Lucie, Florida. Rainy conditions overnight and high winds made the Sunday first round very difficult to navigate the course. Everyone agreed that Wanamaker Course at PGA Village was playing considerably longer than the 5000 yards that was posted. Lift, clean & place was in effect all weekend due to the wet conditions
Russell played well in the first round, but didn't get going until the back nine. The Bermuda greens are very different than what he is used to here in the Midwest. Russell carded an 82 in round 1 putting him in a tie for 11th overall.
With more Rain in the morning on Monday and 20+ mph winds, conditions were very similar to Sunday. Russell got a much better start on the front finishing with 38 (+2). He played excellent golf on the back hitting some of the best golf shots he's hit all year. With 14 of 18 greens in regulation, Russell finished the day at 77 (+5) moving past two groups in front for solo 8th overall.
Congratulations to his friend Philip Barbaree for two outstanding rounds of 75 -68.
Philip also got his first Tournament Hole-In-One on the 105 yd par-3 6th in round 2.
Cantigny Youth Links "Ryder Cup" - Wheaton, Illinois
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The Cantigny Youth Links held their second annual "Ryder Cup" event today. The top 24 players from a year long point system were picked for two 12 man teams. There were 3 rounds consisting of alternate shot, best ball & singles. Two hole-in-ones were made during the matches on the 2nd and 3rd holes. Congrats to Will and Drew for their great shots. All the kids ended up being winners today, as they all played excellent matches and enjoyed playing in this annual team event.
| Alternate Shot | Best Ball | Singles | Total |
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| Red Team 3-1/2 |
Red Team 3-1/2 |
Red Team 6-1/2 |
Red Team 13-1/2 |
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| Blue Team 2-1/2 |
Blue Team 2-1/2 |
Blue Team 5-1/2 |
Blue Team 10-1/2 |
| AUGUST 2008 |
Russell wins his 50th!
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AUG 13, 2008 - Russell wins his 50th stroke play event today at the Illinois Junior Golf Association's YDP 10-11 Invitational.Top finishers from the 10 event season were invited to play in today's event. The season finale Invitational was held at the Geneva Golf club in Geneva, Illinois. Two laps were made around the challenging 9 hole course designed by James Foulis and built in 1900. The club was built as a members only course, and remains one today. Russell played great hitting fairways, greens and showing off his short game skills when they were needed. He finished the day at 37-41 (78) to win by two on the demanding 5,000 yd course.
| JULY 2008 |
U.S. Kids Golf World Championships - Pinehurst, N.C.
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Russell's competition course was the Dan Maples design at the Little River Resort in Carthage N.C. The course was in incredible shape, but the heat and humidity were the biggest battle. Temps soared into the high 90's with 100% humidity. Plenty of water was needed to survive the brutal conditions. There were 138 kids entered in Russell's 10 year old division playing 5,267 yds. This is the second year that Russell is playing 18 holes for three days of competition.
Round 1 - Russell started off hole #10 at 7:40 with bogey, double, bogey on the first three holes, then came back with a long birdie putt on the par-3 13th, another birdie on the 15th and finished 17 and 18 with two more bogeys. The front nine was much better with a birdie on the par-5 3rd, a bogey on 5 & 9 finishing the first round carding a 77. It was a great comeback to finish at +5 after starting the first 3 at +4.
Round 2 - Russell started off a little better than the first round. He doubled the par-5 11th for the second day in a row, then had a string of pars that lasted the next 9 holes. Russell hit a beautiful 6 iron into the par-5 3rd to three feet getting him back to +1 thru 12. The long par-4 5th was just too long for him to get home in regulation leading to a bogie 5. He pars 6, 7 & 8, bogeys the long par-5 9th to finish the day at +3 (75). Russell was paired with Drew from Louisiana, the two boys played great together and had tons of fun going toe to toe all day long.
Round 3 - The final round was looking good with a birdie on the par-3 second. A bogey on the long par-4 5th gets Russell back to even thru 5. With pars on 6 & 7 and bogeys on 8 & 9, he makes the turn at +2. Fatigue and heat exhaustion are starting to take their toll. Russell starts the back with 4 consecutive bogeys, but he bounces back with par on the 14th. A great approach leads to a birdie on 15 then an unfortunate hop leads to a double on 16. Back to back bogeys on 17 & 18 lead to a third round of 81, for a three day total of 233 and 37th overall.
Russell hit some terrific shots this week but had some bad luck as well, overall it was a fun trip and he can't wait until next year. Hopefully the weather will be a little more comfortable. Congratulations to Huachuang Zhang from China with an incredible 69-68-71.
Callaway Junior Worlds - San Diego, California
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Russell played two good practice rounds relearning the Fountains course at the Welk Resort in Escondido. Last years cut after 54 holes was +10. We hoped he would be able to make the cut as a 10 in the 9-10 division. The yardage is not your typical set-up. There are four par-4's on the front and back with the rest are par-3's, and to make it tougher, the longest par 3's are 172, 169 & 152 yds! Those length par-3's are longer than typical junior tournament yardage. There were 107 kids in Russell's division this year, with the top-36 & ties making the cut.
Round 1 - Russell started off great with a birdie on the 2nd and another on the ninth finishing the front a -2, he got thru "amen corner" at +1 and was back to even thru 15. Russell had a string of bogeys on the last three bringing him home a respectable 3 over (65) tied for 31st.
Round 2 - Russell started the second round a little different than round 1 with bogeys on the first and the second. A few pars and a few bogeys ended the front at +7. Russell struggled hitting greens in regulation and although his short game is excellent, it's wasn't enough to keep pace. he played the though 12th,13th and 14th at level par and bogied the long par 3 15th.he kept his cool paring the 16th and finished the back at +3. Russell was +10 on day two with a total of 10 over 72. His two day total was 137 with the cut line at 132. Russell played very good except for a few bad breaks and had some really terrific shots. we are all very proud of the way Russell kept his cool and never gave up.
After Tournament - Russell took a Surfing Lesson at La Jolla Shores and had loads of fun. He didn't want to get out of the water.
Congratulations to Champion Sahith Theegal
for three terrific rounds of
-3, -1 and even par for a -4 total.
| JUNE 2008 |
USKG World Championship Qualifier - Channahon, Illinois
Russell wins his third consecutive USKG World Qualifier with a score of 39 for the nine hole event. The winner gets an invitation to participate at the World Championships in Pinehurst N.C this August. The second place finisher will also get an invitation, if the winner has already qualified. Russell qualified early with his 3rd place finish in Scotland last month.
The Pepsi Little Peoples
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Russell played in his 5th Pepsi Little Peoples tournament this week in Quincy, Illinois. This was the 35th year of the event with over 600 players in 8 boys and 8 girls divisions. Kids travel from around the world to play in the third largest Junior tournament. It was incredible to see all the damage from the recent flooding on the Mississippi river.
Practice Rounds - Russell hits his 4th hole in One (Unofficial) while hitting multiple practice tee shots on the 152 yd par 3 ninth.
Round 1 - Russell struggled with fairways and greens ,but his short game was spot on for a great round of 37. He finished the day in T2, 3 shots behind Philip Barbaree
Round 2 - Russell worked hard on the range to get his driver straightened out and he ended hitting every fairway and 8 of 9 greens in regulation. He putted well, but none of his birdie attempts dropped in the hole. Russell cards a 38, still tied in 2nd place with Matthew from N.Y. The two boys went to a sudden death playoff for the second place Trophy. Both boys tied the first three holes and hit great shots into the par 5 fourth. Russell chips short leaving himself a 12 foot birdie putt. Matthew has a great chip leaving himself a 3 footer for birdie. Russell takes his time checking his line and drills the left to right 12 footer. Matthew ended up missing his 3 footer on the low side. Both boys hit great shots and Matthew's short game is second to none.
Congratulations go out to Champion Philip Barbaree for two great rounds of 34 and 37. Congratulations also go out to Chandler Shaw from South Africa for hitting a tournament Hole in One on the 6th hole on day one.
2008 World Youth Team Challenge
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The 2nd World Youth Team Challenge took place this past week in Bolingbrook, Illinois. 8 teams including 4 from the USA, 2 Mexico's, Canada and South Africa played 18 holes of alternate and four ball formats over 4 days.
The weather played a big part with winds and rain forecast for the whole event. Team USA East Coast won over Team USA West Coast in a fourth playoff hole. The kids had a chance reacquaint themselves with old friends and made a bunch of new ones too.Some really great golf shots were made by all the players and cheered on by all the spectators. Russell had a great time representing Team USA Midwest and playing in a format not common to Junior Golf.
Congratulations to the IJGC and WYTC Organizers for putting on a friendly and fun event.
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