Local Sports
PHOTO PROVIDED
South’s Logan McGinn, 14 (center) earned his first American Junior Golf Association win at Huntsville.
DALLAS — South Williamsport’s Logan McGinn, 14, added a major accomplishment to his young golf career by recently capturing his first American Junior Golf Association title with a record-setting performance at the AJGA Junior at Huntsville Golf Club.
McGinn fired rounds of 69, 70, 69 to finish the 54-hole championship at 8-under par 208. He won by four strokes, establishing a new tournament scoring record.
His 8-under total broke the previous 54-hole tournament record of 5-under. McGinn also established a new 36-hole scoring record at 5-under par, surpassing the previous mark of 4-under.
The victory was McGinn’s first AJGA title, a significant milestone for any competitive junior golfer and an especially notable achievement at age 14.
The AJGA is widely regarded as one of the premier competitive junior golf organizations in the country with tournaments regularly featuring nationally-ranked players and future NCAA Division I golfers. Entry into its events is performance-based and highly competitive, and winning requires beating fields that often include some of the top junior golfers in the country.
McGinn regularly competes against golfers who are two, three and sometimes even four years older than him, many of whom have already committed to play Division I golf.
McGinn opened the championship with a bogey-free 3-under 69, leaving him one stroke off the lead after the first round. He followed with a second-round 70 to reach 5-under par through 36 holes, establishing the tournament’s new 36-hole scoring record and taking a three-shot lead into the final round.
In his final round, he had back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 to create separation in the final nine. He then birdied the par-3 15th hole to push his advantage to five strokes with three holes remaining.
McGinn finished four strokes ahead of Gabriel Boone of Naples, Florida, who was in second at 4-under. Nemo Tsai of Ann Arbor, Michigan was third with a 2-under. He is committed to Michigan.