Austin Players in Contention in George Hannon Invitational

The George Hannon Invitational Tournament, sponsored by the Legends Junior Tour and the Hannon Cup Association is in its third year and has established itself as one of the premier events on the Legends Junior tour.  The tournament is being played at the prestigious Austin Country Club, which is home to some of the Austin area's top professional players such as Tom Kite and Bob Estes. The course is a challenging Pete Dye design with lots of potential for high scores on indiviudal holes.

The tournament namesake, George Hannon, is a former Texas Longhorn Golf Coach, mentor to many of the area's golf professionals, and long time promoter of junior golf in Austin among other honors.The tournament opening cerimonies were held Sunday night at the Austin Country Club where the permanent George Hannon Trophy was introduced. 

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Alex Ellis, a former West Lake standout who currently plays for the College of Charleston and recently won the Firecracker Open then finished second in the Austin Men's City Championship,  was the featured speaker.  He spoke about the transition from high school golf to college golf and all the challenges that went with that transition.  His talk was entertaining, open and honest as well and inspiring.  It included comments on learning how to balance the demands of playing golf, making grades to stay eligible, leaning to cope with laundry, cooking and the social life in college.  One of the comments he made was that someone once told him that college golfers have to make choices between studying, golfing and partying.  He said you can be good at two of these things but not all three at the same time.  He spoke about the grind of playing college tournaments, traveling and studying.  His comments were well received by young and old alike.    

Girls 12-18 Flight

Alexandra Rossi of Austin, shot 73 to take a one stroke lead over fellow Austinite Julia Beck in the Girls 12-18 division. Rossi, who recently qualified for and played in the U.S. Girls,  shot 38-35=73 with a double bogey on #8, birdies at 3,13,17 and bogies on 6 and 18. 

Julia Beck, who made the 4-A All State 1st team and plays for Lake Travis High School,   birdied 1, 9, 11, and 15 to go with bogies at 6,10, 16, 18 and a double bogey at 14 to shoot 35-39=74.    

In the Boys 15-18 Flight

Joe Beck, who played for the 4-A state champion Lake Travis, won the individual 4-A title and made the All-State 1st team in 2011,  shot even par and is in second place, three shots behind Eloy Gonzalez from Laredo, who shot 69.

Other prominent Austin Junior players Matthew Perrine and Stratton Nolen, Wehman Hopke and Dillon Van Essen shot 75.   Charles Neel White and Blake Stasiunas shot 76. 

Taylor Termeer, who made the 4-A All-State Golf First Team this year ,  had the most votile round of the day.  He started on the back nine and birdied #10.  He then played 11-17 in eleven over par, birdied 17, bogeyed 18 to turn in 46.  However, he birdied #1, aced #2, eagled #3 to get back to five over par.  He then bogied 4, doubled 5, bogied 6, parred 7, then bogied 8&9 to finish with 37 on the front side and 11 over for the day.  Four doubles, a quad, two birdies, an eagle and an ace in one round.  What a ride.  

Boys 14 and Under

In the Boys 14 and Under, Reese Ramsey is in 7th place and the highest ranked player from Austin with a score of 80.  Clark McCollum at 82, Trevor
Brown at 83 and Austin Cotton at 85.  The lead is at 75.

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