Columnist Victoria Sun: Calif. teens lead Junior All-Stars

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2000 | 9:14 a.m.

Victoria Sun's golf column appears Wednesday. Reach her at 259-4078 or victoria@lasvegassun.com

The first-round leaders of the COMPAQ Junior All-Star Classic at the Angel Park Golf Club weren't sure that they had played well enough to get there.

But whether they believed it or not, the two teenagers did rise to the top, at least 7for the first round.

Brandon Christianson, a 14-year-old from Valencia, Calif., led the field of 45 boys between the ages of 13-15 with a 2-under 69 on the par-71 6,357 Mountain Course. He was followed by Joseph Kim of Laguna Nigel, Calif., and Randy Lowry of Spring, Texas, who were both a stroke back in second. At two strokes back were Jeremy Alcorn of Brownwood, Texas, and Kyle Dowden of Somis, Calif.

Jennie Lee, a bashful 13-year-old from Huntington Beach, Calif., didn't have much to say after she fired a 1-over-par 72 to lead the 15-player girls division. Jane Lee (no relation) of Torrance, Calif., was one stroke back at second.

The tournament concludes this afternoon.

Because Christianson was in the fifth group that finished, he was certain that he would not have the low score of the day.

"Oh, I'm sure there's going to be guy in the mid-60s," he said. "Maybe 66 or 67."

He was wrong.

Tuesday's round belonged to Christianson.

He had three birdies and one bogey including a nice save on No. 9 when he hit from behind a bush, then hit up and down from 80 yards for par.

"I played good, hit the ball good," he said. "I hit the wedges really good."

Lee bogeyed the first hole, birdied the second and continued this pattern through the fourth hole before finding some consistency. After she bogeyed No. 8, she had pars the rest of the round.

"If I hit my putts harder then they would have gone in," she said. "I hit everything short."

Now that the field has been reduced to 64 players, the remainder of the tournament that concludes on Saturday will be played in a match-play format.

"It's going to be a good experience," Keever said. "It's a good course to play match play.

"They're tough greens and you have to be patient out there. You can go for pins and stuff you want because you will only lose one hole."

This marks Keever's final appearance at this tournament. This fall she will be a senior at Stanford. The three-time All-American has made it to the quarterfinals of the amateur the last two years.

"It's kind of weird because you know your friends, you won't see them as much as you usually do," Keever said. "It's kind of sad.

"This is just a fun tournament to see everybody."

Three locals who did not qualify Tuesday were Ashlei Pendleton (Henderson; 79-82--161), Christina Monteiro (Las Vegas; 79-83--162) and Whitney Welch (Las Vegas; 81-78--159).

A day earlier, Green Valley High School graduate Dallas Massey qualified for the U.S. Amateur joining Bonanza High graduate Scott Piercy. Both finished at 144 on the Snow Mountain Course at the Las Vegas Paiute Resort. The U.S. Amateur will be played Aug. 21-27 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

"Don't do what I've done," Daly typed back. "The only thing you can do is hang in there and hopefully tomorrow is better. I was late to mature and I am still very immature, but you have to keep fighting."

Begay became friends with former U.S. Women's Amateur champion Dorothy Delasin, and she recently took him up an offer to call any time for advice.

"It wasn't an earth-shattering tip," Begay said. "I just told her how to approach the final round if she's in contention -- to make as many tap-in pars as you can. You don't want a lot of 3-footers for par, because that will catch up with you."

Delasin called Begay again after she hung on to win the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic to thank him for the tip.

"She's a nice young lady and seems to have a bright future," Begay said. "If my advice helped her, I'm happy."