Monday, June 21, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.
Locals competing in the Las Vegas Founders Junior Golf Championship, beginning Tuesday at Angel Park:
Boys
Kyle Ewing
Johnny Pinjuv
Michael Wynn
Girls
Katy Barrett
Alex Gibson
Mandi Incorvaia
Mackenzie Mack
Chloe Nelson
Justina Yu
DJ Schultz and Jessica Yam qualified Sunday afternoon for this week's Las Vegas Founders Junior Golf Championship.
Then again, they didn't.
Schultz took medalist honors in the boys' division of the qualifying tournament with a 6-under 64 on Angel Park's Mountain Course, while Yam fired a 3-over 73 to win the girls' section. The wins earned Schultz, a 15-year-old from Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., and Yam, a 16-year-old from San Diego, the right to play this week -- or some other time.
Both Southern California teenagers took advantage of an American Junior Golf Association policy that allows them to use their qualifier entry as an exemption at another tournament of their choice. In all, eight players -- five boys and three girls -- chose that option Sunday after shooting a qualifying score.
Those decisions pare down the field even more than it was already trimmed by competing against three other junior golf events on the AJGA schedule this week. Sanctioned tournaments are running simultaneously in South Carolina, New Mexico and Louisiana.
There will still be some decent competition among 84 players from 11 states, including a number of local entries. The tournament runs over three days at Angel Park, with tee times beginning Tuesday at 7 a.m. The players are scheduled to take part this morning in a junior-am fund-raising tournament.
The only local player to qualify Sunday in the boys' division was former Bishop Gorman standout Johnny Pinjuv. A one-time 4A state tournament winner, Pinjuv shot a 1-under 69 to get in. Locals Garrett Logan (71), Brad Thompson (74) and Kyle Andrews (81) all missed the cut in the 6,366-yard event.
Pinjuv joins Michael Wynn and Kyle Ewing to round out the local boys entered in the tournament.
On the girls' side, three golfers played their way into the field. State high school champion Justina Yu, also a Gorman graduate, carded a 4-over 74 to make it. Sunrise Region champion Alex Gibson of Coronado made it with a 7-over 77, and Palo Verde's Mandi Incorvaia, who tied for fourth at state, earned a spot with a 9-over 79 on the 5,620-yard girls' layout.
Those girls accompany Katy Barrett, Mackenzie Mack and Chloe Nelson in the much smaller female field of the event. Barrett finished eighth in last year's tournament to pace local entries and Christine Fernandez was the last Valley resident to win either side of the tournament, claiming the girls' division title in 2002.
This tournament has attracted top players in the past, including Tiger Woods and some other future professionals. Players between the ages of 12 and 18 are eligible to play in the event.
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