CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Tucker Allen of Granbury, Texas, carded a 5-over par 77 in the final round of the 2015 American Junior Golf Association Coca-Cola Junior Championship to win his first AJGA title Thursday at the Sugarloaf Golf Club.
Charles-Eric Belanger of Quebec fired a 1-under par 71 to jump from fifth place to second, while Connor Henderson of Southborough, Massachusetts, slid into third place with a three-day combined score of 225.
Drew Powell of Bangor and Reese McFarlane of Cape Elizabeth recorded top-10 finishes in the 100-player field. Powell finished in a tie for seventh with a 231 after rounds of 77, 74 and 80, while McFarlane tied for ninth at 232 with rounds of 75, 77 and 80.
Allen, who emerged as the frontrunner in round one, lengthened his lead Wednesday with a blistering 4-under par 68 — the lowest single-round score of the tournament. Despite a third-round 77, he maintained a three-stroke lead over the runner-up, finishing 2-over par for the tournament.
It took a sudden-death playoff hole to determine the winner of a three-way tie between SiQin Yu of Brandenton, Florida; Maisie Filler of Bloomfield, Connecticut; and Brittany Park of Fullerton California, in the women’s division. Yu who claimed the top spot with a birdie, while Park and Miller tied for second with a three-round 237.
Among the other players from Maine in the tourney, Cole Anderson of Camden finished in a five-way tie for 20th with a 240, 13-year-old Caleb Manuel of Topsham finished 43rd with a 248, and Eric Dugas of Newport finished 53rd with a 259.
In addition to persistent rain during the first two rounds, the notoriously challenging Sugarloaf course proved a difficult test for the elite group of junior golfers. Difficult pin placements forced players to be accurate with approach shots, while dense woods lining fairways required precision off the tee. Only five players — Allen, Belanger, Brendan Ridge, Grayson Wotnosky and Amadeo Figus — scored rounds under-par rounds.
“Each year I am blown away by the amount of talent, commitment, and passion these young golfers have for the sport,” Sugarloaf head golf pro Steve Niezgoda said. “It’s a tremendous honor to host an event of this caliber at Sugarloaf, and I’m confident that we’ll be seeing some of these young faces on the PGA tour someday.”