WINDSOR —He'll be back. Sooner than you might expect, too. Wyndham Clark made the most of his two days at Pelican Lakes Golf & Country Club, evidenced by his 6-under-par 138 to win the Colorado Junior Golf Association Callaway Junior World Qualifier, and he has plans to do much the same in the coming weeks.
Clark, who fired a round of 1-under-par 71 Thursday and a 36-hole total of 6-under 138, will enter the CJGA Stroke-Play Championship on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the Eaton Country Club and United States Golf Association Sectional Qualifier on June 29th at Boomerang Golf Links. In the meantime, he has the bragging rights and a ticket for the Callaway Junior World Championships in La Jolla, Calif., thanks to dominating the competition at Pelican Lakes' 7,238 yards.Clark won the 36-hole tournament by six strokes over runner-up Tyler Engel, of Castle Rock, who finished with an even-par 144 total, and will also compete in the national tournament.
Four players — Lakewood's Cody Vance, 4-over 148; Castle Rock's Brendan Connolly, 5-over 149; Colorado Springs' Chris Winter, 5-over 149; and Thornton's Steve Connell, 5-over 149; are alternates for the finals, which will be played at Torrey Pines Golf Club, the site of last year's U.S. Open.
“I definitely played to protect the lead, but I also had another good score,” said Clark, who will be a sophomore at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch this fall. “When I was younger, I'd get ahead in a tournament and then be too conservative and lose the lead.” Clark, 15, made sure that wasn't going to happen on Thursday as he carded 15 pars, a bogey and a pair of birdies while hitting 16 greens in regulation.
“I had tons of birdie chances, in fact about a dozen,” Clark said. “My putting really wasn't on today.”
Clark needed 31 putts to secure his victory. Everything else was right on, especially on hole No. 2, the course's second longest hole at 566 yards, when he stuck his wedge approach shot 1 inch from the cup. Clark's other birdie came on the par-5, 521-yard fifth hole when he hit successive 4-iron shots and then landed his wedge shot to within 10 feet. In between, Clark recorded his only bogey when his approach shot on the 414-yard third hole left him putting from the left collar of the green, resulting in three putts from 40 feet. On No. 18, which requires a landing shot off the tee before crossing the Poudre River, Clark saved par with a 20-yard chip shot that left him with a two-footer for par.
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