Leverenz Fires 64, Roemer Grabs First-Round Lead at Iowa Junior Amateur Championship
The Iowa Junior Amateur Championship held at Legacy Golf Course at the 19 in Mason City is in full swing. Nearly perfect sunny and calm conditions made for plenty of birdie opportunities throughout the day which many players took advantage of.
In the boys’ division, Blue Grass’ Luke Leverenz (above) hit the ground running with an impressive 64 (-7) to lead by four strokes. Leverenz’s incredible play was highlighted by nine birdies, with six of them being scored on the back nine alone.
“I was just making everything today,” shared Leverenz with a smile. “There wasn’t much to it, just fairways, greens, and one-putts.”
A trio of players share a tie in second place at three-under. Carson Korver of Orange City, Cody Weaver of Gilman, and Joe Greazel of Marshalltown tied together a string of birdies to put themselves in contention.
“My putter got really hot on the front nine to give me some birdie looks,” Korver shared. “I did a good job scrambling on the back-nine to stay in contention.”
In the girls’ division, Stella Roemer (right) of Bettendorf found herself atop the leaderboard after posting a nice 73 (+2). Roemer found her stride on the par-threes, going two-under total on those holes.
“With some of the longer holes out here, I definitely took advantage of the par-threes,” shared Roemer. “My driver was also the best club in my bag today so that helped give me some good looks throughout the day.”
Following closely behind at +3 is Iowa City’s Ainsley Wilson and Ames’ Ava Lohrbach. Wilson’s round was highlighted by three birdies, with two scored on the back nine alone. Lohrbach remained steady throughout the day, stringing together eight pars in a row with a lone birdie on the par-four 13th hole.
Adalyn Wiig of Clive and Saleah VivanhVong of Des Moines both posted rounds of 75 (+4) to share a tie in fourth place.
With two days of competition remaining, the coveted Iowa Junior Amateur Championship titles are still anyone’s game. Forecasted sunny skies are sure to be kind to the field as they each eye the championship crowns.