GP Junior (Jun-July 18) Digital (June-July 18) | Page 33

Feature
Winners crowned JGTA Champions
Phuket-Players
he JGTA Phuket Junior Open was
¿ lled with many ¿ rsts in JGTA
history. This marks the ¿ rst time
that players from Thailand have
won a JGTA event, the ¿ rst time that a
JGTA event ¿ nished in a sudden death
playoff, and the ¿ rst time that AJGA PBE
Status has landed on Thai soil.
A two-hole sudden death playoff
between Bhitchayoot Sima-Aree (2019)
of Nathiburi, Thailand and Yu Yu Chen
(2022) of Taoyuan, Taiwan closed out
the JGTA Phuket Junior Open. This is the
¿ rst playoff in JGTA history and it was
streamed on Facebook Live in its entirety.
Sima-Aree bested Chen, making a clutch
putt for par on the second hole of the
playoff. Sima-Aree entered Sunday one-
under-par after a second-round score of
66 and ¿ nished the tournament at even
par. “I wanted to thank the JGTA for
running this event and Laguna Golf Club
for allowing us to play this course” Said
Sima-Aree. This is Sima-Aree’s ¿ rst time
playing on the Junior Golf Tour of Asia.
Natachanok Tunwannarux (2023) of
Bangkok, Thailand won the Girl’s
Division. Tunwannarux, one of the
youngest players in the ¿ eld, shot scores
of 74-70-69 for an even-par tournament
total of 213. On hole 16, Tunwannarux
made a clutch putt for par that gave her a
two-stroke lead over second place ¿ nisher
Camille Boyd going into hole 17. “I
wanted to thank the JGTA for providing
a great competition and opportunity to
earn AJGA PBE. I also wanted to thank
my parents for supporting me and my golf
Camille Boyd at JGTA, Phuket
goals” said Tunwannarux.
Tunwannarux ¿ nished T2 at the JGTA
Taiwan Junior Championship. This win
will signi¿ cantly impact her ranking
in the JGTA Junior Order of Merit - the
source for AJGA PBE Status in Asia.
The ¿ nal event on the JGTA’s 2017-2018
schedule, the JGTA Myanmar Junior
Championship, takes place May 8-11 at
Pun Hlaing Golf Club in Yangon.
Tunwannarux
GolfPlus Junior June-July 2018
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