IMG Junior Golf Tour heats up amid cold conditions at The Club at Savannah Harbor

The IMG Junior Golf Tour was back in action at The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga., Feb. 16-17. This was the second consecutive year for the Tour to tee off at Savannah Harbor, but cold and windy conditions made scoring a challenge. Wind gusts reached as high as 35-mph and the temperature dipped to a frigid 31 degrees at the start of play on Sunday. However, the conditions did not stop a full field of 84 players from 13 states and 14 different countries from hitting the links. Bolivia’s Jose Luis Montano won the Boys 15-18 Division for the second time this year in only his third start (last win at Lake Jovita). Montano crushed the competition on the weekend, shooting 73+75=148 (+4), besting second place finisher Clark Robinson (+12) of South Windsor, Conn. by eight strokes. Robinson moved into second place in the Boys 15-18 season points standings after his second runner-up finish in his last three starts, while Montano moved into third place with his win.

“Windy and cold weather are very hard conditions, but I always think positive,” remarked Montano on his win. “It was not only hard for me, but hard for everyone else.”

In the Girls 15-18 Division, Austria’s Lisa Unterganshnigg shot an eight-over 152 to rise above the competition. The win was Unterganshnigg’s first of the season, and her first Tour victory since the Naples Grande event in 2010. However, the 16-year old has finished in the top-10 in every appearance since 2010. She overcame Israel’s Hadas Labman, Japan’s Ayaka Suzuki and China’s Christian Wang who finished in a three-way tie for second place at 11-over par. Unterganshnigg moved into fourth place in the Symetra Tour exemption standings, and one more victory could vault her over China’s Yvonne Zheng as the points-leader.

“It was important for me to think about my own game, and work on the things that I have been fixing with my coach,” Unterganshnigg said of her performance. “I didn’t expect it to be that cold, but growing up and playing in Austria helped give me an advantage.”

In the Boys 11-14 Division, Brendan O’Reilly of Hinsdale, Ill. made his first-career appearance on the IMG Junior Golf Tour, and walked away victorious with an impressive score of 79+71=150 (+6). His performance was good enough to finish 11-strokes ahead of Japan’s Kaito Onishi and South Korea’s Mir Kim, who each finished 17-over. 

The event was held at The Club at Savannah Harbor, ranked by Golfweek as the No. 7 course you can play in the state of Georgia. The Club plays host to the Champions Tour Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf every April. The event was ranked by the Golfweek/Sagarin Junior Rankings, Junior Golf Scoreboard and AJGA Performance Based Entry Status was awarded to top finishers. Montano and Unterganschnigg each earned four performance stars for AJGA Performance Based Entry status, while the Boys 15-18 top-five each earned one star. With their victories, Montano, Unterganshnigg and O’Reilly qualified for the storied Callaway Junior World Golf Championships, to be held in San Diego, Calif., July 15-19. The IMG Junior Golf Tour returns to action March 2-3 at Juliette Falls Golf Club in Dunnellon, Fla., marking another Callaway Junior World Championships qualifying event.

For full results, visit the IMG Junior Golf Tour leaderboard by clicking HERE.