Five is the Charm for Michaela Morard and Michigander wins boys title

Michaela Morard and sponsor Randy Wise

Noah Kolar with Randy Wise

Michaela Morard needed to be bribed as a post-toddler to practice golf with her father at the local driving range. Her putting rounds gave her a great time with her dad and an ice cream on the ride home. After several bribes from dad, her dad was getting creamed by this prodigy regularly beating him by her estimation when she was eight-years-old. (see her interview for more) That is bad news for the rest of the girls AJGA compeitors as Morard's four shot victory was an effort of cruise control giving her a four shot victory over Ariel Cheng of Macomb Twp. Morard's victory is historic as this Alabama bound golfer has won for the fifth time in her AJGA career and her wire-to-wire victory was tested early with bogeys coming out of the gate, but was never really in doubt. Morard may be playing for Alabama in two years with more big tournaments to come and her ultimate goal is to play the LPGA. Her first round 5-under par 67 broke the course record of 68 at Spring Meadows Country Club held by Morgan Pressel. Yes, the LPGA's wonderkind of a decade ago. Michaela Morard on the evolution of her career <<< Video      The race for second place was between Cheng and Nicole Whatley of Northville and Cheng edged Whatley by a single shot. Morard's national resume is extremely impressive as she is ranked number nine in Rolex AJGA rankings and has won 3 Alabama junior singles titles. “This win means a lot. I made a bunch of friends so playing with them today was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of new people. Also, I get to add to my tournament wins, so that’s awesome.," said Morard. Her 17 top-10 AJGA finishes in five years, three State of Alabama individual championships and three-time honors for Junior Rolex Junior All-American titles meaning her opponents might need ice cream bribe just to get on the golf course with her.       The boys on the other hand had well over a dozen players within a realistic seven shots of the lead but a player in the next to final group won in his third AJGA start Noah Kolar came away with a one shot lead over two Michiganders who tied for second place. Koler is a repeat player in the Randy Wise Junior Open. Coalter Smith of Grosse Pointe Farms (Wisconsin Commit) finished in a tie for second place with Nick Krueger of Spring Lake, Michigan. Noah Kolar on his 2018 Randy Wise Junior Open AJGA Win <<< Video Noah Kolar hits iron on the par-3 13th      For Koler, he is drawing interest from several division one schools and in an interview, he said that he hopes coaches in contact with him will be impressed with this addition to his golfing resume. Kolar has been grinding to improve."This win means a lot. All the hard work I put in this summer, that definitely makes it worth it. It’s a win against the best competition and it shows that I’m one of the best in the country.”  2018 Randy Wise Junior Open Award Ceremony <<< Video

Girls Results from AJGA.org  Partial- For the complete leaderboard, go to www.AJGA.org 1 Michaela Morard Huntsville, Ala. (2020) -2 67 73 74 214 2 Ariel Chang Macomb Twp, Mich. (2021) +2 73 71 74 218 3 Nicole Whatley Northville, Mich. (2021) +3 75 69 75 219 T4 Haylin Harris Carmel, Ind. (2018) +6 74 72 76 222 T4 Jasmine Ly (Canada) Windsor, Ontario (2019) +6 75 71 76 222 T4 Leila Raines Galena, Ohio (2020) +6 72 70 80 222 Other Notables T7 Taylor Kehoe- AJGA Winner (Canada) Strathroy, Ontario (2022) +7 72 81 70 223 10 Anika Dy Traverse City, Mich. (2019) +9 78 71 76 225 T11 Anci Dy Traverse City, Mich. (2021) +10 69 79 78 226 T11 Mikaela Schulz West Bloomfield, Mich. (2019) +10 75 77 74 226 13 Isabella Portokalis AJGA Winner (Canada) London, Ontario (2019) +13 76 76 77 229 7 Boys Results from AJGA.org- Partial Pos. Player Total To Par Gross R1 R2 R3 Total Gross 1 Noah Kolar Grand Rapids, Mich. (2019) E 71 73 72 216 T2 Coalter Smith Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. (2019) +1 74 71 72 217 T2 Nick Krueger Spring Lake, Mich. (2019) +1 73 71 73 217 T4 Shawn Sehra (Canada) Windsor, Ontario (2020) +2 70 75 73 218 T4 Spencer Crowe Lake Forest, Ill. (2018) +2 71 75 72 218 Other Notables T7 Colin Sikkenga Kalamazoo, Mich. (2018) +4 73 76 71 220 T12 Jack Muir Birmingham, Mich. (2018) +6 74 72 76 222 T12 Will Anderson Portage, Mich. (2020) +6 69 75 78 222 T15 Justin Sui Lake Orion, Mich. (2020) +7 77 72 74 223 T15 Luke Pelak Mattawan, Mich. (2019) +7 71 76 76 223