First JGAC Major Champs of 2021

47th Colorado Junior PGA Championship held at Country Club of Colorado

Matthew Wilkinson makes birdie in playoff for boys title in Colorado Junior PGA; Jessica Mason prevails by one for girls victory

By Gary Baines

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The last week and a half of June treated Matthew Wilkinson of Centennial and Jessica Mason of Westminster pretty well, all things considered.

That stretch was capped off on Wednesday [June 30] with victories by the two in the Colorado Junior PGA, the first major championship of 2021 for the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado.

Those wins at the Country Club of Colorado in

Matthew Wilkinson and Jessica Mason earned the hardward on Wednesday at the Country Club of Colorado.

Colorado Springs come on the heels of qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur last week in the case of Wilkinson, and of a runaway 4A girls state high school title in the case of Mason.

For Wilkinson, a senior-to-be at Arapahoe High School, the outcome was another satisfying step in an impressive 2021. This year, in addition to his victory on Wednesday and qualifying for the U.S. Junior Am, he won a JGAC event at Collindale last week, an IMG Academy Junior World qualifier and a tournament in North Carolina. He also went to the quarterfinals of the CGA Match Play.

“It feels pretty good, ” he said.

“It’s just nice to see all the hard work I’ve put in the last four years now paying off. It’s exciting, fun times, I guess. But there’s still a lot more I’d like to achieve. This is just another thing to check off the bucket list.

As for the girls tournament, Mason trailed by a stroke entering Wednesday’s final round but emerged with her first victory in a JGAC major and her second big-time win in the last eight days.

“It feels really good, ” the 17-year-old senior-to-be at Holy Family High School said.

“My game is in a great spot and both of my (wins the last two weeks) mean a lot to me. I can still improve my short game for sure, but my ball-striking has been real good since the (AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior, where she placed third among the girls). I feel great about my game right now, to be honest.

“I made it kind of interesting at the end, but I won so that’s all that matters,

” said Mason, who, like CGA Women’s Match Play and Stroke Play champion Leigha Devine, receives instruction from impending Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee Ed Oldham.

For all the scores from the Colorado Junior PGA click on the following: BOYS, GIRLS.