Junior Championship

Cong Becomes First Female to Win the Overall Division Since Bailey Davis in 2018

Fairfax, VA - Fairfax, VA - The Middle Atlantic get to even par. A birdie on the fifth hole for McCarthy got him to red figures and a one-shot lead. The weather came in once the leaders got to the 6th tee. Lighting and heavy rain suspended play for nearly 2 hours and it was determined the championship would be shortened to 27 holes. Dustin Stocksdale entered the picture after the event was shortened. The Ellicot City, MD native shot 2-over in the first round and was one-under when the horns blew to suspend play. He parred out to grab the clubhouse lead at 1-over. Caraballo came out after the delay playing steady golf, finishing his day par, par, par, par. That is all he needed to get into a playoff with Stocksdale, as McCarthy and Howard struggled.

PGA Junior Championship was slated to be a 36-hole event, held at International Country Club. However, the weather had different ideas for the second round.

It was smooth sailing in the first round as all 103 players finished 18 holes.

Alejandro Caraballo, William Howard, and Connor McCarthy led the way in the Boys Division with a one-over par 72. From Williamsburg, VA, Caraballo made 2 birdies and 2 double bogies on his front nine. Birdies down the stretch on holes 15 and 17 got him into a share of the lead. A 17-year-old, Howard also used birdies down the stretch (15, 18) to shoot one over and grab a share of the lead. McCarthy used his home course knowledge, making 3 birdies to 4 bogies to join Caraballo and Howard at the top.

Both players had two-putt pars on the first playoff hole. As the rain started to fall on the second playoff hole, Caraballo had an easy two-putt par after hitting the green from the right rough. Stocksdale wasn’t able to get up and down after a bad tee-shot giving Caraballo the win.

In the girls division, Lily Hall led the way after the first round. The 2024 high school graduate made 4 birdies to five bogies for a one-over-par 72 and a one-shot lead after round one. Olivia Cong and Emerson Roychoudhury trailed Hall by one shot heading into the final round.

Caraballo and McCarthy got off to great starts in the second and final round by birdieing the Par-5 first hole. Howard made par on 1 and bogeyed the second hole but bounced back with back-to-back birdies on 3 and 4 to