Optimist-ically Speaking

A Coloradan scored a victory Saturday in his age group at the first phase of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Nicholas Pevny of Aspen, a Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado member who won the Colorado-based qualifier for the event on June 8 at Aurora Hills, finished in the top spot out of 105 players in the boys 12-13 division on Saturday in Florida.

Pevny, 13, shot rounds of 72-73-72 for a 1-over-par 217 total, good for a two-stroke win over Zhengfei Han. Pevny made five birdies and five bogeys on Saturday, and chalked up 10 birdies for the three rounds.

Upcoming are two more phases of the Optimist International Junior — July 24-26 for boys 14-15 and girls 13-14, and July 29-Aug. 1 for boys 16-18 and girls 15-18.

Here are the results of the Colorado golfers at the Optimist this week:

Boys 12-13
1. Nicholas Pevny, Aspen 72-73-72–217
82. Grant Samuelson, Fort Collins, 93-89-79–261
99. Will Balliet, Thornton 103-90-90–283
104. Michael Dinapoli, Steamboat Springs 94-97-107–298

Girls 10-12
16. Caitlyn Chin, Greenwood Village 77-79-84–240
27. Ashleigh Wilson, Highlands Ranch 93-85-85–263
37. Reece Bandemer, Loveland 102-89-100–291 

Boys 10-11
18. Austin Barry, Fort Collins 80-78-77–235
32. Tyler Long, Evergreen 86-86-86–258
37. Landon Houska, Fort Collins 87-92-86–265