Wittaya, Pryfon Enjoy 1st Round Lead at Junior Asian Tour

Wittaya, 14, staged a solid front-nine performance before firing two birdies against one bogey after the turn to lead the boys 15-18 division following a 71, five ahead of Ingtawan Wangrungwichaisri. The latter committed seven bogeys, as opposed to only three birdies. 
 

“I was playing quite solid today. I played consistently and was not too greedy out there. That’s why the score was quite steady,” said Wittaya.  “I was a bit excited at the beginning but I tried to settle down. About the game plan for the next two days,  I will try to hit my drivers on the fairways, find the greens and try not to need more than two putts,” he added.

On the girls’ side, Pryfon, despite an opening 81, surged on top of the leader’s board with Peeyaporn Intasae coming at second with 85.

In the boys 13-14 event, Tantikorn Klinpeng, with three birdies against four bogeys, fired a 73 to take first round lead. Nguyen Trong-Hoang of Vietnam fell five strokes back on a 78. In the girls 13-14, Arisa Bintachitt produced four birdies but committed a double bogey on the sixth hole and three bogeys to open her account with a 73 and led Louise Uma Landgraf by two strokes. 

In the youngest 10-12 class, Wannagorn Bennukul carded a 77 to take a one-shot lead over Takrit Supagonchoowong in the boys’ competition while the girls was dominated by Suritpreeya Pruksanubal (73), followed by Rinlapat Jantara (77). 

The season-opening edition is one of the six JAT circuits to be held in Thailand this year. It is competed in a stroke-play format and divided into three age groups: 10-12 years, 13-14 years, and 15-18 years.  

Each stop features World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and Junior Golf Scoreboard which will serve as the path for youngsters to pursue their golf career in the future.

Apart from opportunities to gain world ranking points, youngsters with outstanding results on the Asian Junior Tour will receive wildcards into prestigious events including the LPGA, Ladies European Tour, Asian Tour, TrustGolf Tour and several professional events due in Thailand.

Four girls with the best results from JAT circuits 1-3 will be awarded wildcards into the final qualifying round of the LPGA-Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned Trustgolf Women Scottish Open.

Players, boy and girl, with outstanding results from circuits 1-2 will be granted spots in the Asian Tour – Ladies European co-sanctioned Asian Mixed Cup while those with best results from the JAT circuits 2-3 will earn their slots in the Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge.

Furthermore, winners from each JAT circuit will receive wildcards to the Thailand Mixed circuits 1-3 and the No 1 player on the JAT Order of Merits from JAT circuits 1-3 will be eligible for the Thailand Mixed circuit 4.