Australian golfer wins American Junior College Golf Championship
Young Melbourne golfer wins junior college golf championship.
Update: Contrary to early reports, Jake Stirling is the second Australian to win the individual medal at the NJCAA Div I Men’s Golf Championship.
Australian golfer Jake Stirling has become the second Australian to win the individual medal at the 2012 NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship.
Stirling, 22, is a member of Victoria Golf Club and has spent several years at Meridian Community College in Mississippi. He claimed the individual title at the prestigious championship by taking the lead and then making crucial pars on his final two holes to edge out his nearest rival by just one shot.
Moving one shot ahead with two holes to play in the four round tournament, Stirling made a remarkable up-and-down on the 71st hole. He finished with a par on the final hole to claim victory with a final round 1-under par 71 at the Sand Creek Station golf course in Kansas.
“It was really tough out there today,” said Stirling, who had three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars. “It got even windier as the day went on, but I just stuck with my game plan. If there was no rough in front of the green, I left it short.”
Stirling is a previous club champion at Victoria Golf Club and looks set to follow in the footsteps of previous club champions Geoff Ogilvy and James Nitties. He returns to Australia this week with a plan to turn professional at the end of the year, after turning down countless scholarship offers at American colleges.
“It really means a lot to me,” said Stirling, “This was my last college event in America, so that makes it really sweet.”
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Well done to Jake Stirling, but history should not record him as the ‘first’ Australian winner of the NJCAA Individual Medal. That honour belongs to Brad Smith, from Kooyonga GC in Sth Aust, representing Indian Hills Community College, IOWA in 2006. Brad T1 with Brady Jones (Lon Morris College, TEXAS) on 271, then successfully negotiated the play-off to claim the Individual Medallist Title.
Good stuff Golfie!!
thanks Anon. You’re spot on. The story will be edited to reveal this fact.
Many thanks AussieGolfer!
Jake Stirling represented Meridian Community College Golf w class and pinache! Proud of him! A great person! A real star!
Tom Sikes
awesome effort by Jake thanks for Kind words Tom Jake will miss you and many thanks to Sean Covich the man who got Jake to Meridian
What a boss!!