By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
Alice Zou a high school junior from Potomac, MD brought the Lake Monticello course to its knees on Sunday March 2, when she carded a three under par 69. This very impressive score gave Zou a two-day total of 146, which was good enough for a two stroke win in the Annual Commonwealth Classic, which was played over the Lake Monticello course for the third year in a row.
The Peggy Kirk Bell (PKB) tour is named after a former prominent Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA) touring pro. The tour now holds multiple tournaments all over the country for aspiring young female golfers. The Commonwealth Classic has been held in central Virginia for a number of years. It previously was played at Birdwood Golf course, home of the University of Virginia golf team. The PKB officials moved the tournament to Lake Monticello three years ago when the Birdwood course was being overhauled. The Birdwood course is now back in play but the PKB officials are apparently quite happy with the reception they have received from the Lake Monticello golfing community and the event has remained at the Like Monticello course.
This year, 83 young women competed over the course, playing in two divisions. The Bell National Division is for the strongest players. They played a layout of 5,800 yards, a real test over a tough course. These young women up to the challenge though as an average score of 80 or below is a requirement to qualify. The second division for the players with a still developing game is called the Futures National division.
In the Bell National division, the second and third place finishers were both high school freshmen. Finishing in second place, with consistent rounds of 73 and 75 was Alina Ho of Great Falls.
In third place was Angelina Tolentina of Mount Laurel, who shot an impressive one under par 71 on Saturday for the first round lead. On Sunday, she slipped a little for a 78 to finish five over par. The fourth-place medal went to Macy Johnson from Salem. She tied with three other young women at seven over par, but she was declared the fourth place winner based on the established tie breaker procedure. The three others to finish at seven over were, Emily Gresham of Binghamton, NY, Jade Gu of Yardley, PA and Ruiying Liu of North Potomac, MD.
Lake Monticello golfer Alan Stewart was in charge of coordinating the large number of volunteers who acted as spotters and shuttle cart drivers. The young golfers are required to walk the course, but they are allowed to be shuttled on carts when there is a long walk from a green to the next tee, which is the case in several places on the Lake Monticello course.
