Cowan, Roller win OGA Junior stroke play titles

Complete scores and match play pairings here:

By Murray Evans

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 7, 2022) – The after-effects of a Tuesday morning thunderstorm resulted in the second round of the Oklahoma Golf Association Junior Boys Championship being shortened to nine holes, which proved unfortunate in a sense for Ryder Cowan of Edmond.

Cowan sizzled with a 5-under 31 on the front nine on Lincoln Park Golf Club’s West Course and won the stroke-play portion of the tournament by two shots over Parker Sands of Edmond. How low Cowan could have gone, no one ever will know, but as Sands said, “He was on 59 watch” had the round kept going.

Officially, Cowan was 10-under over his 27 holes of stroke play. Tuesday was one of those days, he said, when everything seemed to go right.

“I was making some putts,” Cowan said. “Yesterday, I kind of struggled with the putter. I worked on putting for about an hour and a half after my round (Monday) and kind of got something going.”

The OGA title is Cowan’s second. He won the stroke play portion in the 14-15 age division in the same event in 2020, when it was held at Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond, and went on to win the tournament’s match-play portion, too, in his division.

This spring, playing for Oklahoma Christian School, he won six high school tournaments, including the Class 3A state event, and never finished worse than second in any tournament.

Cowan, Sands and Bryant Polhill – Cowan’s teammate at OCS – entered the half-round tied at 5-under and didn’t tee off until 4 p.m., two hours after their scheduled start time due to the morning’s weather delay. The course remained wet but playable during the afternoon.

Polhill, a rising junior who’s verbally committed to Kansas State, had double bogeys on the par-4 No. 3 and the par-3 No. 9, although he did hang onto a tie for fifth place. But the way Cowan – a rising senior who’s committed to Oklahoma – was playing, no one could keep pace with him, although Sands gave it a good run.

“I couldn’t really do much there,” said Sands, who will be entering his junior year at Edmond North High School. “He played great. The putts were falling – I think he missed two putts all day. I did exactly what I wanted, except for maybe a couple of putts, and I’m very pleased with my round.”

Followed for much of the day by OU assistant coach Bill Allcorn, Cowan opened with a pair of birdies, putting his second shot onto the green on the par-5 No. 1, then his tee shot within 10 feet on the par-3 No. 2. Sands also birdied No. 1 but just missed a 15-foot birdie attempt on No. 2 – and played catch-up the rest of the day.

Cowan had what he called his only bad shot of the round on No. 3, as his tee shot landed within an inch of the cart path. He was able to take relief, though, and ended up with a par after two-putting from about 50 feet. He extended his lead to two shots with a birdie at No. 4, then parred the next two holes. Sands kept the heat on with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 No. 6, pulling within one shot.

Both players birdied the par-5 No. 7 before Cowan extended his lead again to two shots with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 No. 8. He nearly birdied No. 9, leaving an 18-foot attempt inches to the left before tapping in for par.

“I was telling Bryant on the way in that I was going to pay to go play the back nine,” Cowan said. “I was hitting the ball well. It just all depends on putts and if they’re falling or not.”

The match-play portion of the OGA tournament will start on Wednesday, with first-round and quarterfinal matches scheduled. The semifinals and title match are set for Thursday. Cowan will square off against Carson Wright of Norman, with Sands to face Sam Morris of Tulsa. Wright and Morris emerged from a six-man playoff for the last two qualifying spots in match play.

Some of the big names to miss out on match play included the state’s top-ranked junior in Southern Methodist signee Will Sides and Kansas State signee and 2021 Class 6A champion Ben Stoller, who were in a six-man playoff for the final spot claimed by Morris.

In the girls division, Jenni Roller of Tulsa rolled to a six-shot victory over four others with a 38 on her nine holes Tuesday. She finished at 204 after a 5-under 66 Monday. Tying for second at 110 were Juliana Hong of Norman, Rylee Roberts of Edmond, Gracie Doke of Tulsa and Brooklyn Benn of Edmond.

Oklahoma Golf Association
2022 Jr. Boys & Girls Championship
June 6-9, 2022
Lincoln Park (West)
Stroke Play
Final Results

Boys
Ryder Cowan, Edmond, OK – 31-66–97
Parker Sands, Edmond, OK – 33-66–99
Jake Hopper, Norman, OK – 36-67–103
Drew Mabrey, Tulsa, OK – 35-68–103
Rhett Hughes, Edmond, OK – 35-69–104
Sutton McMillan, Choctaw, OK – 35-69–104
CJ Phillips, Edmond, OK – 36-68–104
Bryant Polhill, Edmond, OK – 38-66–104
Alex Bloxham, Broken Arrow, OK – 35-70–105
Luke Goodbary, Edmond, OK – 36-70–106
Grant Gudgel, Stillwater, OK – 33-73–106
Parker Payne, Norman, OK – 37-69–106
Jack Pfister, Edmond, OK – 39-67–106
Harrison Shaw, Tulsa, OK – 34-72–106
Josh Stuart, Blanchard, OK – 38-68–106
Mason Haley, Enid, OK – 36-71–107
Mack Moore, Norman, OK – 37-70–107
Sam Morris, Tulsa, OK – 35-72–107
William Sides, Tulsa, OK – 38-69–107
Benjamin Stoller, Owasso, OK – 37-70–107
Carson Wright, Norman, OK – 37-70–107
Preston Albee, Choctaw, OK – 37-71–108
Bo Burton, Edmond, OK – 37-71–108
Kyle McLaughlin, Oklahoma City, OK – 39-69–108
Tripp Schuessler, Stillwater, OK – 35-73–108
Chase Blaser, Edmond, OK – 39-70–109
Banks Cozby, Tulsa, OK – 36-73–109
William Hennessee, Tulsa, OK – 38-71–109
Ty Hyatt , Perry, OK – 38-71–109
Matthew Kendrick, Tulsa, OK – 39-70–109
Ben Lathrop, Oklahoma City, OK – 35-74–109
Cole Luber, Yukon, OK – 40-69–109
Dennon Norman, Norman, OK – 38-71–109
Bauer Sims, Edmond, OK – 36-73–109
Gavin Watson, Norman, OK – 36-73–109
Bryce Cale, Edmond, OK – 37-73–110
Connor Paul, Bixby, OK – 36-74–110
Samuel Bonaobra, Broken Arrow, OK – 37-74–111
Max Courange, Norman, OK – 33-78–111
Carson Lee, Edmond, OK – 35-76–111
Brooksie Levonitis, Oklahoma City, OK – 37-74–111
Evan Weaver, Pryor, OK – 37-74–111
Nate Ingram, Edmond, OK – 37-75–112
Parker Pogue, Ada, OK – 36-76–112
Jace Black, Duncan, OK – 36-77–113
Baylor Bostick, Duncan, OK – 37-76–113
Conner Compton, Oklahoma City, OK – 38-75–113
Kale Flinton, Edmond, OK – 40-73–113
Hunter Baumann, Edmond, OK – 40-74–114
Benjamin Campbell, Norman, OK – 41-73–114
Tyler Collier, Broken Arrow, OK – 38-76–114
Jack Hope, Edmond, OK – 40-74–114
Brock Jerman, Chickasha, OK – 37-77–114
Mesa Falleur, Muskogee, OK – 40-75–115
Maddox Freeman, Edmond, OK – 39-76–115
Ben McKee, Edmond, OK – 38-77–115
Carter Nutt, Norman, OK – 39-76–115
Tye Safi, Edmond, OK – 39-76–115
Roger Smith, Oklahoma City, OK – 40-75–115
Cameron Surles, Broken Arrow, OK – 37-78–115
Trey Bishop, Oklahoma City, OK – 40-76–116
Will Casey, Edmond, OK – 39-77–116
Mason Schmidt, Elk City, OK – 42-74–116
Hayden Garst, Ninnekah, OK – 41-76–117
Cooper Hermann, Ponca City, OK – 37-80–117
Jack Williams, Claremore, OK – 39-78–117
Wyatt King, Edmond, OK – 38-80–118
Gage Tucker, Lindsay, OK – 42-76–118
Alex Atkinson, Oklahoma City, OK – 43-76–119
Patrick Coulter, Oklahoma City, OK – 39-80–119
Ty Neatherlin, Edmond, OK – 39-80–119
Dax Rambo, Norman, OK – 40-79–119
Quinn Robertson, Norman, OK – 38-81–119
Jagger Beesley, Norman, OK – 40-80–120
Weston Lacy, Stillwater, OK – 40-80–120
Greyden Wasinger, Enid, OK – 39-81–120
Britt Bailey, Edmond, OK – 43-78–121
Rhett Gray, Ada, OK – 42-79–121
Anthony Manipella, Tulsa, OK – 40-82–122
Jace Chaney, Ardmore, OK – 44-79–123
Gabe Jones, Enid, OK – 41-84–125
Cole Caperton, Jenks, OK – 42-86–128
Drew Hansen, Piedmont, OK – 46-82–128
Cale Schultz, Edmond, OK – 42-86–128
Griffin Goldsmith, Tulsa, OK – 44-86–130
Jackson Jones, Enid, OK – 42-89–131

Girls
Jenni Roller, Jenks, OK – 38-66–104
Brooklyn Benn, Edmond, OK – 38-72–110
Gracie Doke, Tulsa, OK – 37-73–110
Juliana Hong, Norman, OK – 37-73–110
Rylee Roberts, Edmond, OK – 37-73–110
Beans Factor, Ada, OK – 37-75–112
McKenna Tatum, Edmond, OK – 40-72–112
Natalie Blonien, Altus, OK – 44-70–114
Sophia Lefler, Tulsa, OK – 40-75–115
Jaci Hartman, Burneyville, OK – 38-78–116
Avery Haddock, Edmond, OK – 41-76–117
Mimi Hoang, Oklahoma City, OK – 37-81–118
Allie Justiz, Arcadia, OK – 41-77–118
Jenna Triplett, Edmond, OK – 43-75–118
Peyton Coburn, Broken Arrow, OK – 39-80–119
Aubrey House, McAlester, OK – 38-81–119
Kamryn Zuniga, Choctaw, OK – 37-84–121
Riley Rinner, Tulsa, OK – 44-80–124
Isabella Suttee, Tulsa, OK – 39-85–124
Syrah Javed, Norman, OK – 38-87–125
Spencer Holleyman, Edmond, OK – 40-86–126
Carrie Bowers, Yukon, OK – 44-84–128
Cara Cummins, Oklahoma City, OK – 46-82–128
Elle Daniels, Prague, OK – 37-92–129