Proveaux, Green Prevail
At Polo Golf Junior Classic
Cody Proveaux, of Leesville, S.C., and Jaye
Marie Green, of Boca Raton, Fla., picked up
their first invitational victories last week by
winning the boys and girls divisions, respectively, at the Polo Golf Junior Classic. The
156-player, invitation-only field was the
American Junior Golf Association’s 2011
season-opening event at PGA National Resort
& Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
In the boys division, Proveaux bested
Michael Kim, of Del Mar, Calif., 4 and 3, to pick
up his first AJGA victory. Proveaux entered the
match-play portion of the event as the No. 2
seed and never trailed in any of his matches.
On Friday, Proveaux took his first lead in the
finals on the par- 4 sixth hole and increased his
lead to 3-up through 10. The turning point of
the match came at the par- 4 12th where Proveaux made a 30-foot par putt to halve the hole.
Proveaux added a birdie on No. 13 to move to
4-up and mutual pars on the par- 3 15th gave
Proveaux his first national junior title.
“Winning feels awesome,” the oral commit
to Clemson said. “To finally win an AJGA tourna-
ment, and it be an invitational, feels great.”
In the girls division, Green defeated Karen
Chung, of Livingston, N.J., 2 and 1, to claim her
first invitational title. Green began her charge
to victory on the first hole of her very first
match where she claimed a 1-up lead. Green
would never look back, and just like Proveaux,
she never trailed in any of her matches.
“Having never trailed, it felt good knowing
that I had the momentum going into every hole,”
Green said. “I just kept telling myself to hold it.”
Green began her championship match with
birdies on the first two holes to claim a 2-up
lead. Chung battled back with birdies on Nos.
3 and 6 to square the match. But Green put a
stop to any Chung momentum with a critical
par save on the par- 4 14th. Green came to the
par- 3 17th with a 2-up lead, and mutual pars
gave Green the victory.
“I was pumped just to make the cut, and
then I won every match,” said Green. “It means
the world to me.”
Former champions of the Polo Golf Junior
Classic include Stewart Cink (1989), Tiger
Woods (‘91), Grace Park (‘94), Trevor Immel-
mann (‘95), Paula Creamer (‘02) and Morgan
Pressel (‘04).
