Bluegrass Junior: Jarvis, Clutts turn up heat: Duo tied for early lead; Singh top girls field after first round
Jun. 16—BELLEFONTE — Cameron Jarvis was hot before the thermometer said so.
Jarvis birdied four of his first five holes and added another on No. 9, then preserved it on the back nine to finish his round with a 5-under-par 65.
That ties the Barbourville, West Virginia product for the lead through the first round of the Natural Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior presented by Encova Insurance on a steamy Wednesday at Bellefonte Country Club.
"I played the first seven holes very, very good. Made an incredible par on hole 6," Jarvis said. "I got off to a hot start and that always helps, and then on the back nine, I kept it together."
That was important because Gavin Clutts, playing two groups behind Jarvis, matched that score. Clutts, of Hazard, posted five birdies between No. 4 and No. 10 and finished a bogey-free round at 65 as well.
Clutts "had no idea" where he was in relation to Jarvis or anyone else on the leaderboard, he said.
"I was trying to get more and more, honestly," Clutts said. "I left a couple (shots out there), but I gained a couple as well."
In girls play, Athena Singh of Morehead compiled a 3-under-par 67 to lead by two shots after the first round. She birdied her first two holes after the turn to get to 3-under before bogeying No. 16. But Singh got that one back with a birdie on the final hole of her first round.
"My putting was really good," Singh said. "I was making all my par saves, and I made two longer birdie putts."
One of those saves, on the par-3 No. 3, helped Singh get going, she said.
"I felt like that was one of my biggest saves," Singh said, "because I had hit my (birdie) putt almost 10 feet past the hole, and I saved it for par."
Chloe Tarkany, of Scottsdale, Arizona, is second, two shots behind Singh at 1-under. Paintsville's Isabella Christy is tied for fifth with a 3-over 73.
Jarvis and Clutts enter today's second round with a one-shot lead on Benson Blevins, of Wytheville, Virginia, who shot a 66 Wednesday.
Clutts said a par on No. 12 to help him preserve that 5-under standing was important to his round.
"I parred it, but it's a hard hole," Clutts said.
Jarvis, a Cabell Midland graduate bound for the University of Kentucky, was the runner-up in West Virginia's Class AAA state tournament in October. He is also a Bellefonte veteran — he played in the Bluegrass Junior last season and won the Cameron M. Weis Sportsmanship Award.
The course experience helped Jarvis know how to approach a round on a day in which he conceded "I didn't have my best stuff," especially down the stretch.
"I knew what to expect, but sometimes you get bounces and sometimes you don't," Jarvis said. "Today I got a lot in my favor, and then the back nine, a couple against me that I was able to make up for.
"I think that knowing where you can miss and where you can't is huge out here," Jarvis continued. "If you can take advantage of the short par-4s and on the par-5s that are also a little shorter, it's amazing, because you can really score. But you also have to tame it down a little bit coming in the back nine."
Singh is also familiar with Bellefonte, having played it twice before this week.
"It helped a lot," she said. "On a few holes, you can't really see the flag, and it helped you know which club you need to hit and where you need to hit which one."
Jacob Settles (Winchester), Jake Albert (Blacksburg, Virginia), Bradford Lacefield (Versailles), Ethan Bridges (Montgomery, Texas), Benjamin Wulkopf (Louisville), Cameron Roberts (Robinson Creek) and Sam Carraher (Crown Point, Indiana) are in a seven-way tie for fourth on the boys leaderboard, having carded 68s Wednesday.
Roberts was tied with Jarvis and Clutts at 5-under on the back nine before slipping a couple of strokes late.
Among northeastern Kentucky participants, Connor Calhoun of Grayson is in a five-way tie for 22nd after shooting a 2-over-par 72 Wednesday and Gunner Cassity of Russell is one of six players in 37th with a 75.
Christy was 1-over par after birdieing No. 11, but she bogeyed Nos. 13 and 18 to slip into a tie for fifth with Anna Huang, of Coto de Caza, California. Huang parred her final five holes after two bogeys in a span of three holes.
Jinger Heath (Decatur, Alabama) is third on the girls leaderboard after shooting a 1-over 71. Donina Zhou (San Clemente, California) is in fourth with a 72.
Conditions were humid from the get-go and temperatures were already in the mid-80s and climbing early in Wednesday's round when one player, laboring toward a tee box in long pants, mused aloud he hadn't packed shorts because the tournament was "up north." Of the 94 players in the field — 60 boys and 34 girls after one withdrew — 23 hail from or live in Florida, Texas, Arizona, the Deep South or southern California.
Clutts said his intention to prepare for the rest of the week was to "get some rest," while Jarvis, who lives within easy driving distance of Bellefonte, was "gonna go to the pool and have a couple bottles of water and be fine."
For current leaderboards and complete tournament results, visit ajga.org.
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