KLECKNER SNEAKS IN FOR WIN

Richmond, Texas – Coming from three shots off the lead, and playing in the mostly-ignored third to last group, Spring, Texas’s Dan Kleckner birdied the 53^rd and 54^th holes to post a final round three under 69 and slip by the rest of the field to capture the 30^th Southern Junior Championship at The Houstonian Golf Club in Richmond, Texas.

Starting the third and final round, everyone’s attention was riveted on 14 year-old phenom Lance Lopez from Fresno, Texas, who was tied beginning the round with Preston Brown of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida at even par 144. Talk of Charles Howell’s domination in the mid-90's and a possible repeat with Lopez quickly became the topic of conversation. But while Lopez was working his way to an eventual 74 and Preston to a 78, Kleckner was quietly putting together the best round of the day at 69, giving him a three round total of even par 216 and the victory.

The Houstonian Golf Club, sister club of the more renowned Blackhawk Golf Club, proved to be more than a match for these talented juniors. Easy to walk and in beautiful condition, talk was it was there for the taking and the winning score would likely be five or six under. However, the subtle greens and ever-present allure of the great shot over hazardous terrain was more than these fine players could cope with and old man par turned out to be a good score.

Kleckner, Chad Bailey of Rushton, Louisiana and Jake Creel of Dothan, Alabama led the charge out of the blocks on Tuesday with opening rounds of 70. Hogan Kaney of Newnan, Georgia was two strokes back at 72, followed closely by Joshua Carr of Orlando, Florida, Garrett Runion of Windermere, Florida, Blake Parks of Odessa, Texas and Lopez, all with 73's.

Day two saw Preston Brown charge back from his opening round of 74 to post a 70 and finish at even par 144 - the same as Lopez, who put a second round 71 with his opening score of 73. Meanwhile, Kleckner was experiencing difficulties and could only manage a 77. Best round of the day belonged to Trent Leon of Dallas, Texas, who posted the low score to date of the tournament, 69, and moved into contention only three shots back of the leaders.

The final day, however, belonged to the high school junior from Spring, Texas as he matched the low score of the tournament, posted his even par 216, earned an exemption into the 96^th Southern Amateur Championship at East Lake Golf Club, and, more importantly, the right to have "Dan Kleckner" engraved on the Southern Junior trophy.

In the younger age division, Lopez ran away from the rest of the 13-14 year-olds, posting a two over par 218 and easily winning the division by 17 strokes. A couple of Texans, Scott Kelly of Humble and Mark Lindsay of Houston tied for second at 235.

13-14 Age Division
Lance Lopez	Fresno, Texas	73-71-74--218
Scott Kelly	Humble, Texas	82-73-80--235
Mark Lindsey	Houston, Texas	79-76-80--235
Christopher Ward	Mc Kinney, Texas	80-77-80--237
Matt Eschenburg	Spring, Texas	82-79-78--239
Jack Freeman	Garland, Texas	84-79-79--242
Jamie Harris	Deridder, La.	78-85-79--242
Brennen Arndt	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	80-86-83--249
John Havens	Houston, Texas	91-83-94--268
Patrick Norris	Spring, Texas	97-92-92--281
Brandon Burke	Houston, Texas	97-100-WD--WD

15-18 Age Division
Dan Kleckner	Spring, Texas	70-77-69--216
Joshua Carr	Orlando, Fla.	73-72-72--217
Dos Goldsmith	McAllen, Texas	73-72-72--217
Justin Dailey	Pelham, Ala.	74-72-73--219
Chad Bailey	Ruston, La.	70-76-73--219
Garrett Runion	Windermere, Fla.	73-75-73--221
Preston Brown	Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.	74-70-78--222
Trent Leon	Dallas, Texas	78-69-75--222
Blake Parks	Odessa, Texas	73-74-75--222
Jake Creel	Dothan, Ala.	70-76-77--223
Brent Struthers	Baton Rouge, La.	77-71-75--223
Jeff Gerlich	Austin, Texas	79-70-75--224
Tyler Brown	Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.	75-74-76--225
Lance Vasquez	Fort Worth, Texas	75-74-76--225
Peter Andrews	Houston, Texas	74-76-76--226
Franklin Corpening	Fort Worth, Texas	76-73-77--226
Kevin Schultz	Richardson, Texas	77-75-75--227
Ryan Neal	Arlington, Texas	79-74-75--228
Daniel Switser	Plano, Texas	79-72-77--228
Mike Lester	Dallas, Texas	77-75-76--228
Will Osborne	Wichita Falls, Texas	74-75-79--228
Robert Jamieson	Orlando, Fla.	74-82-73--229
Charlie Holland	Dallas, Texas	80-73-76--229
John Christensen	Dallas, Texas	76-76-77--229
Wesley Hodges	Saint Simons Islan, Ga.	79-73-77--229
Austin Welch	Spring, Texas	78-72-79--229
Bobby Thomure	Tomball, Texas	76-76-78--230
Ben Gardner	Boca Raton, Fla.	75-78-78--231
Russell Helson	Georgetown, Texas	76-77-78--231
Brad Nelson	Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.	79-76-77--232
Bradley Ruch	Louisville, Ky.	80-73-79--232
Hogan Kaney	Newnan, Ga.	72-75-85--232
Shane Atkins	Mansfield, Texas	77-80-76--233
Kyle McCotter	Shreveport, La.	82-76-75--233
Preston Sandknopp	Heath, Texas	80-77-76--233
Frank Wrenn	Greenville, S.C..	81-79-73--233
James Clement	Mobile, Ala.	78-78-77--233
Morgan Landry	Lafayette, La.	77-77-79--233
Stephen Ensley	Austin, Texas	82-77-75--234
Blake Chrisman	Tulsa, Okla..	81-80-73--234
Blake Trimble	Houston, Texas	80-76-78--234
Brett Scarber	Center, Texas	81-76-78--235
Taylor Ramey	Little Rock, Ark.	80-77-78--235
Wallace McKinney	Mobile, Ala.	79-77-79--235
Christopher Calderwood	Houston, Texas	78-78-79--235
Josh Webber	Dallas, Texas	80-77-79--236
John Peter Winkler	Shreveport, La.	79-80-77--236
C.R. Smith	Orlando, Fla.	79-83-74--236
Jason Turner	Little Rock, Ark.	79-79-79--237
John Norris	Spring, Texas	76-82-79--237
Bryan Boyd	Austin, Texas	75-77-85--237
Houston Sullivan	Wichita Falls, Texas	80-79-79--238
Rick Dunlap	Dallas, Texas	79-80-79--238
Jared Mayfield	Shreveport, La.	76-81-82--239
J.W. Lodge	Houston, Texas	78-82-79--239
Ben Hollerbach	Tulsa, Okla..	78-82-79--239
Jay Unis	Deridder, La.	79-78-83--240
Geoff Heller	Houston, Texas	81-77-82--240
Colby Amparan	Arlington, Texas	75-81-84--240
Steven O'Brien	Humble, Texas	78-79-84--241
Jon Birdsong	Atlanta, Ga.	80-80-81--241
Michael Smith	Lafayette, La.	78-78-85--241
Alex Sauls	Greeneville, Tenn.	83-78-80--241
Justin Davidson	Haslet, Texas	81-77-84--242
Stephen Evans	Tulsa, Okla..	84-77-81--242
Weldon Martin	Houston, Texas	80-83-79--242
Ted Smith	Jacksonville, Fla.	81-82-79--242
Ryan Riess	Spring, Texas	80-87-75--242
Madison Rhea	Dallas, Texas	83-80-80--243
Ryan Scott	Ponca City, Okla..	84-80-79--243
Keith Kerr	Spring, Texas	82-82-82--246
Conner Harris	Raleigh, N.C.	88-77-82--247
Michael Cowley	Richmond, Va.	87-80-81--248
Ross Gilbert	Ponca City, Okla..	86-82-80--248
Austin Hill	Dallas, Texas	79-89-83--251
Joe Morton	Waycross, Ga.	88-82-89--259
Justin Carroll	Mc Kinney, Texas	91-82-87--260
Chris Gilbert	Ponca City, Okla..	87-90-89--266
Hunter Mayes	Spring, Texas	81-90-WD--WD
Billy Slater	Louisville, Ky.	93-89-WD--WD
Michael Birtel	New Orleans, La.	83-82-WD--WD
Todd Parks	Carrollton, Texas	82-78-DQ--DQ
Pat Collogan	Ponca City, Okla..	78-75-DQ--DQ
Scot Schroeder	Pflugerville, Texas	85-93-WD--WD
Justin DuBose	Austin, Texas	86-91-WD--WD
Lance Littleton	San Antonio, Texas	82-84-WD--WD

A total of 97 players, representing 12 states, took part in the championship and all were totally impressed with the golf course and facilities at The Houstonian and the hospitality shown by the staff. Participation breaks down as follows:

Alabama	4	Kentucky	2	South Carolina	1
Arkansas	2	Louisiana	10	Tennessee	1
Florida	10	North Carolina	1	Texas	54
Georgia	4	Oklahoma	7	Virginia	1

An integral part of the Southern Junior, as well as the Southern Amateur, is recognition of the state that has four players post 36 hole combined scores that are lower than the best four players' combined score from any other state, and this constitutes the State Team Championship. The 2000 state team winner was Georgia with a team total of 569, represented by the following players:

Lance Lopez, Fresno	144		Dos Goldsmith, McAllen	145
Dan Kleckner, Spring* Trent Leon, Dallas* Brad Parks, Odessa* *Tie	147