In a true nail bitter B takes second place at the Orange County National Junior Open. (Click for pics and details).

It came down to not only the last hole, but the second to last stroke to determine the outcome of the tournament this weekend. Jordan was all over the leaderboard on Sunday falling as far down as 7th place after the 6th hole where Jordan was plus 3, to being tied for the lead at the 12th hole where she was plus 2 on the day. 13 & 14 were both bogeys dropping her to third place, 15 & 16 were pars bringing her back to a tie for second. On 17, another bogey to put her back to third.

The 18th hole at Panther is a par 5 doozy that is close to 500 yards with lots of trouble all around. Jordan blasted her drive straight up the gut over 300 yards according to Carl. At this point she had 200 yards to the flag if she chose to go for it over a field of fescue. The conservative move would have been to go around it, lay up, get on in 3 and par the hole to secure her third place finish. The other choice, was to put it all on the line and go for it. If she made it, and eagled the hole, she would have tied the leader and taken the game into a sudden death playoff. If she missed, and the ball ended up in the mess, she would have dropped to 4th or 5th place or worse as four other girls were within one or two strokes. As Jordan likes to quote all the time, ”Go big or go home,” she went for it blasting her second shot on to the green within 30 feet of the pin. The eagle putt would roll to within 10 inches of the hole and she would end with a 🐥 and the runner up spot. An incredible effort and a fantastic finish to the tournament. Jordan has a quote from Michael Jordan prominently displayed on the front cover of her golf notebook. It reads, ”Practice hard enough that one day your signature will become an autograph.” That last hole yesterday and the guts it took to go for it is going to turn this into a reality for her.

Yesterday Jordan was a plus 4 with 5 three putts. She had no double bogeys, 6 bogeys, 10 pars, and 2 🐥’s. Over the course of the tournament, she had 14 three putts in 36 holes. For those who play the game you will understand just how difficult a feat this was. Jordan will in short order correct her putting and her scores will reflect just how well she is striking the ball.

This tournament marks the conclusion of the off season and the end of Jordan’s 18th month of competitive golf. She turned 15 last week and will play a US Open Woman’s qualifier next month trying to earn her way into the 77th US OPEN to be played at Pine Needles in North Carolina in June. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of so many people. We would like to again thank Jordan’s incredible coaches, Carl Rabito and Jerry Yochum, her dedicated manger and photographer Yirong (Danny) Zheng, her caddie Darren Gentile, and her incredible mom Julie who keeps it all organized and moving forward. Lyla, B’s amazingly patient and supportive sister also needs to be acknowledged. Finally, but no less important, all of you who follow her blog, take the time to comment and call and text us so we know we are not alone in this journey. It is great to have the support. One final final, Allen Sirkin who remains Jordan’s biggest fan and the guy who she calls as a part of her preparation ritual on every drive to every tournament every day.

Now, the pictures that Jan has so patiently waited for…

Jordan travels back north on Sunday saying goodbye to Orlando until October. Next tournament is at Bethpage Blue for the Met Jr. PGA on April 30th.

Thats all for now and thank you once again.

The Editorial Staff