Gao leads after bogey-free opening round at Boy's 18U Junior Amateur
MANLIUS, N.Y. – Samuel Gao, after a bogey-free round, leads the 84th NYS Junior Amateur after 18 holes. He turned in a round of 67 on Monday at Cavalry Club.
Gao, a member of Youth on Course - MGA, started his round with three birdies in the first five holes. His group started on the tenth hole. Another birdie on the 16th hole meant a front-nine score of 32. He proceeded to par the next ten holes and cap off his round with a birdie on the difficult 9th hole.
"A lot of the shots prefer a fade shot shape,” Gao said. “I like hitting a controlled cut off the tee box so as a result I think I had almost a perfect fairway percentage.”
Related: Results / Photos / Championship Central
Ty Monroe and Josh Yan finished tied for second, both a stroke behind the leader. Yan, a member of Trump National GC Hudson Valley and Team New York, was the only other player to not record a bogey. He birdied four par-4s with pars on every other hole. Yan finished tied for 12th in last year’s championship.
Monroe, of Rip Van Winkle CC, had only one bogey and recorded five birdies. He tied for 20th in 2025.
“My round was pretty easy… I got off to a pretty good start,” Monroe said. “I just stuck to a process and routine.”
Earlier in the day, Kai Chiarenza of Edison Club fired a round of 69, three-under. He found himself four-under after the first nine holes but found four bogeys on the back nine. Important bogeys on 16 and 17 kept him within two strokes of the lead heading into Wednesday. He missed the cut after the first round of last year’s championship.
“Some of the pins out there were pretty gettable today,” Chiarenza said. “It was good to be able to hit some good shots and make some good putts.”
Wilson Reid (Oak Hill CC) and Brayden Sentz (Leatherstocking Golf Course) also shot 69. Reid made five birdies and two bogeys and he took advantage of both par-4s on the front nine. Sentz eagled the sixth hole, a par-5 but had to navigate around four bogeys. The member of Team New York tied for 27th last summer after an opening round 72.
12 players finished in red figures and 18 finished at even or better. All players that shot over a 76 were cut. The final two rounds will take place tomorrow at Cavalry Club with tee times starting at 6:30 a.m.
