Trevor Werbylo and Ashley Menne post wins at the Wigwam Invitational

Werbylo rides first-round 66 to victory and Menne wins by seven in first Junior Masters Series Tournament of the season

Girls; right to left – Ashley Menne, Elizabeth Caldarelli, Emily Mahar
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The first event on the JGAA’s 2016 tournament schedule as well as the first event on the Junior Masters Series, the Wigwam Invitational sponsored by Prugen Pharmaceuticals kicked off on January 23-24 at Wigwam Golf Club. After 36 holes of play, Trevor Werbylo of Tucson and Ashley Menne of Surprise came out on top in the Boys and Girls Divisions (respectively).

A red-hot Werbylo fired a first-round 66 (-8) to jump out to a four-stroke lead after round-one. The low round of the tournament by two strokes, Werbylo carded seven birdies and one bogey on the Wigwam’s Heritage Course that day. Although he cooled down a bit in the second round on the Gold Course with a three-over-par 75 (66-75—141), it was enough to best Noah Robinson of Glendale by two strokes (70-73—143). Daniel Thompson of Phoenix and Gabriel Velarde of Mesa finished T3, five strokes off the pace. 

Werbylo adds a victory early this season to last season’s list of accomplishments that included a third-place finish in the State Junior Golf Championship, second in the Thunderbird Junior Classic, and first in the Tucson Conquistadores Spring Classic.

On the Girls side, Ashley Menne posted her first win in the Girls Championship Division after an incredible season last year in the Girls 13-14 Division that included a whopping 15 wins as well as a third-place finish in the Junior Masters Series at Camelback. Menne posted the low round of the tournament for the girls, 72, in the first round, and followed it up with a 77 (five-over-par 149 total) to outlast Elizabeth Caldarelli and Emily Mahar, both of Scottsdale, who finished T2 at 156. 

The JGAA’s Junior Masters Series consists of seven regular tournaments and one Series Championship at some of the most prestigious courses in Arizona.  Debuting last year, it’s a series of invitation-only tournaments tailored to Arizona junior golfers with the desire and ability to compete locally against their top-ranked peers.  The field for the events is limited to 72 players (roughly 51 boys and 21 girls) who are invited to compete by virtue of their national ranking by Junior Golf Scoreboard – boys must be in the top 3,500 and girls in the top 1,500.

Openings for junior players from neighboring states will be dependent on availability at each event. Qualified junior players can sign up for the Junior Major Series by visiting www.jgaa.org