Daniel Thompson and Ashely Menne win the IHOP Invitational at GCU

Madeleine Laux, Toni St John, Ashely Menne and Chris Milisci with IHOP  
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Daniel Thompson of Phoenix and Ashely Menne of Surprise took home top honors at the IHOP Invitational at GCU, contested August 19-20 Grand Canyon University Golf Course. 

After round one, Thompson posted a 5-under-par 66 to open up a three-shot lead over Max Engle of Scottsdale and a five-shot lead over Davis Evans of Phoenix. Engle and Evans fired back with rounds of 65 and 64, respectively, however Thompson’s final-round 67 was enough to earn the victory by a stroke. He finished the tournament at 9-under par (66-67—133). Engle finished at 8-under par (69-65—134), and Evans finished at 7-under par (71-64—135).  

In the Girls Championship Division, Menne set the tone by going five-under par for the last six holes on her way to first-round, 6-under par 65. She then closed out the competition with a 4-under par 67 to finish at 10-under par (132). This was 11 strokes ahead of second-place finisher Toni St John of Gilbert (74-69—143, +1). Madeleine Laux of Goodyear finished in third place with a score of 70-74—144, +2.

Menne’s most recent victory is the fourth, of five, Junior Masters Series tournament wins she has posted this season, and Menne placed second in only one she didn’t win. Plus, with only a handful of tournaments remaining in 2017, Menne holds a commanding lead for Player of the Year honors in the Girls Championship Division.

“Congratulation to Ashely and Daniel. They came out on top of a very competitive field at one of our premier Junior Masters Series events,” said Scott McNevin, Executive Director of the JGAA.  “Thanks to the support from IHOP, this event has become one of the top tournaments on our schedule.” 

The JGAA’s Junior Masters Series consists of five tournaments at some of the most prestigious courses in Arizona. The field is made up of 78 players 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.

“Our goal is to provide a competitive place for aspiring local players to play,” said George Getz, Chairman of the Board of the JGAA.  “This tournament series allows kids to earn national-level points and will serve as a launching pad into nationally chartered events.”

To learn more about the JGAA, contact Scott McNevin, JGAA Executive Director, smcnevin@jgaa.org, 602.944.6168.