Prescott Butler wins first AJGA Dominican Junior Open held in Puntacana Resort & Club.

By The American Junior Golf Association

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – Final-round results from the AJGA Dominican Junior Open presented by the Puntacana Resort & Club conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at Puntacana Resort & Club in 2017.

Prescott Butler of Old Westbury, New York, won his first American Junior Golf Association tournament with a tournament total 8-under-par 208 during the AJGA Dominican Junior Open presented by the Puntacana Resort & Club, the AJGA’s first event in the Dominican Republic.

The event, which hosted the first round at La Cana Golf Club and second and final rounds at Corales Golf Club, featured 72 players from 18 states and 11 countries in a 54-hole stroke play event. Included in the field were 10 players from the Dominican Republic, including three from Punta Cana.

Stellar play by Dominican Juan Delgado drew Butler’s 36-hole four-stroke lead to just one stroke on No. 16, the start of “El Codo de Diablo,” or “The Devil’s Elbow,” the final three signature holes at Corales Golf Club. Delgado holed out his bunker shot for birdie to apply pressure down the stretch, but both juniors closed with pars on Nos. 17 and 18.

Butler, playing in his fourth season of national junior golf, was playing in his first AJGA event of 2017 and had two previous top-seven AJGA finishes. Three weeks ago, he began a new tradition at the Liberty National Junior Invitational in New Jersey on April 30 where he wore tall socks during his competitive rounds and won. Despite tropical temperatures in the high 80’s for the event, he continued the tradition to win at the AJGA Dominican Junior Open. The rising Pine School senior, carded a 6-under-par 66 during the second round at Corales Golf Club with a 5-under-par 31 on the back nine.
Delgado, from Santo Domingo, is playing in his third season of national junior golf and earned his career-best second-place finish with a tournament total 7-under-par 209. He had a previous career-best top-6 finish at the AJGA Junior All-Star at Spring Valley and played in his first event of 2017 over Easter at the Bishops Gate Golf Academy Junior at Horseshoe Bay.

Jaxon Dowell of Edmond, Oklahoma, shot a low final round score of 6-under-par 66 and finished in a tie for third with Rodrigo Rodas of Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Dawson Ovard of Frisco, Texas, all with a tournament total 5-under-par 211.

Dowell shot a back nine 5-under-par 31 with five birdies and had another two on the front. The rising sophomore at Oklahoma Christian School also had a third-place finish in April at the AJGA Junior All-Star at Lost Springs presented by Visit Bentonville.

Rodas, age 16, was one of three AJGA champions in the field. The 16-year-old is playing in his second season of national junior golf and won the 2016 AJGA Junior All-Star at Spring Valley. Rodas had a bogey-free final round 4-under-par 68 with birdies on Nos. 1, 7, 11 and 17. 

Ovard, a rising junior at Frisco High School, shot a 6-under-par 66 on La Cana Golf Club during the first round, including nine birdies. The Southern Methodist University verbal commit has played four years of national junior golf including a top-5 finish at the beginning of 2017, a career best, prior to this week.
For more information about the AJGA Dominican Junior Open presented by the Puntacana Resort & Club, please contact Roseanna Smith at (678) 425-5988 or [email protected]. Follow more from the event on social media at #DominicanJrOpen on Twitter.

About the AJGA

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls, ages 12-19) of more than 6,600 members from 50 states and 55 foreign countries. Through initiatives like the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, a financial assistance program, and Leadership Links, a service-oriented platform that teaches juniors charitable-giving skills, the AJGA fosters the growth of golf’s next generation.

TaylorMade-adidas Golf became the AJGA’s National Sponsor in 2016 after more than 25 years of support. Rolex, which is in its fourth decade of AJGA sponsorship, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2017, adidas joined the AJGA as a Premier Partner, serving as the Official Apparel and Footwear of the AJGA.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 830 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Hunter Mahan, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Justin Thomas, Stacy Lewis, Ariya Jutanugarn, Alison Lee, Lexi Thompson, Inbee Park, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel.