Shelby County duo misses cut at national tournament

Published 1:21 pm Wednesday, July 18, 2012

By WESLEY HALLMAN / Sports Editor

A pair of Shelby County high school golf standouts missed the cut at the U.S. Junior Amateur national championship tournament July 16-17 at the Country Club of New England in Stratham, N.H.

Trevor Page, a rising senior at Briarwood Christian School, and Connor Slane, a rising senior at Pelham High School, missed the cut to advance to the third round by just six strokes against a field of the top amateur golfers in the nation.

Page carded a two-day total of 13-over par 157 in the tournament. Following a 8-over par 80 on the first day of the tournament July 16, Page cut three strokes of his score and posted a 5-over par 77 in the second round.

However, Page finished five strokes back of a group of six golfers who just survived the cut by posting a two-day total of 8-over par 152.

Page said playing against an impressive field of golfers from every region of the country and several countries around the world will help him prepare for a future collegiate golf career.

“It was definitely a great motivation,” Page said. “This tournament has opened up my eyes to parts of my game I need to work on.”

Page said he was impressed with the Country Club of New England in his first visit to the course.

“The course was amazing,” Page said. “It played really tough, but everything about it was beautiful. It was worth traveling up here.”

Slane, a Helena native, carded a 7-over par in each round to finish with a two-day total of 14-over par 158 in the tournament. Slane missed the cut by six strokes.

Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., Nicolas Echavarria of Colombia and Shintaro Ban of San Jose, Calif., were tied for the lead after the first two rounds at 3-under par 141.