First-Time Player Luna Goes Low With 66

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Bedminster, N.J. – While eating lunch Monday, Emiliano Grillo started waving across the table at Juan Luna and pointed excitedly toward the scoreboard. Two numbers popped in atop the screen. Both happened to be those of the two friends, who moments earlier were smiling and joking with one another in Spanish.

Luna

The 17-year-old Luna, of Colombia, rode a bogey-free first round to lead the morning wave at 6-under 66 at the U.S. Junior Amateur. His 17-year-old Argentinean friend, Grillo, was one shot off the lead at Trump National Golf Club on a humid but overcast day.  Austin Cody, 17, of North Charleston, S.C. and 16-year-old Will Murphy of Columbia, S.C., also turned in 5-under 67s.

Anton Arboleda, 16, of La Canada, Calif., and one of the semifinalists from last year at Shoal Creek, 15-year-old Jordan Spieth, recorded 4-under 68s.

“I just tried hitting the center of the greens,” said Arboleda, notching six birdies. “All my birdies were 10-15 feet.”

Three players - Logan Harrell, 17, of Huntersville, N.C.; Mequon, Wis., resident Jordan Niebrugge, 15;  and 16-year-old Bobby Wyatt of Mobile, Ala. - registered 3-under 69s.

Luna had six birdies and 12 pars, seemingly having the time of his life as he navigated around the 7,099-yard, par-72 New Course setup. His 66 was tied for the third-lowest 18-hole score in the championship.

“It was great. Perfect conditions,” said Luna, through broken English, who will attend the University of Memphis. “I love the greens. They are perfect.”

One couldn’t blame him for feeling that way, especially after he walked off No. 16. Seconds earlier, he converted a 35-footer for his final birdie. At 17, he might seem like a late-bloomer, but he never tried qualifying for the championship until this year. He picked up the game at San Andres Golf Club in Colombia when he was 11.

Other Colombians, such as Camilo Villegas and Maria Jose Uribe, helped grow the sport there.

“It’s really important to be here,” said Luna. 

Grillo, who was a quarterfinalist last year, nodded in agreement.  A recent influx of Argentinean players has left an imprint on U.S. soil. Angel Cabrera and Eduardo Romero have won USGA championships, and at last year’s Junior Amateur Jorge Fernandez Valdes carded the second-lowest stroke-play score in the first round.

Grillo lost to eventual winner Cameron Peck 6 and 5 last year.  His only blemishes on an otherwise sterling card were bogeys at Nos. 9 and 16. The winner of the Byron Nelson Junior Award, playing in his second Junior Amateur, acknowledged that the aim is securing one of the 64 match-play positions.

“I just try to make as many fairways as possible and as many greens in regulation,” said Grillo, winner of the Junior World in San Diego.

Like Luna, Cody pieced together a bogey-free round that saw five birdies. He started on No. 10, finessing in two 20-footers for birdie on the par-3 seventh and par-4 first.

With one Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur under his belt, Cody doesn’t feel overwhelmed. He missed the cut last year at Shoal Creek, which changed his mindset coming into this week. Making match play is the target, and the fact he shot a low number on the easier New Course eased any lasting nerves, he said. The second round will be conducted Tuesday on the Old Course, considered to be the more difficult of the two because of its length.

Spieth agreed.  Of the two courses, he entered Monday knowing the best chance to score would be in the first round. His fourth and final birdie came on the par-4 17th, statistically the easiest at 4.476 strokes. He rolled in a lagging 20-footer from the fringe, putting him in better position to qualify again for match play.

“It’s a lot better than last year,” said Spieth, from Dallas, Texas. “I was about two shots off the cutline and had to consistently think about the cut in the second round.”

As an aside, 12-year-old Plano, Texas, native William Zalatoris carded a solid 1-under 71.

“Just coming in here and being 12, seeing some of these kids and getting paired with an 18 year old and another kid who’s a junior or senior coming up. You just got to have fun,” said the eighth-grader-to-be.

“I had first-tee jitters…. First tee I piped it right down the middle and told my caddie, ‘If you had my heart right now. Holy moly.’”

Ken Klavon is the USGA’s editor of new media. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.