Roman Solomon, who won the boys championship at the inaugural Mack Champ Invitational last March, and Alona Avery, whose sister Amari was our first girls champion, are in the lead after the first round of play at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston.
Avery, from Riverside, CA, shot a 2-under 70 to take a two-shot lead in the 13-18 division over Shyla Brown from McKinney, TX. Solomon shot a 1-under 71 and leads Matthew Vital (Bethlehem, PA), Jamison Bryant (Milton, GA) and KJ Ofahengaue (Lehi, UT) by a shot in the boys 13-18 division.
Axel Monssoh from Miami, who also won his age division last year, shot 3-over 75 to lead the boys 11-12 division by four shots. Aiden Dinani (Upland, CA) shot 79 and Xeve Perez (Evans, GA) shot 80. In the girls 11-12 division, Myla Robinson from Eastvale, CA, shot 7-over 79 and leads Aleah Shields-Rodipe (Calgary, Alberta) by two shots.
Saturday’s round was live-streamed with Michael Collins, aka America’s Caddie, and veteran broadcaster Scott Walker providing commentary. Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, paid a visit to the course and even sat in on the broadcast for bit.
