Lydia Portlock is the first Texan to win the Mack Champ Invitational for Girls and a fitting champion for a tournament with deep Texas roots.
The tournament’s namesake, Mack Champ, was a Texas native, and Cameron Champ played at Texas A&M before settling in the Houston area. Portlock, a high school junior from San Antonio, has already committed to play her college golf at Texas.
For the second year consecutive year, the MCI for Girls was played at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, TX, site of next week’s Chevron Championship, the first major of the LPGA season.
Portlock got off to a hot start in the final round, pairing a 2-under 34 on the front nine with a 1-under 35 on the back. She was 1-under for the tournament, two shots clear of Alona Avery, a senior from Riverside, CA, who was trying to become the tournament’s first two-time winner.
Avery, the 2022 MCI winner, started the day with a three-shot lead after shooting 71 on Friday, but her 74 on Saturday was not enough.
Avery will join the golf team at UC Irvine next year. Her older sister, Amari, won the inaugural MCI in 2021 and is now a star on the golf team at USC.
Emerson Roychoudhury, a freshman from Leesburg, VA, and Blayne Brown, a junior from Riverside, CA, shot 5-over for the tournament to tie for third place.
In the 12-and-under division, Kayla Jackson, a 5th grader from Charlotte, won by nine shots after shooting 82-75. Zara Staley, a 6th grader from Sarasota, FL, was second, and Alaina Villarreal, a 4th grader from Richmond, TX, was third.
The MCI, inspired by the memory of Mack Champ, was created not only to provide an elite competitive experience for junior golfers of diverse backgrounds, but also to serve as a springboard into top-tier tournaments and college scholarships while creating an environment where players and families can build relationships that last a lifetime.
The Mack Champ Invitational for boys will return to Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston from May 2-5.
Thanks to Babygrande Golf for helping to showcase the amazing young women who are playing this week!
Staci Pla
Lydia Portlock
Vivian Lott
Koa Seymour
Roisin Scanlon
Click on an image to enlarge.
Photos by Mpu Dinani and Angela Ding.
Alona Avery is heading into the final round of the fourth annual Mack Champ Invitational with a three-shot lead and a chance to become the tournament’s first repeat champion.
Avery, a high school senior from Riverside, CA, shot one-under 71 on the Nicklaus Course at The Club at Carlton Woods on Friday. She won the tournament in 2022, and her sister, Amari, won the inaugural MCI in 2021. Alona is heading to the golf team at UC Irvine next year; Amari is a junior and a star of the USC women’s golf team.
Five players are tied for second after shooting two-over 74: Sakura Watanabe (Roseville, CA), Alexis Lamadrid (Phoenix), Lydia Portlock (San Antonio), Ashley Shaw (Litchfield Park, AZ), and Roisin Scanlon (Northhamptonshire, UK).
In the 12-and-under division, Kayla Jackson (Charlotte) has the lead after shooting 82. Alaina Villarreal (Richmond, TX) and Zara Staley (Sarasota, FL) are five shots back.
Categories
We Are Looking for Volunteers!
The Mack Champ Invitational is looking for volunteers to help our tournaments run smoothly.
The girls tournament is returning to The Club at Carlton Woods, site of The Chevron Championship, from April 11-13. The boys will be back at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston from May 2-5.
We are looking for volunteers to help in the following roles:
- Set-up: Assist in setting up the tournament signage and morning prep for the tournament.
- Registration: Check in the junior golfers and distribute their respective gifts before their practice round.
- Timing/Water Stations: Record groups’ times at timing station holes, inform players that they are in/out of position with the group in front of them, and help distribute water bottles as each group passes through.
- Water Rover: Ensure that coolers on the course are stocked with plenty of water and ice throughout each of the rounds.
- Dinner Reception Set-up: Assist setting up the ballroom for dinner reception and registration for Saturday night. (Boys only)
When Jayden Lizama and Staci Pla won the 2023 Cisco Junior Series presented by the APGA and the Cameron Champ Foundation last summer, they also punched their tickets to Torrey Pines.
Lizama is one of two amateurs playing in the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational this weekend, and Pla played a pro-am round for the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open with Collin Morikawa and Alex Morgan, an amazing opportunity captured in the video below.
We are excited to share the dates for the fourth annual Mack Champ Invitational.
The girls tournament is returning to The Club at Carlton Woods, site of The Chevron Championship, from April 11-13. The boys will be back at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston from May 2-5.
Tournament invitations will go out February 2nd for the girls and March 4th for the boys. To be considered for the tournament, join our junior golf database.
The MCI, inspired by the memory of Mack Champ, was created not only to provide an elite competitive experience for junior golfers of diverse backgrounds, but also to serve as a springboard into top-tier tournaments and college scholarships while creating an environment where players and families can build relationships that last a lifetime.
We can’t wait to continue the tradition in 2024!
The PGA Tour produced this video feature on the 2023 Mack Champ Invitational for Girls.