Spencer Soosman and Matthew Wolff, teammates at Westlake High, will face off in the final of the American Junior Golf Assn.’s Polo Golf Junior Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Wolff (pictured), of Agoura Hills, knocked off top-seeded Sam Horsfield of Davenport, Fla., on the 19th hole, while Soosman, of Westlake Village, beat Zachary Bauchou of Forest, Va., 3 and 2, in the semifinals.
It is believed that this is the first time in the 37-year history of the tournament that high school teammates have faced each other in the final.
“Spencer is a great friend of mine and it’s amazing that we could both, from Westlake High School, make it to the final,” Wolff said. “But, at the end of the day, I just have to look at him like another opponent out there.
“It was a challenging day. Sam is such a great player. At the beginning of the round, I just told myself to play my game. I already got through (defending champion) Cameron (Young), so I just stuck to my game plan of hitting a bunch of greens and the putts were dropping today.”
Said Soosman: “I was striking the ball really well (in the semifinals). Every once in a while, I’d have an errant shot that didn’t go so well, but my putting was great. I made a lot of huge birdie putts that were great momentum changers for the match, so that was awesome.”
In the semifinals of the Girls Division, Sierra Brooks of Sorrento, Fla., defeated Bethany Wu of Diamond Bar, and Lauren Stephenson of Lexington, S.C., turned back Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, with both matches going 19 holes.
