Benjamin Baker (Photo Courtesy of David Williams, Golf Tourism Solutions)

Hampton Beebe (West Palm Beach, Fla.), coming off a recent victory at the AJGA Discover Puerto Rico Junior Championship, made four birdies in his first five holes en route to a 3-under 69.  Benjamin Baker (Broadlands, VA), ranked #23 in AJGA Rolex Rankings, matched Beebe after managing just seven pars on his card.

“The wind started to pick up on the back nine and made scoring more difficult,” said Baker. “Other than that, I just made some silly errors down the stretch, which I need to fix for tomorrow.” Beebe’s finish with a birdie on 18 will bring positive momentum into round two.

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Edan Cui arrived in Myrtle Beach fresh off a third-place finish at the AmateurGolf.com Silicon Valley Amateur in California earlier this month. Cui, a standout from Atherton, CA, sits two back of the leaders. Also, two back are tournament favorites Will Hartman and Tyler Watts.

Kayla Bryant (Boca Raton, FL) carded six birdies and four bogies, including birdies on the 8th and 9th holes heading into the turn. “I’m from South Florida, so I’m pretty used to the wind,” said Bryant. “I played this course last year and really like the greens. I didn’t even know I finished with back-to-back birdies on the front nine. I just started getting the ball closer to the hole and made some of those important putts.”

Rudisill of Charlotte, N.C., returning to the DJ in 2025, played steadily through her trek at TPC Myrtle Beach with four birdies and two bogies.

“Off the tee, I only missed one fairway and avoided the rough. The pins were not easy, but my putting was solid,” said Rudisill. “On the back nine, the winds are more prominent. It will be interesting to see how it goes tomorrow. Considering we are playing the back nine first, maybe we will get a good break.”

Amelie Zalsman of St. Petersburg, Fla., is two strokes back in third place at even par. The top three girls all played in the 2024 edition of the tournament.

“My birdie on 18 was big. I did not hit my drive great, but I chipped it up to a couple of feet and tapped it in,” said Beebe. “The wind was not as strong this morning which definitely helped a lot. I hit the green in two on that second hole, the par 5, and then just focused on hitting one shot at a time.”

Spectators were out in droves to follow incredible talent. Round two begins tomorrow at 9:00 AM ET off holes 1 & 10. Notable tee times include Charlie Woods (+10, 82) at 11:10 AM ET off the 10^th tee. Kai Trump (+12, 84) will tee off at 9:00 AM off Hole #1.

Last year, Ethan Paschal and Vanessa Borovilos claimed victory in the boys’ and girls’ divisions, respectively. It was the first time in a few years that the current boys world #1 (JGS) did not win the trophy with past champions in Jackson Koivun (2023), Ben James (2022), and Nick Dunlap 2021. Both 2024 champions have since gone on to collegiate success—Paschal is now competing for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Borovilos has joined the Texas A&M golf team.