Hanneman Stays Hot in June, Moves in Front at Minnesota State Junior Girls' Championship

  SPICER, Minn. – Carding three birdies during the front nine of her second round Tuesday at Little Crow Golf Resort, recent Class AAA individual medalist and Ms. Minnesota Golf award winner Ava Hanneman fired a 1-over 73 to move in front of the field at the 80th Minnesota State Junior Girls’ Championship.

Hanneman will take a three-stroke advantage over Alyssa Raghuveer and first-round leader Ruby Reding to Wednesday’s final round, searching for her second state tournament victory in as many weeks.

A Furman University commit, Hanneman faced a four-stroke deficit entering Tuesday’s second round, but wasted little time narrowing the margin by converting back-to-back birdies at her first and second holes.

Tallying her third birdie over her first five holes, Hanneman moved to the top of the leaderboard at the par-5 fifth.

After turning in 3-under for the day, Hanneman took a bogey at the 11th before a double-bogey at the 13th put her back at even par for the second round.

She would finish the day at 1-over 73 following a bogey at the 16th, but managed to build a three-stroke lead over Raghuveer and Reding along the way.

Raghuveer, who opened with a 2-over 74 Monday, played her opening six holes in even par with consecutive pars before closing out the front nine with bogeys at the seventh and ninth holes.

A bogey at the par-3-11 moved the Benilde-St. Margaret’s senior to 5-over for the championship, and she would finish the day with a 4-over 76 following a bogey at the 14th to earn a share of second place at 6-over 150.

Reding, who posted the tournament’s only round below par during Monday’s opening round, ran into trouble early by taking a double-bogey at the fourth and a triple-bogey at the fifth.

She bounced back with her only birdie of the second round at the par-4 seventh to turn in 2-over for the championship.

A second triple-bogey at the 11th moved Reding to 5-over before she carded a bogey at the 12th, going on to post a second-round 80 to finish in a share of second with Raghuveer at 150.

Minnetonka High School senior Selena Wu followed her opening-round 75 with a 5-over 77 during the second round Tuesday. She will begin the final round in fourth place, five shots off the lead.

The final round of the 80th Minnesota State Junior Girls’ Championship will begin at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at Little Crow Golf Resort.