Red Hot, Times 2

Sophia Lee and CU signee Gavin Amella, both Team Colorado members, go low in finals to claim titles in CGA State Junior and earn USGA championship berths

By Gary Baines

AURORA — To give you an indication of just how difficult it was to win CGA State Junior titles on Friday at CommonGround Golf Course, it’s certainly worth noting how well the runners-up played in falling just short.

In the boys final, University of Colorado golf signee Gavin Amella of Castle Rock defeated Nicholas Brooks of Parker despite Brooks hitting all 18 greens in regulation, going bogey-free and shooting a 3-under-par 67.

In the girls title match, Sophia Lee of Columbine Valley beat Ashley Chang of Lone Tree despite Chang playing the 16 holes of the match in 4 under par and not making a bogey until the final hole.

In other words, to paraphrase actor John Houseman from the old Smith Barney TV commercials, Amella and Lee won their championships the old-fashioned way. They earned them.

Lee was in the zone on Friday afternoon at CommonGround.

Lee did so by playing the 16 holes of her title match in 7 under par — despite a bogey at the last — en route to a 3 and 2 victory over Chang, the 2024 girls champ in this event. In fact, Lee — the junior-to-be at Colorado Academy — was 8 under par through 11 holes.

“Oh my God. I just felt like I was in this trance where it was like, fairway, green, putt,” said the 16-year-old from Columbine Country Club. “After the eagle putt on 11, I was like, ‘OK. This is a good day.’”

Amella, meanwhile, did his best work on the front nine of the championship match, playing it in 5 under par. He didn’t add another birdie until the 18th hole, but that proved to be the match winner as he two-putted from 30 feet on the par-5 for a birdie after hitting a 380-yard drive en route to a 1-up victory over Brooks. Even despite tailing off a bit on the back nine, the 2024 5A state high school champion finished at 4-under 66 for the finale.

Amella had reason to smile after finishing the way he did on Friday.

For both Amella and Lee, the victories were the biggest highlights — so far — of outstanding junior careers.

“This means a lot,” said Amella, who is playing his final summer of junior golf. “This field, it was great. It had the top boys and girls from all over in Colorado. And it’s really, really great to get this win and cap off my final days as a junior golfer by claiming that (victory) before college.”

Not only did Amella and Lee earn victories in arguably the most prestigious junior golf championship in Colorado — one that features a USGA format, with two rounds of stroke play, then five rounds of match play — but they received a big-time bonus prize. Amella’s victory landed him a spot in the U.S. Junior Amateur, set for July 20-25 at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, Pa. And Lee’s win advances her to the U.S. Girls’ Junior, scheduled for July 13-18 at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C.

All in all, the CGA State Junior certainly demonstrated the talent of the players on Team Colorado, the junior elite squad that’s part of the USGA’s national development program. All four finalists were Team Colorado members, and six of the eight semifinalists.

That means the finalists on both the boys and girls sides were very familiar with one another, as well as being some of the best Colorado has to offer in the way of junior golf. Appropriately, the championship all took shape at the home course for the CGA, which administers Team Colorado.

Here are some of the highlights of both the boys and girls championships:

Brenna Higgins (right), a 2023 CGA State Junior champ who now plays for CU, records the moment as future CU golfer Amella claims the title.

— BOYS: Friday’s title match for the boys was certainly an oddity as two left-handers squared off for the championship. Amella was the Class 5A state high school individual champ from two years ago — who’s headed to CU — and Brooks is the 2025 AJGA Colorado Springs Junior champion — and a round-of-64 qualifier for the 2025 U.S. Junior Am — who’s bound for Butler University in Indiana.

“It was really cool to see” the all-southpaw finale, Amella said.

And though Brooks never led on Friday afternoon, the match was close throughout, particularly on the back nine. With Amella shooting 5 under on the front and Brooks 3 under, Amella led 2 up at the turn. But Amella gave his fellow 18-year-old some openings by not adding any more birdies until No. 18.

Brooks, the first Coloradan since 2017 to make match play at the U.S. Junior Am (last year), won the 10th and 15th holes with pars to square the match. And putters ending up settling things on the 17th and 18th holes.

Nicholas Brooks jumps to see where his ball finished on the elevated green at the par-5 18th hole.

Amella missed the green left on the par-3 17th, but a nifty wedge shot to a tucked pin left him an 8-foot par attempt, and he drained it after Brooks two-putted for par from 15 feet.

Then on the par-5 18th, Amella launched a 380-yard drive, and after Brooks had reached the green in two, the future CU golfer hit a 7-iron from 200 yards that left him 30 feet for eagle.

Brooks’ 63-foot eagle try ended up 10 feet shot, and Amella’s attempt stopped about 5 feet shy of the cup. But after Brooks missed his birdie try — and three-putted for par — Amella drained his winning birdie putt.

“The putter was definitely hot today,” Amella said. “It saved me a lot in the first match (a 4 and 3 win over Parker Shaw of Pueblo in the semifinals). And in the second match, it was keeping me in it. So the putting, that was a big thing why I won this tournament.”

For the record, Amella went 2 under par in his semifinal win, then 3 under in the finals.

Amella hits out of the deep stuff on the fifth hole Friday.

Meanwhile, though Brooks’ ball-striking was certainly on point in the finals, his putter let him down at times. Just as an example, he missed a 4-foot birdie try on No. 7.

“It wasn’t like an easy putt,” Brooks said of the long eagle try on 18. “I definitely could have put it closer. I kind of stabbed myself in the foot” with the three-putt.

“But I hit every green (in regulation), I missed one fairway, I didn’t have bogey, and I still couldn’t get it done. I’ve just got to make more putts, I guess.”

Brooks follows one of his approach shots closely.

So after Brooks made some noise by advancing to the match play round of 64 in last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur, Amella will get his first try at that event this year.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that type of competition. It’ll really help me get a sense of how college is going to be, and how to deal with that type of pressure — playing against kids from all over. And so I’m excited for that tournament for sure.”

During the course of the week, among the players Amella took down was future CU teammate Brayden DeStefano of Peyton, the runner-up earlier this month in the CGA Match Play, and the stroke-play medalist, Cooper Kelly of Centennial. Amella prevailed in the former match, 1 up, and in the latter in 19 holes.

“I’d have to give credit to all of my (opponents),” said Amella, who plays out of Plum Creek Golf Club. “Most of them were pretty close matches. So it was definitely a tough track to get here. And so I’m grateful that I did it. It was some great competitors I played against.”

Amella celebrates sinking a crucial par putt on the 17th hole Friday.

Friday wrapped up quite a stretch of golf for Amella, who competed in the Denver City Amateur last weekend before playing seven rounds in five days at the CGA State Junior. Suffice it to say that’s a lot of golf.

“It was definitely wearing on the body,” he said. “I played eight days in a row.”

Meanwhile, though Brooks was disappointed to not claim the title, he surprised himself a bit by making it as far as he did in the CGA State Junior. He barely made match play to start with. But in Friday morning’s semifinals, he edged fellow Team Colorado member Austin Hunt of Highlands Ranch, 1 up.

“If you were to tell me at the beginning of the week that I would have been here (in the finals), I would have probably paid you,” the 2025 3A state high school champion said. “Because I’ve never had success at this tournament. I guess it’s cool to succeed here, but at the same time it stings coming up short” of the title.

Lee was riding high after her victory on Friday.

— GIRLS: Lee, winner of the 2026 Class 2A girls state high school individual title as a freshman at Colorado Academy and the champion of four Colorado PGA junior majors, had a gauntlet to run to claim the girls title this week.

Her last three matches, she beat fellow Team Colorado members, edging Tess Morris 1 up in the quarterfinals, defending CGA State Junior champ Ella Scott 3 and 2 in Friday morning’s semifinals, and then 2024 winner Lee 3 and 2 in the finals.

“I felt like everyone I played this week, especially (from the quarterfinals onward) they were just such great golfers,” Lee said. “And so to be able to compete with them and just to play my best golf … Hopefully this was my moment to break through.

“Last year, I lost in the semis (1 up to Scott) — and she’s one of my closest friends. But it was definitely something on my mind where I was like, ‘OK, I was so close last year. I want to get the job done this year.”

Lee tees off on what would be her final hole of the CGA State Junior, No. 16.

To take down two CGA State Junior champions in one day is no small feat, but Lee managed it on Friday, where she was a combined 8 under par for 32 holes.

Chang, the 2024 champ, fell victim to that on Friday as she birdied three straight holes early in the final (Nos. 2-4) and was 1 up through seven. But the tide turned in the middle of No. 8 as Lee’s ankles were in pain due to new shoes and she took a “short pause” as different shoes were retrieved out of her vehicle.

“I think that was kind of a good reset for me because I just lost the previous hole,” she said. “So being able to get my feet feeling a little bit better, and then also taking a mental break from just like go, go, go, go.”

2024 champion Ashley Chang didn’t make a bogey in the final until the 16th hole.

The bottom line is that Scott won the next four holes (Nos. 8-11). She sank a 7-foot birdie putt on No. 8, a 9-footer on No. 9, and an 11-footer on No. 10. Then on the par-5 11th, she hit a 5-wood from 216 yards just short of the green and drained a 30-foot eagle putt.

“So the moment I hit (the putt), it was like, ‘Oh my God, if this doesn’t go in the hole, it’s going in the water (behind the green),” she said. “I hit it so hard. So it went in — it was like a loop de loop. I was like ‘whew.’”

So that eagle put Lee 3 up — and 8 under through 11 holes, though she had conceded the seventh hole when she had a 15-foot par putt remaining.

Chang was racking up the birdies early in the title match.

From No. 12 on, Lee and Chang tied every hole, all with pars until both players made bogeys on No. 16, ending the match.

Many, many times, Chang would have won the way she played in the finals, but those are the vagaries of match play.

“I just have to focus on the positives,” she said. “There’s not much I can do at that point. I was already playing my best, so it’s just the outcome.”

Chang, who was the stroke-play medalist this week and had earlier beaten Team Colorado members Addison Dorsey and Addison Hines along with 4A state high school champ Kaylee Meyering — would have loved to put her name on the CGA State Junior trophy a second time. And the golfer who is bound for Westmont College (Calif.) certainly played well enough Friday to do just that — if not running into the buzzsaw that was Lee.

“I would have liked to” win this event twice, Chang said, “but I’m fine with how it ended up.”

Lee (right) watched Chang attempt a putt on Friday.

Indeed, Lee gave credit for how well she played to Chang doing likewise.

“Ashley played so well that I’ve never had to make so many birdies to tie the hole,” Lee said. “So I think that really helped me get going and start making the birdies. You can’t stop. She’s such a good competitor. So I was kind of just like locked in.”

With how much she was pushed — in the finals and throughout the week — Lee takes considerable pride in emerging with the victory, calling it her biggest accomplishment in golf.

“I just think there’s so much prestige with this tournament, and the CGA does a wonderful job putting it on,” she said. “And I think it’s great to be on Team Colorado and then be able to kind of like follow through and win.”

And then there’s the bonus of earning a spot in the U.S. Girls’ Junior for the first time.

“That’s awesome,” Lee said. “I’m so excited to go.”

This marks the fifth year of this format for the CGA State Junior, which feature a USGA-like mixture of stroke play and match play.

All four finalists on Friday were Team Colorado members.

CGA State Junior

At CommonGround GC in Aurora

BOYS

Quarterfinals on Thursday

Gavin Amella, Castle Rock def. Cooper Kelly, Centennial, 19 holes

Parker Shaw, Pueblo def. Levi McDowell, Loveland, 2 and 1

Austin Hunt, Highlands Ranch def. Vincent Vanliere, Rapid City, S.D., 2 and 1

Nicholas Brooks, Parker def. Mac Buckley, Denver, 2 and 1

Semifinals on Friday

Gavin Amella, Castle Rock def. Parker Shaw, Pueblo, 4 and 3

Nicholas Brooks, Parker def. Austin Hunt, Highlands Ranch, 1 up

18-Hole Final on Friday

Gavin Amella, Castle Rock def. Nicholas Brooks, Parker, 1 up

GIRLS

Quarterfinals on Thursday

Ashley Chang, Lone Tree def. Addison Hines, Colorado Springs, 1 up

Kaylee Meyering, Parker def. Chloe Johnson, Parker, 3 and 2

Sophia Lee, Columbine Valley def. Tess Morris, Franktown, 1 up

Ella Scott, Castle Rock def. Zoe Bar-Or, Greenwood Village, 4 and 3

Semifinals on Friday

Ashley Chang, Lone Tree def. Kaylee Meyering, Parker, 7 and 6

Sophia Lee, Columbine Valley def. Ella Scott, Castle Rock, 3 and 2

18-Hole Final on Friday

Sophia Lee, Columbine Valley def. Ashley Chang, Lone Tree, 3 and 2

For all the results from the CGA State Junior, CLICK HERE.

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com