HUDSON — The Country Club of Hudson has hosted the Hudson Junior Invitational since 1978.
In that time, no Hudson boy has won the club’s signature event — until now.
Ben Fauver used a huge final round Thursday to win the HJI boys title in dramatic fashion with a 9-under 207. In the girls tournament, Gracie Larsen of Melbourne, Australia, won the title by three strokes.
According to tournament chairman Pete Eells, not only is Fauver a Hudsonite, but his family are members of CCH.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Eells said. “I played in it a long time ago and I don’t think we ever came close. This is a big deal for the community and this is a big deal for the club, because they’re members.”
“It’s really special,” Fauver said. “We kept saying this year was the year we were going to get a Hudson kid on the board. Whether it was me or someone else, it’s amazing to get a kid on the board. We’ve had some close calls before.”
Fauver had to earn the title, as he was four strokes behind Junzhe Wang and Chris Pollak heading into the final round.
The final trio had a frantic finish. After Pollak took the lead on No. 13, he bogeyed three of the final four holes and faded to third. An Aurora native and Archbishop Hoban senior, Pollack finished at 7 under with a 210.
“I just put myself in too many bad positions, honestly,” Pollak said.
Wang took the lead with a birdie on 16, but he put his 17th tee shot wide, leading to a bogey, while Fauver scored a birdie. A native of Beijing, China, who plays out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., Wang finished at 8 under (208).
“Today, I hit it a little harder and it went into the bush area,” Wang said. “I had to punch one out and try to make bogey. I’m kind of surprised by the way it ended.”
Wang showed grit by getting a birdie on No. 18, despite another wide tee shot.
However, Fauver sunk his sixth birdie of the day on 18, pumping both fists after what turned out to be the winning putt. His final day score of 5 under (67) was second best for the day.
“Starting on the back nine, I knew I had to play well,” he said. “I like the back nine. I knew I could score on it and had to make a push. Around 15, I started to get my momentum going.”
In fact, the only golfer with a better final round was Sam Fauver, Ben’s brother.
Sam was out of contention heading into the final round, but his 6-under 66 vaulted him into fourth place for the tournament at 5 under (211) overall.
“I knew he was going to play well because he was mad,” Ben said.
When asked if he was proud or jealous to see his younger brother win, Sam answered “both.”
“I played well, but he had it the whole day and the whole tournament,” Sam said. “I played a couple of bad rounds to start. I wanted it so bad. It’s the home course and the home tournament, so I wanted to play well. I hit the 16 greens today and made the putts I needed to.”
Kent State-bound Australian Gracie Larsen wins girls title at Hudson Junior
For Larsen, playing the HJI for the first time was a case of perfect timing.
“[Kent State coach] Casey [VanDamme] introduced us to this tournament,” Larsen said. “I was always going to come over to visit my college before this year and it just happened to fall on the same week.”
The future Golden Flash claimed her first title in Northeast Ohio by dominating the final round. While no other girl broke par, Larsen sat at 4 under through 14 holes before fading a bit down the stretch.
Larsen finished at 1 under (71) for the day and 1 over (217) for the tournament. She beat Columbus’ Isabella Anderson (220) by three strokes to claim the title.
“The rough is definitely a bit longer around the greens,” Larsen said. “It can be harder to recover. The course was bit shorter, which probably helped me today, but it was in mint condition. I loved it.”
Elsewhere, Aurora scored its second top-three finish in as many years. Gracyn Vidovic opened the day two strokes off the lead, but struggled to a 77.
That score put her 6 over (222) for the tournament, tying for third with Columbus’ Kristina Ma.
“The first two days was pretty good,” Vidovic said. “Today, I wasn’t hitting so many greens, the putting was rough a little, but I’m pretty happy with how I played. I was always hopeful I could make top three, but I wasn’t expecting it until after the first day. I saw my name up there and said, ‘I could win this.'”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hudson’s Ben Fauver keeps Hudson Junior title in town
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