Westporter Gai Enjoying Success On Junior Golf Tour

Saples High School student Andrew Gai overcame horrendous conditions to chalk up another victory last weekend at the New York State Junior PGA Championship played at the Leatherstocking Golf Club in Cooperstown, New York.

Despite winds gusts up to 40 miles per hour and near freezing temperature, Gai shot a 5-under 67 for a four-shot victory in a tournament that was cut to 18 holes after snow forced the cancellation of Sunday's scheduled second round.

But winning tournaments is nothing new for the 17-year-old Westport native, who has emerged as one of the top players on the International Junior Golf Tour.

Last season, he led Staples to a 17-0 record and the CIAC Division I state championship while earning all-FCIAC and all-state honors.

He opted not to play for the Wreckers this spring, concentrating instead on entering more junior tournaments. While the decision left Staples without its best player, Gai appears to have made the right choice.

He has entered five IJGT tournaments this year and finished no worse than eighth in any of them. In fact, Gai has won his last two IJGT events in Kiawah Island, SC, from February 12-15 and more recently in West Chester, Pa., from April 9-11.

This also comes after he won two tournaments last fall. During his first victory at Blue Heron Pines Golf Club in Cologne, NJ, in September, Gai shoot a career-low 66 en route to a 36-hole total of 3-under par 141.

Just about two months later, he won a second IJGT event closer to home in Bloomfield.

Gai, who once shot a 31 in a nine-hole high school competition, was named the 2009 Met Junior PGA Player of the Year in the 15-18 division.