SOUTH POINT – Tyler Stapleton is 3-for-3.

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

SOUTH POINT – Tyler Stapleton is 3-for-3. The 15-year-old golfer played in three separate state tournaments this past week and qualified in all three to earn berths in national events.

Stapleton won first place with a score of 76 in the Independent Insurance Agent Junior Classic (IIAJC) at Stone Oak Country Club in Toledo.

Stapleton won in a field of 51 golfers at this nationally recognized tournament that began in 1969 and draws the nation’s largest field of junior amateur competitors.

With the win he qualifies for the national event to be held at the University of Michigan golf course in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Next was a third place finish in a field of 39 at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) tournament held at Shelby Oaks in Sidney. Stapleton’s 74 enabled him to advance to the National AAU Junior Olympic Games in Virginia Beach, Va.

Stapleton finished third again in a field of 71 as he carded a 76 at the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship at Weatherwax Golf Course in Middletown.

This is one of the major junior championships in the country. He now advances to the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Stapleton plans to compete this Wednesday through Friday in the American Junior Golf Association’s Henry-Griffitts Bluegrass Junior Invitational to be held at the Bellefonte Country Club in Ashland, Ky.