Boardman’s Terlesky places second at Optimist

July 30, 2013 at 12:05a.m.

By Kevin Connelly

With a two-stroke lead entering the final round of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships, Boardman’s Brian Terlesky was closing in on another first-place tournament finish to add to an already lengthy list.

He shot even par in the final round and finished with a 5-under 211 (68-71-72) for the tournament.

It was almost good enough.

Atiruj Winaicharoenchai was sitting at 1 under par entering play on Monday, but after shooting a tournament low 65 he overtook Terlesky atop the leaderboard and won by three strokes.

The 13-year-old Terlesky settled for a tie for second — his third second-place finish this season.

Parathakorn Suyasri also shot a 211 in the 47-player field.

Terlesky finished third in the tournament two years ago, but was hoping to leave Florida’s Palm Beach Gardens PGA National Resort and Spa as a champion.

Terlesky said he was disappointed he wasn’t able to close it out, but thought he played really well overall.

Following the difficult loss, he’ll have two more opportunities to add to his 12 victories on the season.

He’ll be playing in next week’s American Junior Golf Association tournament in Michigan, followed by another AJGA event in New Jersey the following week.

Another area golfer placed in the top half of the field in the boy’s 12-13 age division, as Jared Wilson of Columbiana finished tied for 29th.

There were a total of five golfers from the state of Ohio in a field that included kids from all around the world.