Alex Lloyd, 18, of Virginia Beach and Mark Lawrence Jr., 15, of Richmond each shot a first-round score of 4-under-par 68 to lead after the first round of the Virginia State Golf Association Suffolk Junior Open at Nansemond River Golf Club.

Both competitors are four strokes clear of the next-nearest pursuer entering Sunday’s final day. Austin Morin, 17, of Virginia Beach, had 72 and completed the contingent of three players who had a round of even par or better in the opening round played under constant drizzle with some steady rainfall. Chesapeake’s Ashton Newsom, 18, had 1-over 73 among the 16-18-year-olds.

Lloyd, the defending champion and a senior at Floyd E. Kellam High School, had a bogey-free round that included four birdies. A late birdie at the par-4 17th hole bolstered Lloyd, who is bound for the University of Virginia in the fall, to a share of the lead. Lawrence, a freshman at Mills Godwin High School, logged a trio of birdies in a four-hole stretch from Nos. 5-8, turned in three under and made two birdies and a bogey on the inward half.

Lawrence owns the top spot in the 14-15 age bracket, and Logan Yates, 14, of Ruckersville is second after firing 1-over 73. Also in the division, 15-year-olds Danny Pedrazzi (Glen Allen) and Derek Budd (Virginia Beach) as well as Teddy Hoffman, 14, of Virginia Beach opened with 76.

Richmond’s Rob Witherspoon, 13, paces the 12-13 age division after firing 6-over 78 and is five shots ahead of 12-year-old L.J. Kruszewski of Chesapeake.

In the girls’ division, Northern Virginian and 16-year-old Lauren Kruszewski of Chesapeake had an impressive score of 1-over 73 to own a three-shot lead over Abby Portyrata, 16, Midlothian the 16-18 age bracket. Norfolk’s, Elizabeth Bose, 14, had a strong round of 5-over 77 to lead the 14-15-year-olds.

Sunday’s final round will be conducted at Riverfront Golf Club in Suffolk.

 

Results from the first round are as follows:

BOYS AGES 16-18

• Alex Lloyd (Virginia Beach), 34-34—68
• Austin Morin (Virginia Beach), 36-36—72
• Ashton Newsom (Chesapeake), 35-38—73
• Connor Rinoski (Yorktown), 38-36—74
• Alex Hart (Salem), 38-37—75
  Bryan Carter (Yorktown), 39-37—76
• Patrick Moriarty Jr. (Ruckersville), 37-39—76
  KeonHo Song (Centreville), 39-38—77
  Taylor Owen Hall (Bristol), 38-40—78
• Philip Hudson (Mechanicsville), 45-33—78
• Weston Ringer (Chesapeake), 39-39—78
• Trevor Times (Williamsburg), 41-38—79
• Owen Blackshear (Hampton), 43-36—79
  Joe Monk (Williamsburg), 39-40—79
  Chris Dreyfuss (Yorktown), 41-39—80
• Austin Smith (Salem), 39-41—80
  Billy Britton (Sedley), 38-42—80
• Harrison Baker (Providence Forge), 40-40—80
  Lewis Mayes (Courtland), 44-37—81
  Young Suh (Virginia Beach), 39-43—82
• Trevor Klein (Virginia Beach), 38-44—82
  Cullen Bruce (Chesapeake), 42-41—83
  Trevor Caccetta (Williamsburg), 45-38—83
  Jake Richardson (Virginia Beach), 41-43—84
• Zach Weaver (Williamsburg), 42-43—85
• Griffin Genier (Suffolk), 46-40—86
  Nicklaus Norris (Free Union), 42-44—86
• Steven Rhinard (Courtland), 43-44—87
• Luke Gregory (Midlothian), 46-44—90
• Jared Werner (Strasburg), 42-50—92
• Eric Blythe (South Chesterfield), 49-44-93

BOYS 14-15

• Mark Lawrence Jr. (Richmond), 33-35—68
• Logan Yates (Ruckersville), 33-40—73
• Danny Pedrazzi (Glen Allen), 37-39—76
• Derek Budd (Virginia Beach), 38-38—76
• Teddy Hoffman (Virginia Beach), 39-37—76
• Blake Hearn (Virginia Beach), 40-37—77
• Christopher Angelelli (Suffolk), 44-33—77
• Taylor Osborne (Virginia Beach), 40-38—78
• Bobby Monk (Williamsburg), 42-37—79
• Trey Razzetti (Glen Allen), 37-43—80
• Travis Broome (Virginia Beach), 40-40–80
• Adam Szwed (Woodbridge), 40-40—80
• Colin Ragsdale (Chesapeake), 39-42—81
• Sameer Qader (Fredericksburg), 41-43—84
• Keith Cooper (Suffolk), 46-40—86
• Thomas Meyers (Chesapeake), 50-38—88
• Alston Newsom (Chesapeake), 47-41—88
• James Drake (Virginia Beach), 50-43—93
• Galen Raney (Chesapeake), 46-49—95
• Josh Hendriks (Chesapeake), 51-51—102
• Nick Nichols (Chesapeake), 56-47—103
• Ryan O’Malley (Chesapeake), 51-53—104
• Brandon Eng (Chesapeake), 54-54—108

BOYS 12-13

• Rob Witherspoon (Richmond), 38-40—78
• L.J. Kruszewski (Chesapeake), 40-43—83
• Samer Hasan (Fredericksburg), 52-46—98
• Ralph Sun (Virginia Beach), 58-53—111
• Chandler Branton (Portsmouth), 58-56—114

GIRLS 16-18

• Lauren Kruszewski (Chesapeake), 37-36—73
• Abby Portyrata (Midlothian), 36-40—76
• Nicole Flores (Brambleton), 38-40—78
• Adrienne Schmidt (McLean), 41-41—82
• Sarah Baldwin (New Kent), 49-39—88
• Sydney Thompson (Chesapeake), 39-50—89

 GIRLS 14-15

• Elizabeth Bose (Norfolk), 36-41—77
• Megan Martin (Chesapeake), 46-45—91
• Katelyn Whitley (Chesapeake), 54-52—106