John and Johnny Ward posted a tournament total of 13-under par 131 to win the Florida State Parent-Child Championship at the Walt Disney World Golf Resort in Orlando on July 24-25. This annual State Championship attracted more than 150 teams competing in a Regular and Junior Division. 

In the Regular Division, the father and son pair of John Ward, of Winter Park and Johnny Ward, of Maitland, edged out the field by one stroke to win the Championship.  In the first round, the Ward duo fired a four-under par 68 to trail by two strokes heading into the final round. The pair recorded an impressive nine-under par 63 in the final round to secure the victory. This is the Ward's seventh Parent Child Championship.  Howard Benedict, of Naples and Kimberly Benedict, of Bonita Springs finished in second place after posting a tournament total of twelve-under par 132.  Three teams finished tied for third place with a tournament total of eleven-under par 133; John and Joseph Latowski, of Port Saint Lucie, KC and Mason Fox, of Sarasota and the Defending Champions Mark and Case Gard, of Lakeland.

BELLS WIN 10-12 DIVISION

Don and Don Bell Jr. prevailed to win the 10-12 age division. The father and son team from Port Orange finished with 58 stableford points to edge out the teams of David and Bennett Ragan, from Coral Gables and Frank and Tyler Strafaci, of Davie, by two points.

VICKERS WIN 8-9 DIVISION

Michael and Gus Vickers, of Naples, finished with 47 stableford points to win the championship in the 8-9 age division.  The duo edged out David and Katie Garratt, of Cape Coral in a play-off.  This is the second Championship for the Vicker’s, after winning the 6-7 year old division last year.

ROSS WIN 6-7 DIVISON

Steven and Justin Ross, from Boca Raton, gained 55 points for the 6-7 age division win.

The Parent-Child Championship is the largest Florida State Golf Association administered event. Since 1997, the Walt Disney World Resort has hosted the Parent-Child Championship and once again, the resort’s Palm and Magnolia Courses and the Oak Trail executive course was used for the two divisions.

The Parent-Child Championship has become an annual event for many families. The tournament is open to everyone, including grandparents who want to play with a grandchild and professionals who want to compete with their child or grandchild. There is no maximum age limitation for the parent or child. The event consists of two divisions; junior and regular. In the junior division, the child must be between 6-12 years of age, and in the regular division the child must be 13 or older.

The junior division played the Oak Trail executive course in 9 holes of modified alternate shot format using the Stableford scoring each day. The regular division is split on the Palm and Magnolia and played 36 holes of modified alternate shot. The field is divided based upon the combined handicaps of the teams and flighted after 18 holes.