The Florida State Golf Association assisted the Florida High School Athletic Association in conducting the State Golf Finals held at Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills. The State Finals consisted of six different tournaments being run over the course of six days. Class 2A Boys and Girls was the first class to play on October 31 - November 1, followed by Class 3A Boys and Girls November 3-4, and finished with Class 1A Boys and Girls November 7-8. The girls competed on the Los Colinas Course while the boys were challenged by the El Campeon Course. The State Finals included many familiar names of FSGA competitors with impressive junior golf resumes.
Class 1A
Boys
Circle Christian (Winter Park) earned a 22 stroke victory after impressive play in the second round led to a round two four under-par total and 580 (+4) tournament total. Daniel Core, Canon Claycomb, Eugene Hong, Johnny Wright, and Evan Sun were team Champions. St. Stephen’s (Bradenton), including players Ryan Kinkead, David Hu, Alan Klenor, Massimo Mbetse, and Song Bai, claimed second place with two consistent totals of 301 for a 602 (+26) tournament total. A 616 (+40) team tournament total secured Seacrest Country Day (Naples) third place. Garrett Barber claimed a six stroke individual victory with two under-par rounds of 69-65 and a ten under-par total 134. Three Circle Christian (Winter Park) players rounded out the top three individuals with Daniel Core in second at 140(-4) and Canon Claycomb and Eugene Hong tied for third place with a three under-par 141.
Girls
Exceptional play from Ariel Yu, Sophie Guo, Emma Zhao, Meiyi Yan, and Taylor Zeng, led First Academy (Orlando) to a first place win at 565 (-11). Ariel Yu captured first place individually with rounds of 68-67 for a nine under-par total. Three strokes back, Sophie Guo finished in second place individually after rounds of 71-67—138. Lake Mary Prep finished in second place earning a team total of 589 (+13). Amy Zhang, Hella Zhou, Ellen Dong, Mimi Chen, and Mary Ma represented the second place team. Third place was awarded to Circle Christian (Winter Park) at a total of 612 (+36). Individually, Valeria Pacheco-Claudio finished in third place at five under-par 139. The leaderboard contained many successful FJT players finishing at the top with under-par rounds.
Class 2A
Boys
Ponte Vedra sealed a wire-to-wire victory by 15 strokes with a 613 (+37) total. Individual Champion, Stewart Slayden, and second place winner Davis Lee led the team to first place along with Andrew Farraye, Elliott Wright, and Justin Ortiguera. Slayden, a past Florida Junior Tour winner, took home the individual title by one stroke over Davis Lee with the only under-par round of 69 and a 146 total. All five players representing Ponte Vedra are avid FJT members. Finishing tied for second were the teams of American Heritage (Plantation) and Bishop Moore (Orlando) at 628 (+52). 2015 Boys’ Junior Champion, Alberto Martinez, finished fourth individually and helped American Heritage (Plantation) tie for second place. Successful FJT player, James Tureskis, from Naples, captured third place individually with rounds of 73-75—148.
Girls
Two time FJT winner, Jillian Bourdage, carded rounds of 70-74—144 to win first place individually by one stroke. Bourdage was a part of the first place team, American Heritage (Plantation), that won by 22 strokes over Archbishop McCarthy (Southwest Ranches). Casey Weidenfeld, winner on the FJT and tough competitor, finished in fourth place individually and represented American Heritage (Plantation) along with Alena Lindh, Lily Celentano, and Kelly Shanahan. With a 624 team total, Archbishop McCarthy, including players Casey Sommer, Taylor Roberts, Jennifer Lilly, Natalia Jimenez, and Lexi Leon, claimed second place. Ponte Vedra rounded out third place. 2016 Girls’ Junior Player of the Year, Alyssa Lamoureux, tied avid FJT competitor, Julia Towne, for second place individually with a 145 total. Both Lamoureux and Towne posted under-par rounds the final day with a 71 and 70 respectfully.
Class 3A
Boys
The final leaderboard was a close race for first place with the top three teams being separated by one stroke! Gulf Coast (Naples) claimed the win by one stroke with a team total 615 (+39). Several FJT competitors including, Remi Chartier, Matt Ariza, Ryan Hart, Joey Burke, and Jack Irons, made up the team of Gulf Coast (Naples). Two consistent team totals of 308 allowed Forest (Ocala) to claim second place at 40 over-par for the tournament. Led by fifth place individual winner and recent FJT Champion, Gray Albright, Forest (Ocala) was also represented by Seth Wright, Miles Albright, Hunter Ditty, and Nathanael Wright. Winter Park rounded out the top three with a 617 (+41) total. The first place individual title went to FJT winner Jonathan Yaun after impressive rounds of 69-73—142 (-2). 2017 FSGA Junior Match Play Champion, Brett Roberts, tied for second place individually with Andrew Klem at 146 total.
Girls
Lake Mary captured first place by nine strokes over Niceville with a 588 (+12) total. An impressive even par team total (288) in round two gave Lake Mary and team members, Jenny Kim, Macy Somoskey, Alyssa Mercado, Kayla Li, and Gabby Peristein, a first place victory. Niceville held the lead after round one but dropped to second place with a 597 (+21) team total. Lauren Miller, Madisyn Messmore, Alia Scotka, Madison Tenore, and Kaide Farne represented Niceville. Freedom (Orlando) finished in third place with a 631 (+55) total. Jenny Kim, of Lake Mary, was crowned individual Champion as well with great rounds of 72-66-138. Kim is having an impressive year on the FJT and was crowned 2017 Girls’ Junior Champion. Two strokes behind finished Erika Smith, FJT winner, who carded two consistent rounds of 70. Macy Somoskey and Loren Perez tied for third place with a two under-par 142.
