HOMESTEAD, FL - This weekend the Florida Junior Tour traveled to a brand new site, Redland Golf & Country Club in Homestead, Florida. Not only was this the first ever FJT event at Redland, but the first FSGA event there as well. The field was greeted with beautiful weather all weekend as 76 players teed it up in the two-round, stroke-play event. Ultimately, Miles Russell and Yetong (Alicia) Qian were able to elevate their play above the rest and earn victories.
Boys (16-18)
After 18 holes were completed, the answer to who would win the boys division was still very much up in the air. Leading by one shot was William Keiley, a 2024 graduate from Jupiter. The Jupiter native was a birdie machine on Saturday compiling seven of them. This included a stretch of four birdies over his last five holes to close out his round and shoot a score of 4-under par, 68. Right behind Keiley was Miles Russell, a 2027 graduate from Jacksonville Beach. Russell got off to a hot start by eagling his first hole, the par-5 10th, but would eventually make the turn at even-par. Like Keiley, the Jacksonville Beach native finished strong, recording four birdies over his final five holes to shoot a score of 3-under par, 69. Two players, William Jun, of Jupiter, and Christian Figueredo, of Miami, were in a tie for third after carding rounds 2-under par, 70.
Then on Sunday, as Keiley struggled to make birdies as he had on Saturday, Russell continued his success from the back-nine during the first round, playing the fnine holes on Sunday bogey-free at 1-under par. Despite holding a seemingly significant lead with just nine holes to play, the Jacksonville Beach native had a contender emerge in the form of Gabriel Holtz, of Boca Raton. Beginning on the seventh hole, Holtz would go on to birdie five of his next eight, eventually pulling to within one stroke of Russell as he stepped up to the 18th tee. At the end of the day, Russell was able to outlast Holtz, who finished in a tie for second along with four other players, to earn a three-shot victory. This is Miles Russell’s third victory of 2023.
Girls (16-18)
After Saturday’s first round of play, one player stood alone atop the leaderboard with a three-shot lead. Yetong (Alicia) Qian, a 2024 graduate from Windermere, played very consistent golf, scoring par or better on all but four holes to shoot a score of 2-over par, 74. In second place, with a score of 5-over par, 77, was Alexandra Remakulus, a 2025 graduate from Clermont. Remakulus also found success through consistency, recording a par or better on all but five holes during the first round. Five players would enter Sunday in a tie for third after shooting a score of 7-over par, 79.
During the second round, the round one leader, Qian, continued to play well on the difficult set-up at Redland Golf and Country Club, but dealt with some adversity. After playing the first five holes at 1-under par, the Windermere native would play the last four holes of the back nine at 4-over par, potentially opening up an opportunity for another contender to emerge. But from that point on, the 2024 graduate could not be denied. Qian completed the front nine without making a bogey, adding one birdie, to secure her first victory by five strokes in wire-to-wire fashion.
