PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Fifty-six players traveled their way to the panhandle to take on Bay Point Golf Club, but only two came out victorious. Anthony Monteleone captured his first Florida Junior Tour victory after many close calls, while Team Florida member Honorine Nobuta Ferry goes back-to-back for the first time since her 9-12 days.
Boys (16-18)
Bay Point Golf Club proved to be a very difficult test to the players this week, with the lone 36-hole under par score coming from Anthony Monteleone with scores of 69-71. In round one, Monteleone had a very eventful day consisting of seven birdies and four bogeys. The key birdie of the day came at the last, which gave him a little more breathing room heading into the final round. Sitting in a tie for second were AJ Hovermale and Ethan Weinberg with scores of 71.
All momentum for players was halted when they arrived and they could not see a ball 50 yards in front of them on the range due to fog. After the fog lifted an hour later, players made their way to their starting holes. Not having to travel far, Monteleone, Hovermale and Weinberg went to the first tee, and it was off to the races. Although an early bogey on hole three brought the overnight leader to two-under, he still maintained his lead. After getting his lead up to as much as seven strokes, Monteleone strolled to a four shot victory over Max Colby Bendixen, who fired two rounds of even par.
Girls (16-18)
In the Girls Division, Honorine Nobuta Ferry grabbed an early lead and never looked back. Her 12-shot victory over Gabby Hultstrand wound up being the second largest margin of victory in Florida Junior Tour history, being only behind Gloria Nip and her 13 stroke victory in 2023.
After a double on the signature 5th hole, Nobuta Ferry righted the ship and made up for it with a birdie on nine and back to back birdies on 13 and 14. Hultstrand grabbed a hold of second place with a score of five-over 77.
In the final round, Nobuta Ferry played a very steady round that finished in a score of two-over 74. With birdies on 6, 11 and 13, she had the victory secured before she finished the round. In a tie for second place, Gabby Hultstrand and Tatiana Ang finished at 14-over par each. Hultstrand fired rounds of 77-81 while Ang stayed consistent with back-to-back 79’s.
