The Florida Junior Tour traveled to The Conservatory at Hammock Beach this weekend which provided the 16 to 18 year olds with a tough test consisting of long distances and windy conditions. The boys played the challenging course from 7,157 yards, while the girls played from just shy of 6,000 yards.
Although play was difficult, it was no match for some of the juniors. Yidong Zhang posted an impressive four-under 68 after the first round, to lead by two over Timothy Colanta going into Sunday’s final round. In the final round, Zhang posted a stoic even-par 36 on the front to maintain his lead over Colanta.
However, Joshua August caught fire making birdie after birdie several groups ahead. August posted a 3-under 33 on the front side to catch both Zhang and Colanta, placing himself back in the hunt for the hardware. August then birdied holes 10 and 11 to post 33-35-68 for the day, giving him a tournament total of 72-68-140. August then sat patiently at the scoreboard to see how the groups behind him would finish.
Colanta played steady golf and made some birdies coming in to post a one-under 71 for the day. Colanta’s tournament total of 141 put him at second place. Zhang unfortunately cooled off on the back side double bogeying hole 13 and bogeying the very last hole to put him in the clubhouse at 36-39-75. Zhang’s tournament total of 143 was good enough for third place, and Joshua August’s stellar final round was good enough to claim his first Florida Junior Tour victory.
In the girl’s division, Courtney Zeng cruised to a wire-to-wire win. Zeng ‘s first round 69 gave her a four-stroke lead over Emma Albrecht going into the final round on Sunday. Zeng struggled on her first nine of the final round, making some bogeys and shooting a 3-over 39. Albrecht was able to make up some ground her first nine on Sunday, shooting an even-par 36 to put herself within one stroke of the lead heading into their final nine. Zeng’s score of 69-77-146 was able to hold off Emma’s 73-75-148 to earn Zeng her third FJT win this year. Kathleen Duperval finished third with a 74-81-155.
The 16-18 age division will head to Juliette Falls Country Club on November 23-24 before capping off the season at The Tour Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
