NAPLES, Fla. – Mother Nature challenged the players with several long suspensions causing only half of the field to finish the first round on Saturday. An early Sunday morning start allowed all players to finish round one and crowned Jingxiu Huang and James Key Florida Junior Tour winners at the Golf Club of the Everglades.
Boys 16-18
First-time FJT winner, Key posted two red numbers despite battling weather suspensions. The Palm Beach Gardens native started the first round on fire with an eagle on the par-5 first hole. Key never faltered and finished the first round with three birdies and 14 pars for a 5-under 67. Two other red numbers highlighted the round-one leaderboard. Trey Diehl finished two strokes behind in second place and Max Barile rounded out the top three at 1-under 71.
The final round was another display of impressive golf and a late-weather suspension. Key posted one birdie on the front nine to turn at 1-under and followed up with two birdies on the back nine to finish with a 70. A final 7-under 137 earned Key his first win by three strokes. Barile, of Land O’ Lakes, was a birdie machine in the final round, making six birdies to finish with a 69. Barile remained in second place while Trey Diehl and Alexander Dalmau tied for third, six strokes back, at 143.
Girls 16-18
Two impressive rounds of golf earned Huang her first FJT win in wire-to-wire fashion. The Lakewood Ranch resident tied Addison Klonowski for first after the first round. Klonowski finished Saturday with two birdies, while Huang carded three birdies to finish tied at the top at 1-under 71. Amelia Alcantara finished three strokes behind, in third place, after day one.
Despite Alcantara’s steady play on the back nine, narrowing Huang’s lead to one, Huang hoisted her first FJT trophy on Sunday. Alcantara, of Naples, gained some ground on the back nine in the final round, posting one birdie and one bogey, but could not catch Huang at the top. Huang held onto the lead posting a birdie on the eighth hole to finish with a 76 and 147 total for victory. Two 74’s and a 148 total secured a second place finish for Alcantara. Klonowski finished tied for third with Makenna Rodriguez, Kelly Shanahan, and Annie Zhang at 6-over 150.
