Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. - It was the South Team that defended the title and raised the cup on Tuesday to conclude the 17th Junior Florida Cup matches. The South Team earned 21 points while the North Team earned 11 points.
Four-Ball Matches
The Four-Ball matches took place Monday morning at PGA National, Match Course. The South Team took a commanding lead of 6.5 to 1.5 halfway through the rounds. However, the North Team made a comeback coming in with two wins on late matches to hold the lead of 4.5 to 3.5 heading into the afternoon Foursome matches.
Some highlights of the Four-Ball Matches included, James Earle and Tristan Wieland of the South Team took down Emmet Kuhlenkamp and Arth Sinha from the North Team 4 & 3. In addition, Miranda Lu and Kayla Bryant from the South team beat Sophia Hong and Braydn Smith 6 & 4.
Lorenzo Rodriguez and Parker Severs from the South Team tied Mingbo Jiang and Nicholas Pisarski. Rodriguez and Severs went back and forth with Jiang and Pisarski, each team holding the lead at various points in the round. Finally, the teams ended in a tie and were forced to halve a point.
Youyang Li and Ana Boone from the North Team defeated Brianna Castaldi and Gabriella Albert from the South Team on the last hole to earn a late point for the North.
In addition, Clark Mason and Vlad Alexander Bercea from the North team defeated Jessy Huebner and Xin Wang from the South Team on the last hole to go one up for the match and earn a late point for their team to take the lead.
Foursomes Matches
The afternoon matches were interrupted by some weather delays, but ultimately the South Team earned 5.5 points against the North Team’s 2.5 points. The South Team headed into the final day of Singles Matches with a two-point lead of 9 to 7.
However, the matches started out tight with each team holding leads to keep the score at only a one-point difference. Mingbo Jiang and Emmet Kuhlenkamp of the North Team tied with Elijah Zamarron and Ryan Miller of the South Team to halve a point. On the other hand, several of the close matches from the beginning of the round ended in a South victory.
Team Moman and Earle from the South Team faced Hall and Robards from the North Team. That match lasted until the final hole in which Moman and Earle capture the win one up.
In addition, Donaldson and Clark from the North Team faced Pedrique and Zhou from the South Team. Another match that was decided on the final hole and ended in a win and a point for the North Team.
Singles Matches
The final day brought the Singles Matches. Thirty-two players teed off on Tuesday morning in sixteen separate matches that ultimately decided the winning team.
The South Team extended their lead early with two matches finishing quickly. Ryan Miller of the South Team defeated Ronav Benak 6 & 5. Tristan Wieland of the South Team defeated Emmet Kuhlenkamp 7 & 6. In addition, Marley Pedrique earned another early point for the South Team after defeating Bradyn Smith 5 & 4.
The South Team won eleven matches and tied one which earned them twelve points for the day and 21 total points to capture the win and defend the cup for the second consecutive year.
Other notable matches included Henry Robards on Team North defeated Darren Zhou 3 & 1, Sophia Hong defeated Miranda Lu 4 & 2, and Hannah Hall defeated Madison Moman 2 & 1.
The overall record for the Junior Florida Cup matches are 11-5-1 with the South Team winning four of the last six.
