TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, FL proved to be a challenge yet again to our Florida Junior Tour players. After a tough 54 holes of competition, Tristan Wieland and Amelie Phung would both come from behind to claim victory with impressive final round scores.
Boys (16-18) Division
Seminole Legacy played host once again for the year’s opening Major. Callen Fahey got off to the hottest start of 2024 as he got to 4-under par through 8 holes on the tough test in Tallahassee. An unfortunate bogey and triple-bogey on his 16th and 17th holes of the day opened the door for Lucas Gimenez. Team Florida member, Lucas Gimenez was able to work his way around Seminole Legacy aided by three birdies in the first four holes of his back nine to get in the clubhouse at 1-under and the early lead. Gimenez explains his game plan on attacking Seminole Legacy, “you have to position yourself really well to score on this course. These greens are super tough, so you have to put yourself in a good position to be able to make putts.”
In Round 2, many players were making their way up the leaderboard as they took advantage of the opening holes. Bryson Hughes, Tristan Wieland and Shawn Coultoff all held the lead at one point on Sunday as Gimenez bogeyed two of his first three holes. Coultoff, the 2021 Boys’ Junior Champion at Seminole Legacy, would be the player out of that group closest to Gimenez. Coultoff’s even par second round brought him back to just one shot of Gimenez who finished the round two-over. The player making the biggest move was Brandon Lohr. Lohr shot the only score in the 60’s firing a four-under par, 68. He climbed twenty-one places on the leaderboard to sit one shot back of Gimenez. Lohr described some keys to playing Seminole Legacy are to hit fairways and have good pace around the greens.
Monday’s final round proved to be another tough day of competition. Gimenez and Lohr started their days strong but faltered towards the finish line. Starting three strokes back going into Monday, Tristan Wieland needed a strong final round to put his name in contention. Three birdies in his final eight holes and a round of three-under 69 was good enough for Wieland to capture victory in the Boy’s Division. Finishing in solo second place and just one shot back was Coultoff, while Trace Carter claimed solo third place. Wieland’s win is his best finish since placing 2nd one year ago at the FJT University of Florida (13-15) *54-Hole Major*.
Girls (16-18) Division
In the opening round, Zoe Shamy would begin her weekend with an opening round 74 to stand atop the leaderboard. An overall steady round that included two birdies was the key to staying clear of the pack as the Jupiter native plotted her way around Seminole Legacy.
On Sunday, Shamy would continue to hold her lead as she went out in even-par that included one birdie and one bogey. She would briefly open the door as she made triple-bogey on the par-5 4th hole. However, a birdie on the 7th would allow her to expand upon her overnight lead with another 74 and a four shot lead through 36 holes. Shamy explains that she has been able to stay consistent and play well by forgetting about the bad shots and not focusing on the fact that she is in the lead. Instead, she is focusing on “just playing golf.” The shot of the day came from defending champion, Nancy Cox, who holed out on the par-4 18th for an eagle. Cox wasn’t even able to see the ball go in and couldn’t believe it when spectators around the green told her it had gone in.
Sitting five shots out of the lead Monday morning, Amelie Phung knew she would need her best stuff to have a chance at victory today. When all was said and done, five birdies and a lone bogey contributed to a tournament low round of 68 for the junior from Boca Raton. She would wind up winning the Girl’s Division by six strokes over Zoe Shamy. Braydn Smith rounded out the top three after posting a final-round score of one-over 73.
