BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - In the third edition of the Golf Road Junior, players took their talents to The Club at Quail Ridge and Delray Dunes Golf & Country Club. On two fantastic venues, Jonah Nacional and Valentina Marie Guertin stood above the rest to etch their names on the Golf Road Junior Shield.
Boys (13-18)
Through 18 holes, the leaderboard in the Boys Division was packed with four players sharing the lead after recording scores of even-par, 72. After bogeying his first hole of the round, Turin Duber, a 2027 graduate from Melbourne, would go on to add four birdies over his next nine holes before coming back down to even-par to end the round. Daniel Mena, a 2026 graduate from West Palm Beach who played in the same group as Duber in the first round, would play 13 holes at 2-under par; however, a rough stretch in the middle of his round (Holes 7-11) would not allow him to separate from the pack. John Dorneles-Costa, a 2025 graduate from Lake Worth, recorded a par on his first seven holes before alternating birdies and bogeys throughout the remainder of the round to land at even-par. Finally, Jonah Nacional, a 2026 graduate from St. Augustine, would birdie his final hole of the day to join the leading foursome, the par-5 14th, adding to his round total of four. 8 players would enter the final round within three shots of the leaders.
On Friday, Oscar Crowe, a 2025 graduate from Boca Raton who began the day two stroke behind the leader, was making noise early after birdies on the fourth, fifth, and sixth holes catapulted him into the lead at 1-under par. While Mena and Nacional stayed in contention with a string of pars to begin their rounds, Duber and Dorneles-Costa would record costly bogeys to fall back.
Nacional would remain the most consistent from the final group on Friday. Even with Crowe continuing to make birdies to get within shouting distance, Nacional would make 12 pars in a row to begin his day. A lone bogey on the 13th hole would find him one shot behind, but only briefly. A birdie on the par-5 15th put him back in the lead, one he would not relinquish. With a second consecutive even-par round, Jonah Nacional would claim the 3rd FJT Golf Road Junior. Daniel Mena and Oscar Crowe would share second place at 2-over par.
Girls (13-18)
Valentina Marie Guertin, a 2026 graduate from Boynton Beach, would hold the lead in the Girls Divison by herself after her first-round performance, recording a score of 6-over par, 78. Despite just one birdie, Guertin's consistent play (12 pars), allowed her to stay ahead of the rest of the field. Just one stroke behind the Boynton Beach native was Grace Breffitt, a 2027 graduate from Ponte Vedra Beach. After recording a double-bogey on her first hole of the day, the 2027 graduate played her final 17 holes at 5-over par to be placed in the lead group on Friday. In third place, one stroke behind Breffitt, was Micaela Ruidias, a 2026 graduate from Boynton Beach. Ruidias, unlike Guertin, recorded a par on just six of her holes on Thursday. But, with three birdies, the 2026 graduate would begin the final round just two strokes behind the leader.
On Friday, Guertin would never let the lead slip out of her hands. A steady opening-nine 37 would push her lead to two shots and with a birdie on the 2nd hole at Delray Dunes and Breffitt's bogey, the lead would double to four shots. Valentina Guertin's sister, Angelina would be the biggest mover of the day. Opening in 1-under par through nine holes, the elder Guertin would get within earshot of her sister. However, Valentina Guertin would never relinquish the lead, coasting to a four shot victory and etching her name next to fellow Team Florida members, Kayla Bryant and Chloe Kovelesky, on the Golf Road Shield. Angelina Marie Guertin would move up three spots on Friday into second place while Grace Breffitt and Alexia Iordanov finished in a tie for third.
