VENICE, Fla. – The Florida Junior Tour continued this past weekend heading down to Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida. Most recently host of the Women’s Four-Ball Championship, Plantation’s quirky layout that consists of small greens and many tight tee shots proved to be a tough test for the state’s best 13-15 year olds. However, it was no match for our victors, Ethan Nejman and Victoria Feng.
Boys (13-15)
Round one consisted of some beautiful weather and peak scoring conditions. Although the course’s difficult layout played a factor, the soft conditions gave us some solid numbers, led by Arnold Pouncy’s four-under 68. Pouncy’s clean scorecard that consisted of one bogey and five birdies gave him a two shot lead over Ethan Nejman, and William Richard. Heading into round two, Pouncy looked to capture his third victory in his last four starts (with the non-win being a second place finish).
The second day brought a variety of conditions making it much more challenging. With heavy winds coming and going as well as a brief weather delay, the scores were equally as exciting as the weather. As Pouncy began to give a few shots back to the field, many others began to charge up the leaderboard. Coming down the stretch, Ethan Nejman found himself atop of the leaderboard fending off Liam Ly, Arnold Pouncy our round one leader and Luke VanderSchuur. Birdieing two of the last four solidified himself atop of the leaderboard, giving him a one shot victory over the previous three players mentioned. With this victory, Nejman has secured his first ever Florida Junior Tour victory!
Girls (13-15)
In the girl’s division, the course was able to play a bit longer, making it more challenging. Although nobody broke par during round one, we had a tight battle at the top, with three players shooting even par to take the lead. Qiaoyi Lyu, Fay Noti and Brooklyn Cullen were all able to grab a share of the round one lead, making it a group full of leaders in the last tee time for the final round. With one round left and 10 players within three shots of the lead, excitement is expected for Sunday’s round.
In an exhilerating final round, Qiaoyi Lyu began to take command of the golf tournament. However, Victoria Feng began to charge up the leaderboard making four birdies in her final nine holes. However, a costly bogey on her 17th (the 8th hole) was enough to send Feng and Lyu into a playoff. On the first playoff hole, both players safely found the green. Lyu missed her putt first, opening the door for Feng with her 20 foot birdie putt. Victoria Feng drained the long one, giving her her second victory this fall! In four Florida Junior Tour starts this fall, Feng has yet to finish outside the top 2. She looks to continue her consistent excellence at the FJT Golf Hammock Open two weeks from now.
