Kim & Rivera Go Wire-to-Wire at Capital City
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The FJT Capital City Open (13-15), contested at Capital City Country Club, saw players battle through both rain on Saturday and frigid conditions on Sunday. When play had completed, Shayaan Kim and Sofia Rivera sat atop their respective leaderboards to claim victories.
Boys (16-18)
Shayaan Kim took hold of the lead through the first 18 holes of the competition. The 2027 graduate from Rockledge held a one-shot lead after recording five birdies and a first-round score of 3-under par, 69. Kim impressively played the par-3 holes at 2-under par on Saturday. Only two other players completed the first round under par. Ambrose Kinnare, a 2028 graduate from Saint Augustine, and Cooper Franklin, a 2026 graduate from Ponte Vedra Beach, each carded scores of 2-under par, 70.
On Sunday, Kim would maintain his lead all the way until the 36th hole of the tournament where a bogey on the par-5 18th forced a playoff with Maxwell Morgan, a 2028 graduate from Ponte Vedra Beach. After a 2-over par, 74, in the first round, Morgan would card just one bogey during his 2-under par, 70, round on Sunday to earn a spot in the playoff at even-par. In the playoff, Kim would take advantage of a missed green from Morgan to emerge victorious on the first playoff hole with a par on the par-4 10th. The victory was the Rockledge native’s first in the 13-15 Division.
Girls (16-18)
Two players held a share of the lead at the end of the first round with scores of 3-over par, 75. Elyse Meerdink, a 2027 graduate from Tampa, jumped out to a hot start by completing her first nine holes at 1-under par before recording two bogeys and a double bogey on the back nine. Sofia Rivera, a 2027 graduate from Saint Augustine, carded three birdies during the first round, including one on the most difficult hole of the day, the par-4 first.
Rivera’s 2-over par second round score, which included birdies on the par-3 sixth hole and par-5 seventh hole, both of which she bogeyed in the first round, would ultimately allow her to pull out a 5-shot victory with a two-day cumulative score of 5-over par. The win was the Saint Augustine native’s first on the Florida Junior Tour. Meerdink would finish in second place at 10-over par following a Sunday score of 7-over par, 79.
