TAMPA, Fla. – The Florida Junior Tour will head to The Conservatory at Hammock Beach this weekend for the 2018 Tour Championship. Here are five things to know before the championship begins on Saturday.
Players of the Year in the Mix
Chloe Schiavone and Tyler Wilkes, the 2018 Girls’ and Boys’ Junior Players of the Year, will be in the field this weekend and will look to add to their already impressive resumes this season.
Schiavone captured two Florida State Golf Association Championships this year. She won the Women’s Four-Ball Championship in March with her partner, Ariel Yu. Schiavone collected her first individual FSGA championship in June, the Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship.
The Jacksonville native teamed up with Izzy M. Pellot to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Schiavone also won the 2018 Junior Amateur Match Play in July at The Forest Country Club, defeating runner-up Skylee Shin, 3 and 2.
Wilkes also put together a standout year, securing an FSGA championship title and five top-five FJT finishes. He won his second-straight Boys' Junior Amateur Championship in July at Laurel Oak Country Club.
In five FJT starts this season, the Tampa native did not a finish worse than tied for fifth. His best came at River Strand Golf & Country Club, where he took home first place. He also in this year’s U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, after having qualified for the event at The Country Club of Winter Haven.
A Field Full of Winners
In the Tour Championship field, there are 39 FJT winners from this season, including Schiavone and Wilkes. Five of those 39 winner have captured two or more FJT wins in 2018. Luke Clanton earned four FJT wins this season: Orange County National, Heritage Oaks Golf and Country Club, Palm Aire Country Club and Cimarrone Golf Club.
Hammock Beach Plays Host for the Second Year
The Conservatory at Hammock Beach will play host to the Tour Championship for the second year in a row. The Tom Watson Signature designed course is highlighted by waterfalls, babbling brooks and veneered field stone work.
To the 140 sand and coquina bunkers, Watson also added three sod-faced bunkers, a nod to his affinity for British links-style golf. Over the years, the Conservatory course has been recognized by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine as one of the top courses you can pay to play in Florida.
The Tour Championship will head down south in 2019 to Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla.
Two Defending Champions Look to Repeat
Last year’s 13-15 Tour Champions, Wyndom Burnett and Nicklas Staub are in this year’s field in the 16-18 division and are looking to capture another Tour Championship title. Burnett is coming into the championship with one FJT win and eight top-five finishes, including a fourth place finish at the Girls’ Junior Amateur, while Staub has earned one FJT win this season.
Points Champion Still to be Determined
Both Schiavone and Wilkes already have the FJT Points Champions for the 16-18 age division locked up. This season, Schiavone accumulated 18,894 points, the most for a Girls' Junior Player of the Year since 2015 (Sierra Brooks, 21,100). Wilkes amasses 14,033 points in 2018, the most by a Boys' Junior Player of the Year since Brandon Mancheno (14,668) in 2015.
The points titles for the 13-15 division are still up for grabs and will be decided this weekend at the Tour Championship.
