2013-2014 Halfway Recap

With the 2013-2014 season nearing the halfway mark, let’s rewind and take a look at some notable performances and highlights!

SOUTHEAST KICKOFF - THE VINOY GOLF CLUB

The IMG Junior Golf Tour kicked off its 4^th season at The Vinoy Golf Club, a hidden gem located on Snell Isle in St. Petersburg, FL,  A first-time venue for the tour, The Vinoy proved to be quite the challenge for some while others such as Blake Dyer (St. Petersburg, FL), Spencer Schultz (Bradenton, FL), Jose Luis Montano (Bradenton, FL), Yidong Zhang (Orlando, FL), and Greyson Porter (Clearwater, FL) all came in with at least one round in the 60’s. With a final round (-2) 69 to go with his first round (-6) 65, Blake Dyer held off Spencer Schultz and Jose Luis Montano (-7) to raise the first hardware of the season.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Blake Dyer (St. Petersburg, FL)
Boys 11-14 Champion: Qi Ming Wong (Singapore)

Girls 15-18 Champion: Nagisa Miura (Bradenton, FL)

Girls 11-14 Champion: Gabrielle Tomeo (Bradenton, FL)

BACK-TO-BACK NORTHEAST EVENTS

After debuting in the Northeast last fall, the tour host back-to-back events at High Bridge Hills GC (High Bridge, NJ) and Berkshire Valley GC (Jefferson Twp, NJ) in late September and early October. Our Northeast Kickoff at High Bridge Hills featured a full field of 84 players with surprisingly warm weather over the weekend. With dramatic elevation changes, High Bridge Hills provided a true test of golf for all players. Speaking of dramatic, our first playoff of the season saw Andrew Bowyer (Summit, NJ) and Tim Rotermund (Madison, CT) battle it out on the Par 3, 14^th hole as darkness was upon us. Rotermund came away with the victory.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Tim Rotermund (Madison, CT)
Boys 11-14 Champion: Jack Wall (Brielle, NJ)

Girls 15-18 Champion: Anina Ku (Basking Ridge, NJ)

Girls 11-14 Champion: Madeline Jin (Belle Mead, NJ)

The next weekend the stage was set at another first-time venue at Berkshire Valley GC in Jefferson Township, NJ. The course consists of 600 acres in the picturesque Highlands region of northern New Jersey. Set alongside the ridge of Green Pond Mountain, the topography and spectacular views of the course make it unlike any other course we visit. All divisions completed the first round of play with impressive scores on the challenging course. Weather was not on our side as the final round began with a thick fog hanging along the mountainside resulting in a delay of over five hours. These abnormal conditions limited the Boys 15-18 Division to eighteen holes while the Girls 15-18 and Boys 11-14 Divisions were able to finish twenty-seven holes. Andrew Bowyer (Summit, NJ), who came up just short at High Bridge Hills, captured the championship trophy in the Boys 15-18 Division while 13-year-old standout Anina Ku took home her second Girls title in a row.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Andrew Bowyer (Summit, NJ)
Boys 11-14 Champion: Alex Chin (Chatham, NJ)
Girls 15-18 Champion: Anina Ku (Basking Ridge, NJ)

CLASSIC DONALD ROSS DESIGN

Our fourth stop of the season took us to Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota, FL. Designed by legendary architect Donald Ross, who considered Sara Bay among his personal favorites, the course is widely recognized as one of Florida’s finest classic golf courses. The old school setup is a true test for every club in your bag. 14-year-old Brandon Wang (Houston, TX) played up in the Boys 15-18 Division for the first time and never looked back by finishing the tournament at (-2) 142 to beat out Kaito Onishi (Tokyo, Japan) who shot even. Mika Liu, one of the top ranked girls in the country, impressed in the Girls 15-18 Division and came away with her first IMG Junior Golf Tour title shooting a solid (-1) 143.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Brandon Wang
Boys 11-14 Champion: Qi Ming Wong (Singapore)
Girls 15-18 Champion: Mika Liu (Beverly Hills, CA)
Girls 11-14 Champion: Daniela Gonzalez (Colombia)

ORLANDO GOLF…WITH A EUROPEAN FLAIR

Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, FL was our first trip to the middle of the state and attracted a full field of 90 players from nine states and fourteen countries. It’s five par 5’s, five sets of tees, and more than 90 bunkers and dramatic bulkheads are reminiscent of those found in Scotland and England. What a weekend it was as Camilo Mexsen (Mexico) set the IMG Junior Golf Tour tournament record of (-11) 135 to win the Boys 15-18 Division by four strokes over Yidong Zhang (Orlando, FL). The Girls 15-18 Division also had some excitement as Symba Xu (China) and Jaravee Boonchant (Thailand) dueled it out in a playoff. With more than one-third of the field looking on, Xu birdied the 14^th hole and edged out Boonchant for the win in her second appearance on Tour this season. The Boys 11-14 Division also came down to a playoff with Alex Hu (Lake Mary, FL) and Ray Navis (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL). Hu bested Navis to take home the title in his first appearance on Tour.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Camilo Mexsen (Mexico)
Boys 11-14 Champion: Alex Hu (Lake Mary, FL)
Girls 15-18 Champion: Symba Xu (China)
Girls 11-14 Champion: Amy Zhang (Lake Mary, FL)

ALINE SYSTEMS JUNIOR OPEN –WYNCOTE GOLF CLUB

Our third Northeast visit of the season brought us to Wyncote Golf Club in Oxford, PA on October 26-27, 2013 for the ALINE Systems Junior Open. Chilly temperatures and high wind gusts didn’t stop the competition from heating up. In the Boys 15-18 Division, Liam McAnally (Downingtown, PA) had two consistent rounds in the tough conditions to secure his first career IMG Junior Golf Tour victory. Incidentally, McAnally was wearing a pair ALINE insoles throughout the tournament and says he has them in every pair of shoes he owns. Kaitlyn Lees (Bryn Mawr, PA) won the Girls 15-18 Division while Alex Chin (Chatham, NJ) claimed his second Boys 11-14 Tour title after winning his division at Berkshire Valley. Title Sponsor ALINE provided all participants with free ALINEment analysis on site and sponsored the #PowerStraightUp Par 5 Challenge on the ninth hole. Winners in the Par 5 Challenge were chosen for achieving the lowest aggregate score, with Andrew Bowyer (Summit, NJ) and Kaitlyn Lees (Bryn Mawr, PA) earning free pairs of ALINE insoles for their performance.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Liam McAnally (Downingtown, PA)
Boys 11-14 Champion: Alex Chin (Chatham, NJ)
Girls Champion: Kaitlyn Lees (Bryn Mawr, PA)

PGA GOLF CLUB – RYDER COURSE

The first tournament of the season on Florida’s east coast, PGA Village proved to be a wonderful venue for tournament golf. The Ryder Course is named in honor of Samuel Ryder, the namesake and founder of the Ryder Cup, the pre-eminent event in golf. With its rolling hills, majestic pine trees, and challenging water hazards, the Ryder Course has a distinctive Carolina-feel. Playing in his first IMG Junior Golf Tour event, Andrew Potter (Australia) stole the show in the Boys 15-18 Division, winning by eight strokes with a (-5) 139. Jaravee Boonchant (Thailand) continued her stellar play by beating out Latanna Stone (Ruskin, FL) by one-stroke to claim the Girls 15-18 title. Jason Jin (China) and Caitlin Cotterill (Australia) won the Boys and Girls 11-14 Divisions, respectively.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Andrew Potter (Naples, FL)
Boys 11-14 Champion: Jason Jin (China)
Girls 15-18 Champion: Jaravee Boonchant (Thailand)
Girls 11-14 Champion: Caitlin Cotterill (Australia)

THANKSGIVING AT GRAND CYPRESS

For the third consecutive year we teed off at Orlando’s Grand Cypress Golf Club – New Course for our 54-hole Thanksgiving event. With a full field of 90 players, the stage was set for a wonderful weekend of food, friends, and competition. Kavan Eubank had a record-shattering performance across the three-day event by setting the IMG Junior Golf Tour 18-hole scoring record of (-9) 63 to go with the 54-hole Tour record of (-12) 204. Eubank recently signed his NCAA National Letter of Intent to join California Baptist University in Riverside, CA. Once again in the Girls 15-18 Division, Jaravee Boonchant (Thailand) continued her remarkably consistent play, notching her second consecutive victory. Other winners at the event included David Giandomenico in the Boys 11-14 Division and Amy Zhang in the Girls 11-14 Division.

Boys 15-18 Champion: Kavan Eubank (Bradenton, FL)
Boys 11-14 Champion: David Giandomenico (Boynton Beach, FL)
Girls 15-18 Champion: Jaravee Boonchant (Thailand)
Girls 11-14 Champion: Amy Zhang (Lake Mary, FL)