The IMG Junior Golf Tour was developed to fill a key niche in junior golf, the IMG Junior Golf Tour provides an elite setting for junior golfers to compete and gain exposure to college golf, professional golf, national junior rankings and athletic excellence.
Held in Florida every December, and open to boys and girls ages 11-18, the the IMG Academy Junior World Florida Challengeis a qualification and invitation only event featuring an international field of over 200 players.News
Kavan Eubank, Hadas Libman, Tyler Carlson take home division titles in IMG Junior Golf Tour's season-ending Championship
90 players from 19 countries and 12 states convened in Celebration, Fla. for a chance at the title
The season-ending IMG Junior Golf Tour Championship brought together 90 players from 19 countries and 12 states this past weekend at the Celebration Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The stop marked the Tour’s second visit to Celebration, a Golf Digest 4.5 star club outside of Orlando.
Kavan Eubank of Bradenton, Fla. finished the tournament at 3-under (141) to claim the Boys 15-18 title, and best HoYeong Kim of South Korea and Kaito Onishi of Japan by one stroke. Jimmy Pitenis of Daytona Beach, Fla. went into Sunday leading after an opening round of 68, but faltered to end T9.
Spencer Schultz of Lakewood Ranch, Fla. finished fourth and recorded his second Top-5 finish in consecutive years in the Tour Championship, with a solid even-par 144. Schultz’s Lakewood Ranch High School teammate, Kelly Sun, had a Top-10 finish (+2). Clark Robinson of South Windsor, Connecticut rounded out the Top-5, finishing with a 145 (+1).
Israel’s Hadas Libman birdied the 18th hole Sunday to take the Girls Division by a single stroke over Symba Xu and Vivian Chen, both of China. Chen’s final round of 71 marked the low round of the weekend in the Girls Division. Nagisa Miura and Gianna Tomeo rounded out the Top-5.
In the Boys 11-14 Division, Tyler Carlson of Bradenton, Fla. tied the IMG Junior Golf Tour scoring record set in 2012 by national media sensation and U.S. Open qualifier, Andy Zhang. With rounds of 66 and 69 for a 9-under 135, Carlson finished 11 strokes ahead of 14-year-old Brandon Wang of Houston, Texas. Remarked Carlson of his opening round of 66: “After it was all said and done, I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face for about an hour and a half!” Daniel Core of Canada finished in third (+9), Jason Jin of China in fourth (+10) and Jimmy Criscione of New Jersey in fifth (+11).
For full results, visit the IMG Junior Golf Tour leaderboard by clicking HERE.
Player of the Year awards were also distributed to the following individuals for outstanding season-long performances:
Boys 15-18: Qi Wen Wong – The Singapore native only finished outside of the Top-5 once in eight events this season, and collected four runner-up finishes. Wong also recently won a playoff to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifier and will play for a spot in the Open in a couple of weeks.
Girls 15-18: Camila Serrano – The Colombia native played in six Tour events and always finished in the Top-4. Serrano had two regular season victories, including one at Reunion Resort in Florida, where she recorded a hole-in-one. The senior will take her talents to Florida International University next year.
Boys 11-14: Brandon Wang – Houston, Texas native Brandon Wang finished in the Top-5 all season long, including two victories and four runner-up finishes.
