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
Youth prevails and records fall at Eagle Creek Golf Club, Oct. 20-21
14-year old Camilo Mexsen wins Boys 15-18 Division and Mai Dechathipat breaks IMG Junior Golf Tour scoring records in Girls 15-18 Division
The IMG Junior Golf Tour’s latest event featured a strong field of 83 players representing nine states and 19 countries at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 20-21. A theme of this year’s IMG Junior Golf Tour has been younger players ‘playing up’ in older divisions and winning, and Eagle Creek kept the trend going when 14-year old Camilo Mexsen of Mexico won the Boys 15-18 Division, shooting 71-68=139 (-7). Mexsen overtook Singapore’s Qi Wen Wong (-3), who finished four strokes out of first place after leading on Saturday.
“It’s an awesome feeling to come in and win my first ever IMG Junior Golf Tour title,” Mexsen said of his win. “It was especially great to win with such a strong field playing.”
Eagle Creek was also the venue for a record-breaking performance when 15-year-old Mai Dechathipat broke the IMG Junior Golf Tour single round and 36-hole scoring records, with a first round performance of a 6-under 67, and overall performance of a 7-under 139. Dechathipat is the No. 98 overall girls junior gofer in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, and her tally of 67-72=139 (-7) secured a 4-stroke lead for the victory in the Girls 15-18 Division. Along the way, the Bangkok, Thailand native recorded an astounding 12 birdies over 36 holes.
“I am extremely happy to have not only won the tournament, but to have set the scoring marks for 18- and 36- holes,” Dechathipat remarked on her record-breaking performance
Dechathipat’s sterling effort held off Japan’s Karen Arimoto, who was recently named 2nd Team Rolex All-American by the AJGA and is currently ranked No. 84 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Arimoto finished tied for second with Taiwan’s Wenny Chang, each finishing at 3-under on the weekend.
Thirteen-year-old Yale Kim of Lake Mary, Fla. posted a solid showing, shooting 73-77=150(+4) to claim the Boys 11-14 Division. He narrowly held off Brandon Wang of Houston, Texas and Pierre Viallaneix of Apopka, Fla., who tied for second at +5 on the weekend.
This is the second consecutive year for the IMG Junior Golf Tour to stop at Eagle Creek Golf Club. The event is recognized by the Golfweek/Sagarin Junior Rankings. Additionally, champions of the Boys and Girls 15-18 Divisions earned four stars and the top five boys earned one star toward American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Performance Based Entry.
For full results, visit the IMG Junior Golf Tour leaderboard by clicking HERE.
