The teams for the annual North Florida versus South Florida matches are set. Each year the top junior golfers from North Florida and South Florida play a Ryder Cup-style match against each other. This year the matches are being held at Jack's Home Club, The Bears Club, in Jupiter on August 1st & 2nd.
The Bears Club is nestled in near the Atlantic Ocean and is the home club to over 25 major professional tour players including Rory McIlory, Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Michelle Wie, and also NBA legend Michael Jordan.
18-time major champion, Jack Nicklaus transformed the native environment into a championship layout that features 102 strategically placed bunkers, many of which are steeply flashed. The design were inspired by the bunkers at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, which Nicklaus visited when he captained the 1998 United States Presidents Cup Team. A collection of medium-to-large greens demand precision, as many of the complexes are rounded off at the edges and feed into hollows and chipping areas. The Bears Club hosted the 2015 US Open Sectional Qualifier and is slated to host the 100th FSGA Amateur Championship in June of 2017.
The first morning, each boy and girl will be paired with a partner and compete in a four-ball match. That afternoon boys and girls will be paired together and play mixed-foursomes matches. The final day each player will play a singles match against a player from the opposing team. Points will be awarded to each match similarly to the Ryder Cup.
Each team consists of 10 boys and 6 girls.
The North Team will be led by 2015 Boys' Junior Player of the Year, Brandon Mancheno, 2016 FJT Boys 16-18 Points Champion Logan Membrino, 2015 Junior Match Play Champion Tyler Wilkes, 2016 Girls' Junior Champion Alyssa Lamoureux, and 2015 FJT Girls 16-18 Points Champion Morgan Baxendale. The remaining team members are: Manuel Girona, Ryan Hicks, Lauren Miller, Jacob Penny, Justin Rickerson, Calvin Sierota, Macy Somoskey, Jackson Suber, Julia Towne, Jonathan Yuan & Katie Yoo. The captain of the North team is FSGA Women's Tournament Director Jenna Masnyk.
The South Team will be lead by 2015 Boys' Junior Amateur Champion, Alberto Martinez, who also just recently captured the prestigious North & South Junior Amateur Championship at Pinehurst, four-time FJT winner Brittany Shin, and 2014 Girls Junior Match Play Champion, Sydney Shrader. The South team members are: Spencer Alexander, Drew Angelo, Cole Castro, Max Coutsolioutsos, Luke Gifford, Hallianne Hobson, Jayson Iten, Alyssa Mercado, David Morgan, Anthony Muttillo, Casey Weidenfeld, Fletcher Wunderlich & Ariel Yu. The captain for the South team is FSGA Tournament Manager Kevin Fullenkamp.
For more on the Junior Florida Cup click here.
