Miles Russell | Nicole Sardinha | Caiden Westbroek | Claire Yang
Fort Pierce, Fla. - Four were crowned Champions at Fairwinds Golf Course on Sunday. Miles Russell and Caiden Westbroek took home the Boys Divisions. Nicole Sardinha and Claire Yang captured the Girls Divisions.
Boys (11-12)
In the opening round of the FJT Fairwinds Open, we saw many low scores from the Boys (11-12) Division with Miles Russell leading the way with a bogey-free 67. Not far behind would be Jaden Peterson and Cooper Foegen with rounds of 68 and 69, respectively.
The early goings of Sunday’s final round saw Miles Russell
extend his lead with a birdie on the par-4 second hole while Jaden Peterson
stumbled with two early bogeys. Russell, the Jacksonville Beach native, would
find trouble on the 10th hole in the form of a double-bogey that
would shrink his lead to just two shots over Foegen as the group began their
closing nine.
Russell would build on that lead through the inward nine. A
final round 70 would be enough to take home the win with a two-day total
of 7-under 137. Chase Bauer used the
round of the day to finish in second place after his 69 on Sunday. Cooper
Foegen would finish at 2-under for the tournament after a final round 73 which
would be good enough for solo third place.
Boys (9-10)
Cyrus Joseph and Caiden Westbroek would find each other in
lock step carding rounds of 73 in the opening round while playing together.
Both players opened with 37 on the front nine and even par back nine to set-up
a final round showdown at Fairwinds Golf Course.
Westbroek would come out ready to play with an opening
birdie to take the lead. Joseph would remain steady through his opening nine
with all pars while Woestbroek’s double-bogey on their 9th hole of
the day would give Joseph a two shot lead heading into their final nine holes
of the tournament.
It would be a lead he would not relinquish. Westrboek’s 149
two-day total would secure the win over Cyrus Joseph by a shot. Chris Nana
Tanke had a final round 73 to finish in third place.
Girls (11-12)
Doral native, Nicole Sardinha, used five birdies in her
opening round to take a 2-shot lead over Marley Pedrique after day one. Elyse
Mierdink of Tampa would sit in third place alone after a round of 74 that would
find her in the final group of Sunday’s round.
Pedrique, no stranger to Faiwinds Golf Course as last year’s
champion of this event, got off to a great start in the final round with
birdies on her opening two holes to tie the lead with Sardinha. Pedrique would
overcome a bogey on the 16th hole with a birdie on the 18th
hole while Sardinha’s bogey would lead to a two-shot swing.
Sardinha battled back with a birdie on the par-3 5th
to take back the lead from Pedrique. Sardinha would keep that lead through
their final nine holes and secure the victory with a 2-under total of 142. Marley
Pedrique would finish one shot behind after her final round 72. Elyse Mierdink’s
73 on Sunday was enough to finish in third place.
Girls (9-10)
In the Girls (9-10) Division, Claire Yang would open with an
even-par 72 to hold a commanding lead. Rain Jiang and Esther Li would find
themselves rounding out the top 3 after day one and would look for a good round
Sunday to hopefully chase down Yang.
The Windermere native, Yang would continue her solid play
with a 1-over opening nine. Esther Li would match Yang’s opening nine with a 37
herself to take solo second place. Li
would slowly make up ground on the final nine as she continued to make pars to
start the closing stretch.
However, Yang’s lead was too much to surpass. With a two-day
total of 150 Claire Yang would capture the event. Esther Li’s second round 74
was the best in the Girls (9-10) Division to finish in second place. Keira
Shavitranuruk had two rounds of 81 to finish in third place.
