Wildwood, Fla. – The Florida Junior Tour made the trip up near The Villages this past weekend, for a great few days of golf. On Saturday we were able to steer clear of any rain drops, and
Sunday was the definition of a picture perfect day in Florida. This is the first time an FJT has been hosted at Contintental Coutry Club, and they proved to be a fantastic host to some of the best juniors in the state.
Boys (13-15)
Although it's a little on the shorter side, the slick greens & tight landing areas Continental CC showed it's teeth to some. We did see plenty of birdies though, as Yuhao Wang got out to a great start by carding an opening round of 67 (-5). Wang's round was highlighted by his middle stretch of holes where he made consectutive birdies on 7, 8, 9, and an eagle on 10 to go five-under in just four holes. Nipping at his heals was Kaden Puranik (-3), Jack Cole (-2), & Aaron Umholtz (-1). Umholtz had a crazy opening nine to say the least, as he carded seven birdies, and two bogeys to turn at five-under.
Early on in Round 2, we saw a little bit of shuffling up at the top of the leaderboard. Kaden Puranik quickly jumped into the lead with birdies on Holes 1, 3, & 5, then followed by an Eagle on 7. Continuing his stellar play on the front nine Umholtz was making an early move as well with birdies on 1, 3, 7, & 9 to turn with a opening nine of 33 (-3). Our opening round leader wasn't going anywhere though as Wang made a nice bounceback birdie on the 7th to get back to even par on the day, and a chance of recapturing the lead on the closing nine. On the closing nine the birdies were tougher to come by as there was hardly any movement up top, and Kaden did enough to hold off the rest of the field. Rhys Cochran had the low score of the day with a 67 (-5) to jump 11 spots up the leaderboard and into the Top 3, but Puranik finished three clear of Cochran, Umholtz, & Wang. This marks Puranik's second FJT victory of the season, in just two starts, so he's off to a great start in his 2025 campaign.
Girls (13-15)
With the Girls Division playing closer to their accustomed yardage range, we didn't see as many red numbers on Saturday, but it was certainly a log jam at the top. Leading the way was Orlando native, Alexandra Snyder, who carded an opening round 70 (-2). Snyder got off to a hot start capturing birdies on her first two holes and adding another at the 7th to turn at three-under. Giving just one back on her closing nine, she was able to build a two shot lead going into Sunday's round. Sitting in second place was Nicole Wu, who carded the only other round of even par or better on Saturday. Rounding out the top five was Maya Fujisawa Kueling (+3), and five others that all came in with a 76 (+4).
On Sunday, it was the Alexandra Snyder show. All day she continued to grow her lead, and it looked like she was playing a completely different golf course than the rest of the field. Starting on Hole 10, she opened up with a bogey free opening nine of 35 (-1). She continued to build momentum on the back as she birdied holes, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 9 and saw herself sitting at a whopping seven-under for the day and nine-under for the event. Rounding out the Top 3 was Nicole Wu (+4) & Aspen Bikowski (+5). Snyder etched herself in the Florida Junior Tour record books, as she tied for the third largest margin of victory in the FJT Girls (13-15) division,
