Palm Beach Gardens, FL. This weekend, the 16-18 boys and girls headed to South Florida to compete in the FJT PGA National Open. Players faced blustery conditions on Saturday as wind gusts reached over 20mph. Sunday turned out to be a perfect day with calm winds and great scoring conditions. When all play had been completed Clark Mason and Iris Lee walked away with victories in South Florida.
Boys (16-18)
At the end of Saturday’s round only one player broke 70. Clark Mason, a 2026 graduate from Saint Petersburg, got off to a hot start as he was 7-under par through 11 holes before losing some shots coming in to finish with a 3-under 69. Gabriel Holtz, a 2026 graduate from Boca Raton and Cooper Franklin, also a 2026 graduate from Ponte Vedra Beach found themselves just one shot back, as they both fired a 2-under par 70 on Saturday. These two along with Clark would make up the final pairing for Sunday mornings final round. Sitting in fourth place, at even par, Charlie Woods looks to make a big run to catch the leaders on Sunday.
Sunday at PGA National turned out to be one of the best days of weather in 2025. With winds a little calmer than the day before we saw some better scores from the entire field, but it was Clark Mason who battled to finish at the top to take home the victory for the boy’s division. Clark Mason got off to a great start making a birdie on his first two holes and never looked back as he finished with a total score of 5-under par 139, three strokes ahead of second place.
Girls (16-18)
Through 18 holes, Iris Lee, a 2031 graduate from Orlando took the lead as she was the only player to shoot under par with a 1-under par 71. Krisny Elwin (+1), a 2027 graduate from Orlando and Vanessa Zepeda (+2), a 2025 graduate from Boca Raton sat respectively solo second and solo third and joined Iris in the final group on Sunday. Heading into Sunday’s final round seven players were within four shots of the lead.
In the final round Grace Carter, a 2029 graduate, from Jupiter would make a final round push shooting 2-under 70 to get within two shots of the lead coming down the back nine. It was Iris Lee who would continue her great play to hold off the field, firing a 1-over 73 to win by two strokes. This victory for Iris makes for her second win since December of 2024, as she continues to have a strong 2025 season. Finishing third was Keala Richichi, a 2026 graduate from Jupiter by firing a second round 72, even par.
