Chappell Brown fired a 7-under par 63, one shot shy of tying the course record, to take the lead of the regular division of the 51st Florida State Boys Junior Championship at Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club in Tampa. Julian Suri leads the Junior division by two strokes after shooting a 4-under par 66. The Championship continues through Wednesday, August 3.
Chappell Brown, from West Palm Beach, leads the field of 60 players by four strokes with his first round score of 63. With a total of eight birdies and only one bogey, Brown, 18, shot a 30 on the front nine and 33 on the back nine. En route to shooting 30 on the front, Brown made five 3’s in a row and finished with ten 3’s on his scorecard for the first round. Brown’s final birdie came on the 14th hole to go 7-under for the day. Presently, Brown is on top of the Florida Junior Tour (FJT) points standings with two wins during the season. Jeremy Evans, 18, from Palm Harbor, trails Brown by four strokes carding a 67 in the first round while Cameron Knight, 17, of Dade City, recorded a 2-under 68 to go into the second round in third place.
In the Junior division, Julian Suri, 14, from Saint Augustine, posted a pair of 33’s to lead the 30 competitors. Suri made five birdies to be in front going into the second round. Suri currently ranks third on the FJT points standings in the 13-15 age division with five top five finishes last season. Connor Arendell, 15, from Cape Coral, shot a 68 for second place while Christopher Carlin, 15, from Pembroke Pines, and Phillip Choi, 14, of Orlando, share third place each recording a 69.
Competitors first must have qualified at one of the six sites across the state in 18 holes of stroke play. The Championship field features 90 of the top male amateur golfers in the state playing 54 holes of stroke play in the three-day Championship. The field is divided into two age divisions; 13-15 junior division and 16-18 regular division and the juniors must not have a handicap index higher than 17.4. The Champion of the regular division receives three exemptions into AJGA events. The top five from the regular division receive two exemptions each into AJGA events and the top ten finishers will receive one exemption toward an AJGA open tournament. Additionally, the top 14 finishes in the 16-18 division will be invited to compete in the Florida State Junior Match Play Invitational. The top eight finishes in the 13-15 division will also be invited to compete in the Junior Match Play Invitational.
For pairings, tee-times and complete results, please see www.fsga.org.
