Four Wire-to-Wire Victories in Palatka
PALATKA, Fla. – Palatka Golf Club showed its teeth with some help from windy conditions to rain delays but four champions stood out. Jack Cole, Elize Nograbat, Benny Minter and Victoria Frias won the Boys 11-12 Division, Girls 11-12 Division, Boys 9-10 Division and Girls 9-10 Division respectively.
Boys (11-12)
Coming off four straight top- 10’s Jack Cole, continued the solid play with an opening round 72. After turning at even par Cole had an up and down final nine to finish with the lead going into the final round. Right on Cole’s heels is Reagan Smith, sitting just two shots back, Smith started his first round strong, being two-under through six, but a costly double-bogey on his 15th hole kept him two back of the lead.
Round two came with better playing conditions but the winds remained. Through everything, Cole was able to play his last five holes two-under par to hold onto the wire-to-wire victory by one shot. Falling just one shot back in second place remained Reagan Smith after a solid final round of 73. Moving up the leaderboard and finishing in a tie for third was Bennett LaConte and Krish Choksi.
Boys (9-10)
Looking for his fifth victory in his last six starts, Benny Minter started his round hot as well. Carding three birdies in the first five holes brought in a solid round of 73. Carrying a three, shot lead over Julian Sepulveda.
Minter matched his solid first round with another three-over par, 73. Winning by four giving Minter his fifth victory in his last six starts. Minter had an eagle three on the short par five fourth sealing the deal for the victory. Moving up the leaderboard with the low rounds of the day were Eli Seals and Jayden Wei. Their solid final rounds of 71, allowed them to move up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for second.
Girls (11-12)
In the Girls 11-12 division, Elize Nograbat fired the round of the day with a one-over 73. Keira Shavitranuruk, Lily Wachter, Nicole Uminski and Qiaoyi Lyu all finished the first round tied for second after opening with rounds of four-over, 76. The stacked leaderboard was ready to duel it out with each other on Sunday to see who would come out on top.
Elize Nograbat followed suit with her fellow champions going wire-to-wire for the title in Palatka. Nograbats up and down round including one birdie and an eagle on her ninth hole was good enough to hold on to a one-stroke victory. Finishing in solo second was Lily Wachter, posting two solid rounds of 76-74; Wachter was able to put pressure on Nograbat down the stretch. Chloe Wang and Nicole Uminski finished tied for third just two shots back of Nograbat.
Girls (9-10)
Victoria Frias had one of the best rounds of the day firing a one-over par, 73. In the tough conditions and weather delays, she was able to pile up an eight-stroke lead going into the final round. Enya Chavitranurak and Sritha Badiga were tied for second and looking for an opportunity on Sunday. After a tough day on the course, Frias was able to secure her first win with scores of 73-78 by four shots over the Badiga and Chavitranurak who finished second and third respectively.
