AMELIA ISLAND, Fla – This weekend the Florida Junior Tour traveled to the Oak Marsh course at the Omni Amelia Island Resort where boys and girls ages 16 to 18 competed in a two round stroke-play event. In the end, Ryan Miller, of Naples, earned his first FJT title while Amelie Phung, of Boca Raton, captured her second FJT victory, and first since moving to the 16 to 18 division.
Boys 16-18
At the conclusion of the first round, JP English, of Ponte Vedra, had established himself as the front-runner by claiming the solo lead thanks to shooting the only under-par round of the day, 1-under 71. Though not ideal, Miller was still in a position to compete for the top spot, sitting four shots back of the leader, as he was in a tie for fifth after shooting 3-over 74 through 18 holes.
In the beginning of the second round, Miller’s chances of coming back to win seemed to dissipate as he bogeyed the par-4 1st. But from that point on, the Naples native was able to flip a switch as he played the remainder of the second round bogey-free on his way to a score of 3-under 69, the low round of the tournament. This earned him a spot in a sudden-death playoff with English, who shot 1-over 73 on Sunday. After both players bogeyed the first playoff hole, Miller would emerge victorious with a par on the second playoff hole. Miles Russell, 74-73—147, finished in solo third.
Girls 16-18
After the first 18 holes, Phung had grabbed an early lead over her competitors by carding a 2-over 74. Despite getting off to a slow start with four bogeys in the first nine holes, the Boca Raton native was able to regain control of her round, highlighted by birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to cap off a fabulous two-under 34 on the back nine. However, the rest of the field was still in a spot to contend as Catalina Harvey, of Palm Harbor, and Nancy Cox, of Ponte Vedra Beach, sat just one and two shots back, respectively, of the leader.
Sunday appeared to present the field with a greater challenge than the day before, but Phung found a way to improve her performance. After setting the tone with back-to-back birdies on her first two holes, the now two-time FJT winner remained atop the leaderboard throughout the entirety of the second round, finishing the day with an even-par 72, securing the wire-to-wire victory by eight strokes. Cox, 76-78—154, finished solo second while Elan Zhang, 77-80—157, and Harvey, 75-82—157, finished tied for third.
