VERO BEACH, Fla. - Vlad Alexander Bercea and Ann-Sophie Bourgault took home the trophies from Sanrdidge Golf Club in the first Florida Junior Tour event of the fall. Bercea won the Boys (13-15) Division with two rounds of even par, while Bourgault outlasted the Girls (13-15) field by two shots at 3-over par for the weekend.
Boys (13-15)
Weather threatened on Saturday at Sandridge Golf Club but that did not faze the two players at the top of the leaderboard. Hubert Ramirez got off to a hot start with birdies on the par-3 14th and par-5 18th to turn at 2-under par. A 1-over back nine got Ramirez into the clubhouse with the lead after the first round with a 1-under 71. Just one shot behind Ramirez was Junior Florida Cup teammate, Vlad Alexander Bercea after an opening even-par 72 on the Dunes course.
Bercea began the final round with an up-and-down start on Sunday, carding two birdies and two bogeys through the opening four holes. At even par for the day, Bercea overtook the lead from Ramirez at the turn after Ramirez made four bogeys on the opening nine. Bercea stayed around even-par for a majority of the back nine and despite a late bogey on the 16th, he went on to take the win with a birdie on the 18th to finish at even-par 144 for the weekend. Ramirez’s 3-over 147 weekend was enough to secure a solo second-place finish. The round of the weekend came over an hour before the leaders teed off from Xavier Sahajpal. The Ocala native’s 2-under 70 moved him up 20 spots on Sunday for a solo third-place finish.
Girls (13-15)
Through 18 holes at Sandridge Golf Club, three players sat atop the leaderboard but how each got there was vastly different. Valentina Marie Guertin started the day with three bogeys on her opening nine holes but battled back with three birdies on her final nine and found her signing for a 1-over 73 with a closing bogey. Marley Pedrique also got off to a tough start with bogeys on two of her first three holes. However, the 2022 Futures champion steadied the ship and made 14 pars and one birdie to get her in the clubhouse with Guertin at 1-over. Meanwhile, Ann-Sophie Bourgault took advantage of the birdie opportunities on the Dunes course to the tune of 5 birdies on her way to share the lead in the Girls Division through 18 holes. The three would be in the final group on Sunday, each looking for their first victory in the 13-15 division.
All three players began Sunday morning with a bogey on the opening hole. Bourgault and Pedrique found their stride over the next few holes to break away from the pack. At the turn, Bourgault held a one-shot lead over Pedrique after an even-par opening nine. However, trouble would find the junior from Canada as she made a double-bogey 6 on the first hole of the closing nine. Pedrique would go birdie-birdie at the turn and open up a 2-shot lead with seven holes to play. However, a bogey-double on the third and fourth holes saw her lead fall back to Bourgault.
Bourgault did not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the final round. A closing 2-over 74 put Bourgault at 3-over 147 for the tournament and give her a two-shot victory over Pedrique. Pedrique’s first appearance in the 13-15 Division would still show many positives as the West Palm Beach resident finished solo second at 5 over for the weekend. Hannah Hall moved up nine spots on Sunday to finish in third at 9-over 153.
