Naples, Fla. – Yuma Nemoto and Sofia Cherif Essakali earned well-deserved trophies at Eagle Creek Golf and Country Club. Nemoto captured his first Florida Junior Tour win of the year while Cherif Essakali picked up her second consecutive Florida Junior Tour victory in two weeks.
Boys (13-15) Division
The leaderboard was tight after round one for the Boys Division. William Lisle and Hugo Senstrom both shared the lead at two under par. Lisle and Stenstrom both carded four birdies over the first round with Stenstrom having three consecutive birdies on the front nine.
Ryan Toole held third place carding a one under par 71 and Yuma Nemoto held fourth place shooting an even par 72.
Nemoto carded three birdies in his first round offset by three bogeys. Nemoto overcame a two-shot deficit to beat the field by one stroke and take home the victory. He carded five birdies in his final round. Nemoto started out his back nine on a roll with three consecutive birdies to post a two under on his final nine resulting in a two under par 70 for the round.
Stenstrom and Toole tied for second place each with a tournament total of one under par. Stenstrom posted a 73 for the final round and Toole posted a 72.
Girls (13-15) Division
Sofia Cherif Essakali fired a three under 69 to post the low score of both divisions and hold the lead by six strokes after the first round. She remained consistent by carding three birdies and no bogeys for a smooth three under par the first day. Dannika Hines held second place with a three over par 75.
Essakali closed out her wire-to-wire win carding a one under par 71 in the final round and a four under total for the tournament. She beat the field by seven strokes. Essakali’s lead narrowed to only two strokes over Hines until she made the turn to the back nine. Essakali played her final nine with four birdies and no bogeys to secure the victory. This is Essakali’s second consecutive Florida Junior Tour win as she captured the victory last week at the FJT Saddlebrook (16-18) *54-Hole Major*.
Hines finished in second place at three over par for the weekend and posted an even par 72 during the final round. In addition, Jensi Krampel secured a third place finish posting rounds of 78-72.
