WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – It was Brianna Castaldi and Remi Bacardi who were victorious on Friday at the 63rd Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship at The Country Club of Winter Haven. Castaldi captured the 16-18 Division with a 1-under 215, while Bacradi was victorious in the 13-15 Division at 4-under 212.
“It means a lot to me to get this win. I have been working really hard with my new coach, Matt Gallant at the Butch Harmon Academy,” Castaldi said. “He has helped me so much, helping me slowly progress over the past 4 months. I would like to thank of course my mom and grandmother for coming out here and supporting me this week, my dad supporting me from Jersey, and it just means a lot to finally get this FJT win.”
Beginning the day two shots back of the leader, Castaldi got off to a strong start in the final round with a birdie on the fourth to take a share of the lead with Mi Li at even par. She rolled in another birdie on the sixth to take her first lead of the day at 1 under, making the turn with a bogey-free front side.
The Port Saint Lucie native kept it rolling on the back nine, adding a birdie on the 13th hole. Her lone bogey of the day came on the 15th hole. Castadli finished the day with three pars, getting up and down from the greenside bunker to secure the two-shot victory.
“I think the strongest part of my game these past two days was my putting and my iron shots in,” Castaldi said. “I hit them really well and I putted really great.”
This is the second FSGA championship victory for Castaldi, who captured the 12 & Under victory at the Girls’ Junior Championship in 2017.
Li used round of 71-72-74 to take home a runner-up finish, finishing the championship 1-over 217. Ava Zeng and Hope Hall took a share of third place at 2-over 218. Zeng used rounds of 77-71-70, while Hall finished the championship with rounds of 71-74-73.
Bacardi began the final round three shots behind the leader. She got off to a fast start with birdies on three of her first five holes. The Miami native rolled in a birdie on the ninth hole to take her first lead of the day at 2 under.
“I am always going to have this title and it is going to give me encouragement,” Bacardi said. “I am going to use this to get my momentum and get some other wins.”
Continuing her stellar play, Bacardi carded a bogey-free back side with two birdies. She birdied the 18th hole to secure her two-shot victory with a final-round 66. Her final-round 66 was the low round of the championship.
Bacardi earned her first FSGA championship with rounds of 70-76-66 for the week. This is her third victory of the season, after capturing two Florida Junior Tour win this year.
“I kind of wanted to just go out there, show them what I could do, and just play my game,” Bacardi said.
Silva used rounds of 72-72-70 to take home a runner-up finish at 2-under 214. Youyang Li used rounds of 71-72-73 to finish even-par 216 and in third place.
