BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. - Jake Manelas and Olivia Lu battled down the stretch at Worthington Country Club to capture wins at the first FJT of the fall season.
Boys 13-15
Jake Manelas was impressive from start to finish at Worthington this weekend. Saturday, Manelas started off red hot making six birdies on his way to an opening round 5-under 67, the new course record at Worthington since the recent course renovation.
The Fort Lauderdale native continued his impressive play on Sunday with a 33 on his opening nine and held a two-shot lead at that point. Manelas finished strong, posting a 68, to get to 9-under for the tournament and capture his second career FJT win.
Shawn Lalmoni, of Orlando, Fla., played well all weekend and applied the most pressure on Manelas in the tournament. Lalmoni, who has five FJT wins this season, fired rounds of 68 and 69 to finish in solo second place. John Marshall posted rounds of 69 and 73 to round out the top-three.
Girls 13-15
Olivia Lu played tough all weekend to win a very close and competitive Girls 13-15 division. Lu posted a solid opening score of 73 which included three birdies and positioned her in a tie for second behind Gianna Clemente heading into Sunday's round.
Lu, who battled the entire round on Sunday with Clemente and Ava Zang, made a key birdie on the 35th hole to regain a one-shot lead and eventually wrapped up the victory. This was Lu's second career win and the first of the 2019 season.
Ava Zang, who was tied with Lu for second after round one, posted a 2-under 70 (the lowest round of the day in the girls division) to wrap up a solo second finish. Gianna Clemente posted rounds of 72 and 75 to finish in third.
Final Leaderboard
Boys 13-15
1 Jake Manelas -9 (135)
2 Shawn Lalmoni -7 (137)
3 John Marshall -2 (142)
T4 Tommy Pezeshkan E (144)
T4 Andres Atrio E (144)
T4 Juleon Habib E (144)
Girls 13-15
1 Olivia Lu E (144)
2 Ava Zang +1 (145)
3 Gianna Clemente +3 (147)
4 Kelly Shannahan +8 (152)
5 Alyssa Fritz +9 (153)