The beautiful Adena Golf and Country Club in Ocala, Florida, hosted the Florida Junior Tour this weekend. Course Superintendent, Asa High, and the rest of his staff had the course in immaculate condition for the event. John Reger, the General Manager at first-time host Adena, also did a great job preparing his staff for this exciting tournament! Both the girls’ and boys' 16-18 divisions provided plenty of highlights during their rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
Brandon Mancheno, of Jacksonville, had an incredible first nine holes of play on Saturday and never looked back. He played very aggressive in his first nine holes and shot a beyond impressive, six under par, 30, to take a significant lead over the rest of the field. Mancheno was able to post a first round, 66, a new course record at Adena Golf and Country Club. Mancheno was not the only player in the field to get off to a hot start on the course as both Anthony Wells and Chris Nido posted under par rounds to keep Mancheno within striking distance.
Sunday’s round saw plenty of low scores as the competitors in the boys’ division worked diligently to climb the leaderboard and close the gap Mancheno had opened in the first round. A total of eleven players posted under par rounds on Sunday, as the pure greens allowed the players to roll in numerous birdie putts. Chris Nido, of Palmetto Bay, proved to be the most difficult player for Mancheno to put away. Nido, closed Brandon’s four-stroke lead to only one headed to the difficult closing holes, but was unable to force a playoff as Mancheno’s rounds of 66-73 – 139 proved to be just enough to claim victory by one shot. Michael Mattiace, from Jacksonville, finished in third place by shooting a two round total of 3 under par, 141, and Logan Membrino, from Ponte Vedra Beach, finished fourth overall after posting an impressive tournament total of 2 under par, 142.
The girls’ 16-18 division provided plenty of excitement as well. After the first round of play, there were a total of four players within only three strokes of the lead. Two players, Brittany Shin of Cape Coral, and Mimi Chen from Longwood, shot impressive rounds of one over par, 73, to take a slight lead over the rest of the field. Lauren Miller, from Niceville, Amy Zhang, from Lake Mary, and Andie Shukow, of Boca Raton, were only two shots off the lead after they all fired scores of 75 in Saturday’s round.
In the final round, it was Alyssa Lamoureux who had the round of the day for the girls. Alyssa was the only player in the girl’s division to shoot under par after closing with a final round, 71, putting her in a tie for sixth place. Although Alyssa posted the best round of the tournament, Mimi Chen was the best on the course on consecutive days, leading her to another victory this year! Mimi shot back to back rounds of 73 to give her a two stroke victory over Lauren Miller (75 - 73 -- 148). Amy Zhang and Cindy Kou finished in a tie for third place four shots behind the Champion, Mimi Chen.
A big thank you to Adena Golf and Country Club for being a terrific host for this weekend’s event and one of the final stops for the Florida Junior Tour’s 2015 season. Best of luck to all the players in the remaining events and we hope to see you at the Tour Championship in Disney in just a few weeks!
