Ariihau Faana | Catalina Harvey
Orlando, Fla. - Ariihau Faana and Catalina Harvey captured the victory of the Boys and Girls Divisions respectively. Harvey went wire-to-wire to capture her first Florida Junior win. Faana also captured his first Florida Junior Tour win on Monday. The Major was played on the International Course at ChampionsGate. The course is a links style layout with water and pot bunkers lining most holes. The narrow and undulating greens present a fair but challenging test for each golfer. Faana and Harvey both prevailed onto well-deserved victories.
Boys Division
Saturday brought chilly temperatures in the morning and gusty winds throughout the whole round. The wind added a level of challenge leaving only five players under par after the first round. Ariihau Faana and Mason Tome shared the lead at (-3) after round one. Faana carded a bogey-free round with three birdies. Tome carded five birdies, three of which came on his last eight holes. Tome carded the low nine-hole score of the first round for the Boys Division with a 3-under 33. Matthew Joseph finished the first round in third place posting a 2-under 70.
Scores remained tight throughout the second round with Jack VanderSchuur finishing the day with a one stroke lead over Ariihau Faana. VanderSchuur carded five birdies to post a total of 3-under par 69 and hold the lead at 4-under par total over 36 holes. Faana also carded five birdies in his second round to finish at 3-under par total for 36 holes.
The final round on Memorial Day brought sun and warm temperatures and only a slight breeze. Faana carded the low round of the day with an 8-under par 64 to close out his first Florida Junior Tour victory. He carded nine birdies during the final round and only one bogey. Ultimately finishing at 11-under par as a tournament total.
Henry Kuehne also had a remarkable final round posting a 7-under 65. His final round moved him up the leaderboard six places to earn a solo second place finish at 4-under par for the three days. Kuehne carded seven birdies and no bogeys to shoot 65.
Henry Robards and Jack VanderSchuur finished tied for third place, both finishing with a tournament total of 1-under par.
Girls Division
The leaderboard remained tight for the Girls Division throughout the first round, however Catalina Harvey birdied her last four holes to grab the outright lead heading into the second round. After bogeying her first four holes of the day, Harvey gathered herself and ended up carding seven birdies over 18 holes to shoot a 1-under 71. Samantha Paradise, Alana Kutt, and Krishny Elwin finished the first round tied for second all posting 1-over 73.
Harvey held the lead through the second round, carding a 1-over par 73. She birdied her last two holes to finish the day with a one stroke lead over the field. Three remained tied for second heading into the final round. Mei Chan, Kirshny Elwin, and Arenui Faana all finished 36 holes at 1-over par only one stroke back from the lead.
Harvey, however, ended up closing out a wire-to-wire victory on Monday. She carded a 1-under 71 to win by five strokes over Krisny Elwin. Harvey carded four birdies during the final round and 13 birdies over 54 holes to capture her first Florida Junior Tour win.
Krishny Elwin finished in second place with a tournament total of 4-over par. Samantha Paradise and Mei Chan finished tied for third place both with a tournament total of 6-over par.
