Jacksonville, Fla. - Cold temperatures were the theme of Saturday while scoring conditions were at a premium Sunday at Bent Creek Golf Course. Phillip Dunham and Charlotte Cantonis would stand above their competition as they continued to be two of the strongest players on the Florida Junior Tour.
Boys (16-18)
Temperatures were low in Jacksonville and all 63 boys in the field were hoping so were their scores. Phillip Dunham had his eyes set on his first victory of 2023 as he got his day started with a birdie on the par-5 1st. The Team Florida member added six more birdies for a total of seven on the day on his way to a 5-under 66. His closest competitor would be Miles Russell, who got off to a rough start. The Atlantic Beach native bogeyed his first two holes of the day but wouldn’t have another for the last 16 holes and with 4 birdies he would sit three shots back at 2-under 69.
Coming into Sunday, Dunham knew he had a good lead but he was also acutely aware Miles Russell was his closest chaser and going for three straight victories on three consecutive weekends. To keep the door from opening, Dunham birdied three of the first four holes to take a commanding lead. Meanwhile, Russell was stuck in neutral with 7 straight pars to start until a hole-out eagle on the par-4 8th kick started his round. A birdie on the 9th would give him a 3-under 33 on the front nine but Dunham wouldn’t let off his aggressive start. Dunham birdied the 6th and 8th to finish the front nine at 5-under 31 and grow his lead to five shots standing on the 10th tee.
A bogey on the 11th and 12th for Dunham and a birdie on the 12th from Russell would cut the lead to two shots. Both players would make pars through 17 and with each par Russell knew his time to catch Dunham was running out. Russell’s birdie on the final hole would put him at 7-under for the tournament. Phillip Dunham would make pars on his final six holes to finish at 8-under 134 for the weekend and take a one shot victory over Russell. Dylan Ma and Gabriel Holtz would finish tied for third at 1-over par.
Girls (16-18)
Since beginning her Florida Junior Tour career in the fall of last year, Charlotte Cantonis has yet to be beaten through two events. Cantonis was looking for a third straight and just like Dunham she would birdie the first and get off to a great start. She would be 3-under through seven holes Saturday, but back-to-back bogeys would bring her back to the field. A 1-under par back-nine would leave her a top the leaderboard at 2-under 69. Only one shot back would be Lauryn Finley, who despite an opening double-bogey would find red numbers at 1-under 70 through 18 holes.
Finley would open her round with a miscue on the 11th hole, making a double-bogey to allow Cantonis to extend her lead as she birdied the 12th. Both players would birdie the 1st as the group made the turn to their final nine and Cantonis’s lead would be three shots as the group played their remaining eight holes. Bogeys at the 2nd and 3rd holes for Cantonis would see the lead shrink all the way down to one shot with six holes remaining. Both players birdied the par-4 4th and bogey one of the next two holes so with 3 holes remaining the lead was still just one.
On the 7th hole, a 130 yard par-3, Cantonis would take hold of the tournament with a birdie to take a two shot lead with two holes remaining. Pars from both girls would be enough for Cantonis to claim her third straight Florida Junior Tour victory at 1-under. Lauren Finley would finish in second place at 1-over for the weekend, with Caiya (Flora) Zhang finishing in third place at 7-over.
