SARASOTA, Fla. – The Junior Florida Cup will stay in the North for another year, as the North captured its second-straight victory. North Florida dominated during the two-day championship, raising the cup with a 23-9 victory on Tuesday at Sara Bay Country Club.
It was the North’s 11th Junior Florida Cup victory and second-straight after winning in 2019 at Deerwood Country Club (2020 event cancelled due to COVID-19). The 14-point margin of victory is the largest in Junior Florida Cup history.
Four-Ball Matches
The championship began on Monday morning with eight four-ball matches. The North came out strong, earning seven points in the morning, while the South took one.
Lev Grinberg and Connor Holcroft captured a decisive 5-and-4 win for the North, winning three of five holes on the back nine to secure the victory. Elan Zhang and Katelyn Huber also grabbed a big win for the North in the morning, taking two of the first three holes and never looking back, winning 4 and 3.
Logan Hunter and James Bradley added another point for the North, taking down Victor Herrera and Andres Barraza, 4 and 3. Aaron Whitley and Layla Pedrique captured the lone point for the South in the morning, winning 3 and 2.
Foursomes Matches
Monday afternoon’s foursome matches saw some close victories for the North team. North’s Reggie Zhu and Zhang won 1 up with Zhu rolling in a 10-foot par putt on the ninth to secure the victory. After jumping out to a 2-up lead on the front nine, Hunter and Zeng won the 18th hole to take the 2-up win for the North.
After making the turn tied, Bradley and Analiese Raath won three-straight holes to take a 3-up lead, securing the 2-and-1 win with a par on the 17th hole.
On the South side, Pedrique and Nicolas Bencomo won the final four holes to earn a point for the South team. Brothers, Beni Long and Alex Long added the other point for the South, winning 2 and 1.
After grabbing 5.5 points in the afternoon, the North headed into Tuesday’s final round with a 12.5-3.5 lead over the South, needing only 3.5 points to retain the Junior Florida Cup.
Singles Matches
After a two-and-a-half-hour delay to begin the morning, the 16 singles matches went out in a shotgun start. The North team captured some dominating wins on Tuesday, with Holcroft earning the first point of the day for the North after defeating Barraza, 7 and 6.
Hunter picked up a 6-and-5 win against Jonah Winter, winning the final three holes of the match. Sabree Lefebvre won 7 and 5 over Angelica Holman. Lefebvre jumped out to a strong lead, winning five of the first six holes and securing the win with a birdie.
Campbell Kennedy clinched the win for the North, defeating Wyatt Plattner, 4 and 3. After a back-and-forth match between Zhang and Pedrique, Pedrique came away with the 1-up win for the South. The Palm Beach Gardens native was the lone South team member to finish the week undefeated, 3-0.
Five members of the North team finished the week undefeated: Raath, Hunter, Kennedy, Zeng and Zhu.
The North team picked up 10.5 points in the singles to take home the victory, while the South ended with 5.5.
The Junior Florida Cup is a Ryder Cup-style event that pits the best junior golfers in Florida against each other. It is a fun-filled three days that starts off with team meetings and practice rounds, followed by an optional team dinner. The first day of matches includes mixed-foursomes (boy/girl alternate shot) as well as four-ball matches (two person best ball) which are followed by the pairings dinner at the club. During dinner, players select who they would like to play against in the following day's singles matches - something that always provides for some entertaining moments! Just like the Ryder Cup, the final day concludes with singles matches followed by the trophy presentation. For those who are invited, it is a can't miss opportunity!
