The North and South teams battled to win the Junior Florida Cup at the Bear’s Club in Jupiter, August 1-2. The North team, led by captain Jenna Masnyk, was looking to keep their winning streak alive early by taking the lead after the Four-Ball matches. The North team, who had held onto the cup for the past two years, won four matches and tied one match to gain 4.5 points in the first round. The duo of Calvin Sierota/Jackson Suber and Jacob Penny/Jonathan Yaun earned three and two victories for the North. Two other wins for the North came from Alyssa Lamoureux/Julia Towne and Morgan Baxendale/Lauren Miller. South team, with captain Kevin Fullenkamp, earned 3.5 points with wins from three teams including a four and three victory from Cole Castro/Spencer Alexander.
Foursome matches, with some mixed teams, directly followed the Four-Ball matches on Monday. The North team kept their eyes on the cup and won another 4.5 points versus 3.5 points earned by the South team. Two big wins for the North came from the teams of Manuel Girona/Morgan Baxendale, six and five, and Ryan Hicks/Alyssa Lamoureux, six and four. Brandon Mancheno/Jackson Suber and Calvin Sierota/Macy Somoskey won their matches for the North, three and two. Alberto Martinez was playing strong for the South team and with his team member, Max Coutsolioutsos, won five and four against Logan Membrino/Tyler Wilkes. Sydney Shrader also won two victories for the South after a four and three win, teamed with Jayson Iten, in the second round. Heading into the final round the North team had a two point lead with nine points. The South team would start the singles matches with seven total points.
The final day of singles matches saw the North team prevail after winning nine points versus seven points earned by the South team. The nine wins sealed the victory for the North team who would regain the Junior Florida Cup for the third year in a row! The South put up a fight in the final matches, tying things up at 11 points early in the day. The North regained their lead and sped away towards victory when Brandon Mancheno closed his match against Anthony Muttillo on the 17th hole with a birdie to give the North team 16 points. The North team was guided by Morgan Baxendale, Calvin Sierota, and Jackson Suber who won all three of their matches. Spencer Alexander, on the South team, played well in the singles matches winning seven and six over Manuel Girona. Fletcher Wunderlich, Drew Angelo, Brittany Shin, Cole Castro, Luke Gifford, and Alyssa Mercado were the other six wins for the South. The North team wins included; Jonathan Yaun, Katie Yoo, Morgan Baxendale, Jacob Penny, Jackson Suber, Lauren Miller, Brandon Mancheno, Macy Somoskey, and Calvin Sierota. The North team hoisted the Junior Florida Cup with 18 points and a four point win over the South team!
The North team was represented by: Morgan Baxendale, Manuel Girona, Ryan Hicks, Alyssa Lamoureux, Brandon Mancheno, Logan Membrino, Lauren Miller, Jacob Penny, Justin Rickerson , Calvin Sierota, Macy Somoskey, Jackson Suber, Julia Towne, Tyler Wilkes, Jonathan Yaun, Katie Yoo
The South featured: Spencer Alexander, Drew Angelo, Cole Castro, Max Coutsolioutsos, Luke Gifford, Hallianne Hobson, Jayson Iten , Alberto Martinez, Alyssa Mercado, David Morgan, Anthony Muttillo, Brittany Shin, Sydney Shrader, Casey Weidenfeld, Fletcher Wunderlich, Ariel Yu
The Junior Florida Cup matches 16 players from the North against 16 players from the South in a Ryder Cup format. Each team consists of 10 boys and 6 girls selected mostly from the Florida Junior Tour (FJT) points list. The first morning, each boy and girl is paired with a partner to compete in a four-ball match. In the afternoon round, the boys and girls are paired together to play mixed-foursomes matches. The final day each player competes in a singles match against a player from the opposing team. Points are awarded to each match similarly to the Ryder Cup to determine the winning team.