NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - This weekend, the 16 to 18 year-old divisions of the Florida Junior Tour traveled to Sugar Mill Country Club in New Smyrna Beach to compete in a 36-hole, stroke-play competition. Fantastic weather, which was matched by immaculate course conditions, created many opportunities for the players to score, but also presented challenging holes that would test each golfer’s game. When the final putt dropped on Sunday, Miles Russell and Angela (Yiting) Wang had risen to the top of their respective leaderboards, taking home trophies in the process.
Boys (16-18)
After Saturday’s first round, the Boys (16-18) Division was tightly contested with nine players completing the first 18 holes under-par. Leading the pack by himself was Miles Russell, of Jacksonville Beach. Russell, who began his round on the back nine, had a scorching start to his tournament, birdieing his first three holes. The Jacksonville Beach native would complete the rest of his round at 1-under par for a total of 4-under par, 68. Three players sat just one shot behind the round-one leader after recording scores of 3-under par, 69. Darren Zhou, of Bradenton, carded five birdies on Saturday to sit in second place. Heading into this weekend, the Bradenton native was looking for his second-straight victory. Andrew Morgan, of Jacksonville, used his ability to stay out of trouble to jump up the leaderboard. Morgan had just one bogey on the day and carded back-to-back birdies on his last two holes. Tripp Watkins, of Lake Mary, began his round by playing at 5-under par and bogey-free through 15 holes. However, Watkins would bogey two of his last three holes to find himself in second place.
Then, in the second round, Russell separated himself from the rest of the field. By birdieing three of his first seven holes to get to 7-under par, the Class of 2027 member had opened his lead to four strokes after nine holes. This proved to be insurmountable by those challenging him, especially as he continued to grow his lead during his bogey-free round. Russell (68-67—135) went on to claim a four-shot victory, his fourth of the year. Zhou (69-70—139), despite not replicating his performance from the first round, retained second place by himself in just his second event in the 16 to 18 year-old division. Drew Campbell (72-70—142), of Tampa, finished in solo third place.
Girls (16-18)
Through 18 holes, Angela (Yiting) Wang, of Orlando, sat alone atop the leaderboard after firing a round of 1-over par, 73. Consistency was the key to Wang’s successful round on Saturday. The Orlando native had 14 pars during the first round, and played her final eight holes of the day at 1-under par and bogey free. In second place, just two shots behind the round-one leader, was Emma Wells, of Jacksonville. Similar to Wang, Wells was also very consistent throughout Saturday, recording a par on 13 of her 18 holes en-route to a score of 3-over par, 75. Miriam Barcalova, of Port Saint Lucie, shot 4-over par, 76, which was good enough for third place, to keep herself within striking distance heading into Sunday’s final round.
On Sunday, Wang continued to pace the Girls (16-18) Division, increasing her lead to three shots through nine holes, during which the Orlando native was 1-over par. However, the Class of 2026 member would bogey two of her first three holes on the back nine, decreasing her lead to just two strokes. This opened the door for Wells, Katie Yang, of Orlando, and Cambree Hodge, of Fleming Island, all of whom were within striking distance down the stretch. Ultimately, Wang (73-77—150) held off her competitors and would complete the wire-to-wire victory, winning by four strokes for her fourth win of the year. Yang, Hodge, and Wells would all finish in a tie for second with a cumulative score of 10-over par.
