FJT Wire to Wire Wins at Viera East
The Florida Junior Tour made its way over to Rockledge, Florida this weekend to Viera East Golf Club. The thirty-six hole individual stroke-play event was conducted under windy and humid conditions, with challenging bunkers and hazard placements to test the juniors throughout the weekend. The Florida State Golf Association would like to thank Viera East Golf Club for once again hosting us, as they are always such a pleasure to work with.
In the Boys 16-18 Division, Robert Eisch of Tampa played exceptionally well in the first round by opening with a five-under-par 67, a four-shot lead over Zach Justice of Orlando, Matthew Ruel of Oldsmar, Calvin Sierota of Melbourne, and Logan Membrino of Ponte Vedra Beach who all recorded a one-under-par 71. In round two, strong afternoon winds at Viera brought on a difficult back nine, but that did not seem to phase Eisch who began his second round four under through five holes. With a bogey on the ninth, he turned at three under for the day. Jacob Huizinga of Orlando also seemed to manage his way through the difficult conditions by recording a five-under-par 67 on the day, 141 overall, putting him into contention with Eisch and the mix. However, Eisch managed to hold on heading into the clubhouse, earning him a wire-to-wire victory by recording two-over for his back nine, one-under on the day, and six-under-par for the tournament, giving Huizinga second place honors.When asked what his strategy was heading into round two, Eisch simply said to “take one shot at a time, play a solid round, and not get ahead of myself”. This was Eisch’s first 16-18 Division victory. William Wrigley of Winter Garden took home third place honors recording a two-under-par 142 for the event.
The Florida Junior Tour would also like to recognize and congratulate Matthew Ruel for his hole-in-one on the par-3, 190 yard No. 7, who finished at one-under-par 143 for the tournament.
In the Girls 16-18 Division, Lara van Staden of Winter Springs recorded an even par on her opening round to have a one-shot lead over Gabriela Coello of Venezuela, and a three shot lead over Terese Romeo of Tampa. When asked what her strategy would be going into the final round, Van Staden said that “focusing more on [her] drives and keeping [her] putting as consistent as round one is key". Coello also kept her focus going into round two, and recorded a one-under-par 35 on her opening nine. With a four-over-par 40 on van Staden’s opening nine, Coello had a three-shot lead when making the turn. The competition was close between Van Staden and Coello during the final round, but a low back nine for van Staden ultimately resulted in a two-shot lead over Coello, allowing for van Staden to earn her first FJT career victory, finishing the tournament at one-over-par. Romeo took third place honors recording a 75-76---151 overall.
The next Florida Junior Tour 16-18 Division event will be held at Old Corkscrew, May 2-3 in Estero, Florida. We look forward to seeing you there.
