On Thursday, Feb. 11, the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour took flight and landed at Eagle Harbor for the 54 Hole Challenge from Feb. 13-15. Presidents Day kept the kids from missing school and they all took advantage of it. The weather was perfect all weekend, keeping the race for first close and the competition stiff. The full field of 99 golfers had a great time as well as everyone apart of HJGT. We would like to thank the personnel of Eagle Harbor for their exceptional hospitality and generosity through the entire tournament. American Junior Golf Association gave four performance stars to the 14-18 boys champion and one to the top five. On the girls’ side, the 14-18 champion won 4 stars while the top three received one star. Winners in each age division received an invitation to the 2016 HJGT Tour Championship on Dec. 3-4. Also, top three finishers in each division were awarded exemptions into the 2016 Mid Season Invitational at Chateau Elan on June 11-13, 2016.
Boys 16-18 Division
The final round proved to be vital in deciding the 16-18 boys division winner at Eagle Harbor. Just four strokes separated the top three spots entering Monday’s final round. A cloudy morning with little wind helped scores stay low and eventual champion Jun Su Eun took advantage of it. The native of Seoul, South Korea, made nine birdies for the event, one of which cinched his victory. Eun finished one stroke ahead of Aliff from Vero Beach, Fla., who entered the final round in the lead by one stroke and ended up finishing with a 222. His seven birdies were impressive to keep him in the running and he was the only player to post 75 or better in each round. Tom Murray led the way with ten birdies for the weekend and finished at 226 for the weekend. Par for the three-day event was set at 216.
Boys 14-15 Division
The boys division for 14-15 started close but Bryan Teoh Wiyang from Jupiter, Fla., ran away with the show. The weather was perfect for the boys this weekend and they used it to their advantage. Wiyang used an eagle on hole 11, along with three more birdies, in the final round to win the tournament outright. Wiyang finished with 10 birdies and an eagle for the event to give him a weekend score of four-under-par 212. Matthew Soucinek from Lake City, Fla., finished at six-over-par 222, which included ten birdies. Coming in third was Tyler Isenhart from Geneva, Ill. Isenhart finished posted the division’s second-lowest round in round three with a 71 to finish at 12-over-par on the weekend.
Boys 11-13 & 10U
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Franklin Zhu[/caption] The young guns had a good competition in the final round of the 54 Hole Challenge at Eagle Harbor. Franklin Zhu of Warren, N.J., had enough of a cushion coming into the final round that he used to his advantage. His 13-stroke lead was put in jeopardy as Will Morlan from Alpharetta, Ga., had a great third round to make for a tight finish. His ten pars and four birdies in the final round led to a 72 that erased 10 strokes off Zhu’s lead. Zhu finished at 19-over-par 235 and Morlan at 238. Miles Patterson of Chicago, Ill., rounded out the top three and closed well with two birdies in the last three holes to finish at 244. Gavin Fleming was the lone participant in the 10U division. The Jacksonville, Fla., native finished the weekend at 252, highlighted by two birdies. His round three total of 77 was a nine-stroke improvement from round two.
Girls 14-18
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See Hee Oh[/caption] The top three in the Girls 14-18 division entered round three within two strokes of each other. See Hee Oh entered Monday down by one stroke, but used four birdies in the final round to land in the winner’s circle. Her 69 in round three was the best round of the division by three strokes and was part of a 226 weekend total. Megan Furtney entered the day with the one stroke lead but just could not catch the break she needed. She pared the back nine with the exception of one and deciding bogey. All in all, a great weekend as she shot a 229 which was just three off the lead. Hannah Keifer had eight birdies in the final two rounds to get her the third place finish. Her rounds improved by four strokes each day and finished with a 72 (230 overall).
Weather for February 13-15
Round 1: Low 55, High 63, Winds 5-10mph, Sunny Skies, Cool
Round 2: Low 48, High 61, Winds 10-15 mph, Sunny Skies, Cool
Round 3: Low 60, High 73, Winds 5-10 mph, Morning Clouds with afternoon sun, warm
Tournament Yardage By Division
Boys 14-18 Division: 6,541 yards
Boys 11-13 Division: 6,541 yards
Boys 10U Division: 4,924 yards
Girls 14-18 Division: 5,701 yards