The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour traveled south to Fort Lauderdale this weekend to host the Fort Lauderdale Junior Open held at Woodmont Country Club. This tournament kicked off the coveted 2013 season. National Junior Golf Scoreboard ranked this tournament, and players earned points towards the year end Tour Championship and Inaugural Hurricane Cup. Early Saturday morning, the weather was not kind and presented the players with light rain and wind. By noon the weather had cleared up. For the remainder of Saturday and all of Sunday, the weather hovered around 80 degrees with plenty of sunshine.
The Boys 15-18 Age Division was won in an impressive manner by Ryoto Furuya from Wesley Chapel, Florida. Furuya fired a remarkable 68 on Saturday. For an encore he shot a 73 on Sunday to win his age division by six strokes with a total weekend score of 141. Furuya led the division with 25 pars. He also tied for the lead in birdies with seven and had an overall pars or better percentage of almost 89% which contributed to his impressive victory. Earning the silver was Shanren Brienen who shot 70-77 in the two day tournament for a total of 147. Brienen tied Furuya for the most birdies in the 36-hole event with seven. Alec Herzfeld shot a consistent 74-74 for a total of 148, good enough to earn third place. Herzfeld did most of his damage on the par 5s with a division leading 4.80 average.
The Girls 15-18 Age Division was won by Julia Matzat with scores of 81-82 for a tournament total of 163 and a five stroke victory. Matzat had a division leading 17 pars. Along with the 17 pars, Matzat also had two birdies to give her a division leading pars or better percentage of 52.8% to help her clinch the win on Sunday. Ashley Turnquest shot 83-85 for a two day total of 168. She tied for the most birdies (2) and led in par 4 performance (4.50). Rounding out the Girls 15-18 Division with a third place finish was Lauren Carver who finished with 86-89 (175) over the weekend.
The Boys 11-14 Age Division was won by Justin Zwiebel from Boca Raton, FL. Zwiebel finished with a magnificent 73-75 in the two days for a total of 148 and a three stoke victory. Zwiebel led in par 3 performance (2.90), par 4 performance (4.12), and most pars (26). Second place was earned by Andrew Kozan by shooting a 74-77 for a total of 151. Kozan dominated the pars 5s with a 4.80 average to lead his age division. Matthew Galluzzo and Brian Leikert tied for third place with a weekend score of 155.
The Girls 11-14 Age Division was dominated by the Hoskins sisters who earned both first and second place. Sabrina Hoskins shot a solid 79-79 for a weekend score of 158, and a 15 shot victory. Sabrina led in every major statistical category over her competitors. Younger sister Sydney Hoskins shot a respectable 86-87 which earned second place. Sydney Jones came in with 86-88 for a tournament total of 174 and finished just one shot out of second place.
Tournament Yardages:
Boys 15-18 Division: 6,859
Boys 11-14 Division: 6,212
Girls 15-18 Division: 5,877
Girls 11-14 Division: 5,243
Tournament Awards:
EFX Birdie Challenge:
Boys 15-18 Division: Shanren Brienen, Ryoto Furuya
Boys 11-14 Division: Brandon Doner, Matthew Galluzzo, Andrew Kozan
Girls 15-18 Division: Julia Matzat, Ashley Turnquest
Girls 11-14 Division: Sabrina Hoskins
