Slabe fires sub-par round to force playoff, but Monte makes birdie for the win! The weather for Round Three of the Amelia Island Junior Golf Classic turned out to be glorious! After two days of wind and cooler temperatures playing havoc on the players on the Oak Marsh course, the sun shone and the temperatures were in the high 60's with no wind, providing ideal scoring conditions.
In Round One, Joe Monte of Chantilly, VA (2007), took the early lead at the Amelia Island Junior Golf Classic by firing the only sub-par round on Wednesday. On Thursday, Tyler.jpg) Burton of Highland Park, IL (2007) carded a round of 73 on Thursday to take over Monte's lead. On Friday, Monte, started the final round in second place, 3 strokes back of Burton. Monte carded a 73 for his final round which put him at 221 and 3 strokes ahead of Burton. Meanwhile, however, Gregor Slabe of Ljubljana, SLOVENIA, 2007, fired the Low Round of the day with a 1 under par 71 that brought him from 3rd place to a tie for the lead with Monte at the end of 54 holes of play. Slabe was in 6th place going into the 2nd round, but carded a 74 on Thursday to move into 3rd - now he was going for the win. Slabe won the Golfweek/FCWT Holiday Invitational last week. The playoff went to hole #9, a par 5 where Slabe hot his 3rd shot in with his wedge to 15 feet and missed his birdie putt on the right side. Monte pitched his 3rd shot within 4 feet to calmly make birdie and claim the a first place finish. Burton ended up in third place, his first Top 3 of the season, and led the division in birdies with 11. Bryan Eger of Hopkinton, MA (2007) began the day in a tie for 5th but his third consecutive round of 77 gave him sole possession of 4th place. Senior Jacob Davidson of Jacksonville and Evan Wood of Dublin, OH (2007) finished T5 at 233. Ben Boyer of Dayton, OH (2007) showed a lot of maturity. After struggling for two rounds, Boyer hung in there and finished strong with a round of 73 (+1)! Tyler Lamar and Andrew Nottenkamper both carded eagles for this event. In the boys 13-15 division, Mike Smith of Ponte Vedra, FL (2008),  who began the 2nd round in 4th place - one stroke back of the co-leaders, carded a round of 73 on Thursday to move into sole possession of 1st place heading into the final round. Smith began the final round with a 2 shot lead over Mark McCumber of Ponte Vedra, FL (2009) and a 3 stroke advantage over Hojin Kang of Longwood, FL (2010). Smith's final round of 75 allowed him to finish 3 shots ahead of Kang and earn his first win and second Top 3 of the season. These 3 young men seem to bring out the best in each other. At Champions Gate, they finished McCumber, Kang, Smith. Maybe next time it will be Kang, McCumber, Smith? Richard Werenski of South Hadley, MA (2010) moved from 5th to 4th place in the final round and Ed Waller of Ponte Vedra, FL, rounded out the Top 5. Michael Werenski of South Hadley, MA (2012) earned his 3rd win of this season after improving his opening round of 91 by 12 strokes to move into the tie for 2nd place. John Boehme of Jacksonville Beach, FL (2012) came in 2nd place, earning his first Top 3 finish of the season, and Noah Walker of Norwell, MA (2011) earned 3rd place, improving his round score each day 101-86-84. Thirteen year old Christine Meier of Rochester Hills, MI (2010), who began the final round in 3rd position carded the Low Round of the day in the Girls Division to earn her first FCWT win! Miss Meier who finished 3rd at Duke, led this division in birdies with 8 for the event. Her 3 birdies in the final round allowed her to finish 2 strokes ahead of Gia Fanelli of West Palm Beach, FL (2007). Miss Fanelli was the leader at the end of round one. She began the final round 2 shots back of 2nd round leader Meghan Green of Jacksonville, FL (2008). Miss Fanelli led the division in pars with 28 for the event. Finishing in 3rd place was Catherine O'Donnell of Ponte Vedra, FL, who began the final round in 4th place at 170 - 2 strokes back of Christine Meier. Alexis Holmes of Lincoln, NE (2008), the winner of the Far Oaks event, finished in 4th place after a final round of 80. Overnight leader fifteen year old Meghan Green of Jacksonville, FL (2008), finished in 5th place after a final round of 88. |
