Round 2 Recap

What is there to say but . . . Sargent

Sometimes things are so amazing we find ourselves at a loss for words.  This is one of those times.  Chase Sargent of Orlando, FL (2008), who began the day at +3 (8 strokes back of overnight leader

 Austin Snell of Baytown, TX (2008) ) teed off for his 9:00am tee time like many other players - he even made birdie on his first hole.  He then made bogey on his 2nd hole - ho, hum, another round of tournament golf with its infamous ups and downs.  Only the roller coaster stopped.  Chase got off and proceeded to almost sail around the golf course.  I wonder at what point his playing partners, Brant DeLongy of Winter Park, FL (2009) and Kevin Benstead began to look at each other thinking "is this for real?"  By the 9th hole he had made 4 birdies since that bogey and was making the turn 4 under par.  "Wipe the sleep out of your eyes boys, you are about to see something rare."  Number ten produced another birdie and maybe it's time to call the Golf Channel, since they aren't too far away.  A par on 11 and thoughts of "okay he's human."  Then three birdies in a row on 12, 13, and 14.  Now they're thinking "where's Candid Camera?" (well actually they are probably too young to know that show) - but if they did know it, it would have crossed their minds.  Par, then birdie, two more pars and Chase is signing a scorecard for 9 under par!  "Mr. Tournament Director, could you make a copy of that so I can have the original?"  Absolutely - have it bronzed by all means.

Another time and another place and Steven Loer's 3 under par 70 with 6 birdies would have been a story in itself.  Today it allowed Steven to move from tied for 5th to 2nd place.  Loer, a senior from Sarasota, may have even been mentally preparing for a playoff as he walked to the scoring area.  He was in the last group of the day and wouldn't have to wait long to see how the leaders did, only there it was on the scoreboard - a 64! Overnight leader Austin Snell of Baytown, TX (2008) finished tied for 2nd with Loer.  He had his own incredible round on Saturday with a 5 under par.  On Sunday, he struggled a bit and while disappointed, he could certainly relate to Chase's elation.  Roberto Francioni of SWITZERLAND (2008) carded a final round of 2 under par and finished 4th, after starting tied for 5th.  Stephen Powers of Naperville, IL (2010) also carded a 2 under par final round.  Matt Kocolowski of Orlando, FL (2009) and Devin Patel of Celebration, FL (2008) both carded rounds of 1 under par and finished tied for 5th.  Arthur Chung of Las Vegas, NV (2008) carded the second best round of the day with a 69 that allowed him to finish tied for 9th.

 The Boys 13-15 division had co-leaders after one round of play.  Brandon Baerwaldt of Bradenton, FL (2010) and Hank Lebioda of Winter Springs, FL (2012) both carded opening rounds of 2 under par 71.  Baerwaldt led in birdies with 6 and Lebioda led in pars with 13, however, this weekend neither would claim the title.  That honor went to

Motin Yeung of Beijing, CHINA (2012), who began the day tied for 5th after an opening round of 74, but fired a final round of 68 to win by 3 strokes.   Yeung's final round included 6 birdies and only one bogey.  Yeung won two FCWT events at the 13-15 level last season and was named a 1st team All-American.

Thirteen year old Hank Lebioda of Winter Springs, FL (2012), who led this division in pars with 28, earned 2nd place in his first FCWT event. 

Overnight co-leader Brandon Baerwaldt of Bradenton, FL (2010), carded 9 birdies - the same as our Champion and finished tied for 3rd with

Sean Kelly of Staten Island, NY (2011).  Jens Talbert of Little Rock, AR (2011) carded the only eagle in this division with a 2 on the par 4 second hole.

In the Boys 11-12 division, 12 year old Ryan Stovash of Orlando (2013) began the day one stroke back of first round leader Daniel Jaramillo of Medellin, COLOMBIA (2014), but carded a final round of 76 to win his first FCWT event by 4 strokes.

On Saturday at the Eagle Creek event in Orlando, FL, Dottie Ardina of the PHILIPPINES (2012) took the first round  lead after carding a 1 under par 72.  Miss Ardina led in birdies with 4 and tied for the most pars with 11.  She began the final round with a 5 stroke advantage over Jessica Alexander of Riverview, FL (2009), who also had 11 pars on Saturday.  On Sunday, Miss Ardina fired the Low Round of 2 under and sealed the win in her first FCWT event, finishing at 3 under par for the event.  She led in birdies with 8 and pars with 23 for the weekend.  She has now earned exempt status for the remainder of the season and an exemption to the National Championship in May.

The second best round on Sunday was carded by the 2007 FCWT Laura Diaz Girls Player of Promise 11 year old Yueer "Cindy" Feng of Orlando, FL (2014).  Miss Feng posted a final round of even par to finish in sole possession of 2nd place.  Twelve year old Karen Chung of Livingston, NJ (2013) carded the 3rd best round of the day (74) on Sunday and it allowed her to finish tied for 3rd with Miss Alexander.  Almost like the "bell curve" in school - fifth place was the spot of the day with 4 young ladies finishing at 162:  Hally Leadbetter of Orlando, FL (2011), Leslie Choucard of FRANCE (2008), 14 year old  Laura Kanouse of Boca Raton, FL (2012), and Tricia Maloney of Hudson, OH (2008), who improved her second round score by 8 strokes.

In the Girls 11-14 division, FCWT newcomer eleven-year old Laura Gros of Gainesville, FL (2014) came from seemingly nowhere to fire a final round of 2 under par 71 and win her first event.  Granted she did lead in pars on Saturday with 6, but a 71 is pretty incredible for anyone, but to do it by shaving 18 strokes off your opening round score is unbelievable!  Ten-year old Stephanie Liu of St. Albans, MO (2015) and 9 year old Abbey Carlson of New Lenox, IL (2016) finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.