Round 3 Recap

Victory for Tori ~ joins Solberg with 2 wins in the Girls division

On Friday in the Girls division of the Champions Gate Open, Guilia Molinaro of Torino, ITALY (2008) took the first round lead with a 73.  Miss Molinaro began round two with a one stroke advantage over

 Victoria Kiser of Orlando, FL (2010).  On Saturday, Miss Kiser, who won twice last season and had already won once this season at the season opener at Tampa Bay, carded a round of even par to take over the lead.  She began the final round with a five stroke advantage over

Yueer "Cindy" Feng of Orlando, FL (2014), who was the 2007 Laura Diaz FCWT Player of Promise.    Despite a Low Round of 74 posted by Miss Molinaro, Miss Kiser won by 4 strokes.  She is only the second young lady this season to earn two wins.  The other is Lindsey Solberg of Verona, WI (2008).  Miss Feng finished in 3rd place, just one stroke back of Miss Molinaro.

Wire-to-wire Winners: Francioni, Kelly and Fernandes

Round One of the Champions Gate Open got underway on Friday afternoon with a shotgun start.  Once all the competitors scores were verified Roberto Francioni of Hausen, SWITZERLAND (2008) was atop the list with a 2 under par 70.  Four birdies helped him to achieve a one stroke advantage over Richard Lamb of South Bend, IN (2009), who led this division in pars with 17. 

On Saturday, Francioni, a third year player on the FCWT, continued to lead with a round of 72 that gave him a 2 stroke advantage over Phil Lea of Quebec, CANADA, heading into Sunday's final round.  Three players began the final round tied for 3rd: Beau Schoolcraft of Englewood, CO (2008), who began the second round tied for 9th, Jordan Rizzo of Sarasota, FL (2009), who also began Saturday's round tied for 9th and Antonio Grillo of Vineyard Haven, MA (2008), who began the second round tied for 4th.

On Sunday, the temperatures went up, but so did the wind at the Champions Gate resort.  Roberto, who was named an FCWT All-American for the 2006-07 season after winning at Grand Cypress, came with one goal in mind - another win.  He achieved that goal by firing a final round of 3 under par (69).  His final round earned him Low Round honors as well as the Champions Gate Champions Title.

Jordan Rizzo of Sarasota, FL (2009) carded a final round of 1 under par and earned 2nd place.  Ryan Booth of Homestead, FL (2008) and Beau Schoolcraft of Englewood, CO (2008) finished tied for 3rd at 219 and led the field in birdies with 12 each.  Richard Lamb of South Bend, IN (2009) finished in 5th place and co-led the field in pars with 42 along with Antonio Grillo of Vineyard Haven, MA (2008).  Eric Sithideth of Lake Mary, FL (2008) carded the only eagle in this division on the par 5 18th hole during round one.  Kenny Chong of Bradenton, FL (2010) and Mike Smith of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (2008) both carded final rounds of 2 under par to finish T10 and T12 respectively.

Special Congratulations to last year's Champion of this event, Sean Dale of Jacksonville, FL (2008), who made it to the final round of the POLO, losing only to POLO Champion Bjorn Akesson of Malmo , Sweden (more).

In the Boys 13-15 division, 14 year old Sean Kelly of Staten Island, NY (2011)opened this event with a 2 under par 70 and never looked back.  His opening round score gave him a one stroke advantage over Jay Burlison of Salinas, CA (2013). 

Then on Saturday Kelly carded another sub-par round (one under par) and began the final round leading Burlison by 5 strokes.  On Sunday, Sean posted the Low Round for this division with a 72 to win by 11 strokes.  Sean led this division in birdies with 13, almost double the nearest competitor.  Thirteen year old Burlison took home 2nd place and led the division in pars with 36 for the weekend. 

Tyler Engel of Castle Rock, CO (2011), who won the Castle Pines event in October finished in 3rd place at 230.  

In the Boys 11-12 division, Rigel Fernandes of Dubai, UAE (2013) took the first round lead with a round of 77 then carded a second round of 81.  He began Sunday's final round with a 6 stroke lead over

Andrew Baez of Guaynabo, PUERTO RICO (2013). 

Manish Reddy of Orlando, FL (2013) and Drew Langan of Winnetka, IL (2013) began the final round tied for 3rd at 167.  On Sunday, Reddy fired the Low Round for this division of 75 to earn 2nd place, but still fell 2 strokes short of catching Rigel.  Baez took home 3rd place.