Royal Palm Beach resident Giuseppe Puebla played a big role in the recent Junior Presidents Cup held Sept. 20-21, when Team USA defeated the International Team, 17.5 to 6.5.
It was the fifth consecutive win for Team USA in this biennial team golf event, which was held at the historic Medinah Country Club in Illinois. The 11-point margin of victory marked the largest win in Junior Presidents Cup history.
At this year’s Junior Presidents Cup, Puebla was undefeated in three matches. Each match was a different format — four-ball, foursomes and singles. They were decided by match play, rather than medal play. In the four-ball match, Puebla teamed with Jessy Huebner of Port St. Lucie against the International Team of Emilio Velez (Colombia) and Cooper Moore (New Zealand). The match was tied through six holes before Puebla and Huebner took control of the match by winning four of the next six holes to build a three-hole lead. They maintained the advantage through the 16th hole, where they closed out the match and won, 3 & 2.
In the foursomes (alternate shot) competition, Puebla and Ronin Banerjee of Irvine, California, played Settawut Kenanan (Thailand) and Tuan Anh Nguyen (Vietnam). Puebla and Banerjee prevailed, 5 & 3. In the singles competition, Puebla played Zhi Li of China. The match lasted all 18 holes. Puebla won the match, one up, but it was not an easy win.
“I actually trailed [in singles] from hole five all the way until I won the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to win the match,” Puebla recalled.
He felt honored to be selected for Team USA and to have the privilege of playing in the Junior Presidents Cup.
“It is always a great experience to play for your country,” Puebla said. “To play with all my best friends for the United States is a memory I will have for a lifetime. I was, of course, nervous on the first tee for every match.”
At the Junior Presidents Cup, each squad had 12 players. Both teams had captains with significant PGA Tour experience. Former Players Championship winner Matt Kuchar, 48, was the captain of Team USA, while veteran PGA Tour professional C.T. Pan, 34, of Taiwan led the International Team. The U.S. team was comprised of players from Florida, Texas, California, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey and North Carolina. The players on the International Team hailed from Argentina, South Korea, China, Thailand, New Zealand, Japan, Guatemala, Singapore, Columbia and Hong Kong.
Puebla’s next competitive event will be the AJGA Ping Invitational at Seminole Legacy, set for Oct. 9-12 at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee.
