The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour’s Southeast Florida Jr. Shootout was hosted at the Madison Green Golf Club in Royal Palm Beach March 23-24. The course’s water-laced fairways and quick greens proved to be quite the test for the junior golfers during the first round. Sunday proved to be just as difficult with high wind gusts adding another tricky element.
The Boys 15-18 division was won in convincing fashion by Shanren Brienen. The Orlando native and frequent HJGT competitor shot an impressive 72 to finish the first round even par. This impressive first day left him three strokes clear of his two closest competitors. Brienen finished the second day with a 78, which left him at six over par for the tournament and secured his victory by two strokes. Brienen was the epitome of consistency, as he led the field in pars with 26 throughout the 36 holes. Brienen did his most damage on par fours, where he led the field with a 4.10 average. Coming in a tie for second place was Jérôme Blouin and Sean Smothers, who both finished at eight over par. Blouin was most impressive on par threes, where he led the division by an eighth of a stroke, finishing with a 3.00 average. Smothers wasn’t nearly as consistent as his competitors, but showed off his immense talent nonetheless by finishing with a division-leading 10 birdies.
The Girls 15-18 division champion was Valérie Tanguay, who shot an admirable +8. Tanquay was extremely impressive on day one, shooting a one over par 73 before faltering slightly on day two, shooting a 79. Tanguay finished with a par or better on 69.4 percent of her holes and finished with a total of five birdies. Tanguay did most of her damage on par fours, where she finished with a 4.20 average. Placing second was Katherine Gravel-Coursol, who held off third-place finisher Catherine Rousseau by one stroke. Both players shot 82 on day one before Gravel-Coursol bested Rousseau by shooting an 80 on Sunday to take home second place. Gravel-Courso led her division with 22 total pars. Rousseau had an impressive eagle on the 8th hole.
Clay Gibbs came out victorious in the Boys 11-14 Division, as the 13-year-old rifled in a 75 and 82 to finish with a solid 13 over par. Gibbs fended off his competitors and held on to the two-stroke lead he held after round one. Gibbs led his division with six birdies and averaged par on the course’s par five holes. Placing second was Honza Cernohorsky, who finished four strokes behind the leader. Cernohorsky was impressive on day one, shooting a 77, which left him two shots out of the lead before falling back Sunday, finishing with an 84. Cernohorsky eagled the 12th hole in the final round and averaged 3.12 on the course’s par threes. Coming in third was Charlie Tang Jr., who also shot an impressive 77 on day one before shooting an 85 round two.
The Girls 11-14 Division was a thrilling back-and-forth duel. Coming out on top was Alexandra Forsterling, finishing at 12 over par. Fosterling struggled slightly on day one, shooting an 81 before finishing Sunday with an extremely strong 75. Forsterling averaged a dominant 2.88 on par 3s and finished par or better on 66.7 percent of her holes for the tournament. Forsterling also finished with four total birdies. Paige Lee Garris came in second, finishing with a total of 12 pars and two birdies.
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Above: Winners in the boys 15-18 division.
