Media contact: Jeff Shain
Phone: +1-305-987-8638
Full scoring: JuniorOrangeBowl.org/what-we-do/sports/golf
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Jan. 3, 2024) — For a brief time Wednesday, it appeared Samuel Duran might play “catch me if you can” with his fellow competitors at Junior Orange Bowl International golf championships.
Though a couple of tough short-side situations late in his round kept him from getting too far ahead, the Panamanian golfer had no reason to quibble with his opening 4-under-par 67 at historic Biltmore Golf Club.
“If you had told me on the first tee that I was going to shoot 67 on the first day, I would have taken it,” said Duran, whose birdie at No. 18 proved the difference in grabbing a one-shot lead over Ukraine’s Misha Golod.
On the girls’ side, Boca Raton’s Kayla Bryant fairly picked up where she left off a year ago, when she finished third behind a pair of powerhouse foes. Wednesday’s 68 not only left her tied for the lead with South Africa’s Gia Raad, but marked the first time she’s broken 70 in the event.
“Going into it, I felt prepared. And when I feel prepared, I’m comfortable under pressure,” said Bryant, who birdied two of her first three holes to hover near the top of the leaderboard all day.
Though chilly conditions greeted golfers in Wednesday’s early holes, temperatures warmed up to the low 70s and breezes stayed relatively mild on the classic Donald Ross layout. It was a day when solid starts seemed to be in order, with few golfers making a late push to get onto the leaderboard.
Duran birdied three of his first six holes; Golod was 2-under through seven. For the girls, Bryant had two birdies in her first three holes and Raad two in her first five.
“I was hitting the ball really well today and the putts just started dropping,” Bryant said, “so I was just able to get on a little bit of a roll there.”
Duran’s 3-under opening sequence turned out to be the best, though it took a few swings to get into a groove. After a par at No. 1, he striped a 3-iron at the par-3 second that told him things were looking up.
“It’s (set up) really long, I hit this great 3-iron — and it’s still cold. That’s when I knew it (could be) a good round,” he said. “I hit some close shots on (Nos.) 3 and 4 to make birdies, then made a par on 5.”
Oddly enough, perhaps, what he called his two best shots came on holes he didn’t birdie. Besides the par at No. 2, he also cited a deft chip with an 8-iron at No. 5 after leaving himself short-sided just off the green.
Three consecutive birdies after the turn took Duran to 5-under, and he added another at No. 15 before running into trouble. He short-sided himself again in bunkers at Nos. 16 and 17, going bogey/double bogey in the sequence.
But he piped his drive at No. 18 into wedge range, where he set himself up for a two-putt from 10 feet.
Golod got to 3-under through 10 holes, but couldn’t get any closer with two bogeys and two birdies the rest of the way.
“I would say a pretty solid start, then it just kind of evened out,” said Golod, based in Orlando and playing in his third Junior Orange Bowl. “Overall, I just stayed in it the whole round and it turned out pretty well.”
England’s Ben Bolton may have had the best chance at catching Duran, using four consecutive birdies to reach 4-under at the turn. But those were his last birdies of the day, with two bogeys down the stretch dropping him into a four-way tie for third.
Bulgaria’s Hristo Yanakiev and Floridians Darren Zhou and Lorenzo Rodriguez joined Bolton at 2-under.
Bryant arrived at the Biltmore as the highest finisher on either side from a year ago, playing in the final group with winner Anna Davis — who held the Augusta National Women’s Amateur title — and former European Ladies Amateur champ Savannah de Bock.
Windier conditions kept her from breaking 70 in any round last year, but she wouldn’t be denied on Wednesday.
“I was hitting the ball really well and putts just started dropping, so I just got on a little bit of a roll there,” she said. “I feel like I’m at home on these greens.”
That wasn’t the case for Raad, who spent extra time early in the week getting adjusted to the grainier bermudagrass surfaces. After signing her card, she was surprised to find she was in the lead.
“I know it's a strong field,” she said. “I felt 3-under would be a good score, but I thought there would be others who were better.”
Chizuru Komiya, a last-minute addition to the field, showed she was ready by jumping out to a 2-under start before tailing off. She wound up posting a 1-under 70, tied for third with France’s Sara Brentchaneff.
The Junior Orange Bowl International’s history features such champions as Tiger Woods (1991), LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park (2002), LPGA major winners Lexi Thompson (2009) and Brooke Henderson (2013), resurgent PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas (1999) and current Australian Open champion Joaquin Niemann (2014).
This year’s field brings together entrants from such diverse locales as Austria, Paraguay, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Zimbabwe, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, Iceland, Turkey and Ghana.
Live scoring can be found all week at JrOrangeBowl.org/golf.
The Golf Championship is one of 10 athletic, artistic and cultural events that make up the Junior Orange Bowl International Youth Festival, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2023-24. The festival draws more than 7,500 youth participants to South Florida’s community each year.
For more information on the Golf Championship or other Junior Orange Bowl activities, visit JrOrangeBowl.org.
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BOYS TOP 5
1. Samuel Duran, Panama 33-34=67 (-4)
2. Misha Golod, Ukraine 34-34=68 (-3)
t3. Hristo Yanakiev, Bulgaria 33-36=69 (-2)
t3. Darren Zhou, Bradenton, Fla. 35-34=69 (-2)
t3. Lorenzo Rodriguez, Miami 36-33=69 (-2)
t3. Ben Bolton, England 31-38=69 (-2)
GIRLS TOP 5
t1. Kayla Bryant, Boca Raton, Fla. 35-33=68 (-3)
t1. Gia Raad, South Africa 35-33=68 (-3)
t3. Sara Brentcheneff, France 35-35=70 (-1)
t3. Chizuru Komiya, Japan 36-34=70 (-1)
t5. Vanessa Borovilos, Canada 38-34=72 (+1)
t5. Melena Castro, Argentina 34-38=72 (+1)
t5. Eileen Park, Canada 34-38=72 (+1)