Former Ponte Vedra High School standout Cameron Reed was the beneficiary of a 54th-hole stumble by rising Tocoi Creek High School junior Ambrose Kinnare, which led to Reed securing a one-shot victory in the 65th playing of the JAGA Jacksonville Amateur Championship presented by Pinnacle Financial Partners at Sawgrass Country Club.
With Reed having finished in the second-to-last group at 7-under par, Kinnare strode to the final tee holding a one-shot lead at 8 under. A pulled tee shot that ended up in the water lining the par-5 18th hole initiated a debacle that ended in a double-bogey and a flip of the two names atop the leaderboard, with Reed capturing Northeast Florida’s most prestigious amateur golf title.
Entering third-round play, Reed was three shots off Kinnare’s lead, in fifth place. His deficit grew to six shots through the first eight holes before the script began to flip, with Reed reeling off birdies on five of the first seven holes on the back nine, while the leader made bogeys at 9 and 10. Kinnare countered with birdies on 11, 14 and 15. The lead was tied twice during this stretch.
The champion opened with 69-71—140 (-4) on the always challenging Sawgrass East and West courses. A closing 69 resulted in a 209 total. The rising Furman University sophomore overcame a first-round quadruple-bogey 8 on his second hole of the championship.
Kinnare, the reigning Junior Azalea at Palatka champion, recorded rounds of 67-70-73—210 to hang on to second place. He made a gallant attempt at sinking a 40-foot putt from well off the fringe on the final hole that would have forced a playoff, but it ran four feet by the hole.
The driver was Kinnare’s undoing on numbers 16 and 18. Tee shots with it found water on 16 (bogey) and more trouble on 18.
Reed’s victory had a bit of a silver lining. Last July at Timuquana, he was in second place after two rounds, only to determine after leaving the course that he had signed an incorrect scorecard. He phoned tournament officials, resulting in his disqualification.
Reed declared his Jacksonville Amateur Championship win the biggest of his young career. He admitted to feeling “conflicted” while watching Kinnare finish up at 18.
“I played 52 pretty good holes,” Kinnare said. “It was a good week. Every tournament has a lesson you can learn.”
Rounding out the top five were Maxwell Morgan, a promising 16-year-old from Ponte Vedra High School, at 211, former Jacksonville University Dolphin Will Braude at 212, and Cooper Franklin of Mercer University at 213.
Landon Durham and Henry Robards, who were tied for second with Braude after two rounds, both finished with 75 to place T6. Durham is a rising senior at Elon College, while Robards is in the midst of a transfer to Georgia Tech from Mercer University, where he was an All So-Con selection this year.
Danny Erickson of the University of North Florida closed with a 71 for an even-par 216 tally and a strong defense of his 2025 title at Timuquana Country Club. He finished T8 along with UNF teammate Luke Balaskiewicz and Ian Lentz.
The 2025 and 2026 champions, Erickson and Reed, are proud graduates and former members of state championship teams at Ponte Vedra High School.
The day’s hottest round belonged to former UF Gator Toby Ragland, who teed off on the West Course and proceeded to record eight birdies and no bogies through his first 13 holes. A bogey on his 14th hole and a closing triple-bogey seven on his 18th derailed what could have been an historic round. But 68 was still good.
The top 10 players finished at par or better in spite of steady 10-20 mph winds that were in effect by the middle of every round. The low individual score was 66 by Durham in the second round.
To review the complete summary of scores, go to jaxareagolf.org.
Synovus came on board in 2024 as JAGA’s first tournament presenting sponsor in what was the 63rd year of the JAGA Jacksonville Amateur. In 2025, Synovus became Pinnacle Financial Partners.
Host Sawgrass CC (East and West courses) played to a par of 72 at 7,069 yards. The venerable Ponte Vedra Beach-based club hosted the event for the third time this century — 2012 (A.J. Crouch) and 2019 (Jordan Batchelor). It also was home to the PGA Tour’s PLAYERS Championship from 1977 to 1981.
In all, 83 of Northeast Florida’s top amateur golfers with handicap indexes of 2.9 or less teed off in the championship on July 19.
Top finishers in both the Amateur and the JAGA First Coast Amateur are awarded World Amateur Golf Ranking points.
The 2026 championship will be played at San Jose Country Club. Tournament dates are to be determined.
EDITOR’S NOTE: JAGA reports that it may have included some details in this report from Garry Smits’ recap in the Florida Times-Union.