PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (CBS12) — Some of Florida’s best young golfers are competing this weekend in Palm Beach Gardens at the 12th annual BallenIsles Junior Cup. The tournament at BallenIsles Country Club features 27 of the state’s top junior golfers, with boys and girls ages 18 and under competing in a Ryder Cup-style team format.
Florida’s Top Junior Golfers compete in 12th Annual BallenIsles Junior Cup (WPEC)
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Saturday’s opening matches featured a better-ball format on the front nine and an alternate-shot format on the back nine. On the girls’ side, two Palm Beach County student-athletes, incoming juniors Sophia Enriquez and Leah Gram, teamed up and used this unique match-play format to improve their individual games.
For the boys, 16-year-olds Xeve Perez of Fort Lauderdale and Nathan Drummond of Tampa were paired together. Although they live in different parts of the state, the two have become close friends through past tournaments, making their on-course chemistry an easy fit.
After seven matches, the East and West teams are tied at 3.5 points apiece. The tournament concludes Sunday morning with the singles matches.