PALM BEACH – Fleming Island High School graduate golfer Colton Swartz and Arth Sinha raised the trophy on Saturday at the 69th Boys Junior Championship. The final round brought tough playing conditions for the competitors in the field at the 69th Boys Junior Championship. The morning started out with extreme heat and after several long weather delays, play finally restarted. Swartz, winner in the 16-18 boys group, and Sinha, a Hagerty High School junior, prevailed under not only tough physical conditions but also remained mentally sound to capture a well-deserved win in the 13-15 age group.

(16-18) Division

Colton Swartz fired a five under par 66 at Mayacoo Lakes Country Club to hold the lead after the first round. Swartz fired the low round by five strokes over the competitors playing at Mayacoo Lakes Country Club and held a one stroke lead over the entire field. Jack Quinn sat in second place after firing a four under par 68 at PGA National.

Swartz extended his lead through round two after posting a two under 70 to sit at seven under par as a tournament total. Swartz held a three shot lead over the field with Davis Downing (Windermere) sitting in second place at four under par. Downing fired a four under par 68 at PGA National in the second round to climb the leaderboard twelve spaces and into second place.

Swartz, ranked just 24th prior to the tournament, explained that he kept a good mentality throughout the first two rounds. “Just trying to stay in my own bubble and not let things get in my head – the key at Mayacoo Lakes is to keep it in play off the tee.”

The final round proved to be an interesting one. Rain delays made the challenge of Mayacoo Lake even harder, but Swartz prevailed with a wire-to-wire victory. Swartz bogeyed the first two holes while James Earle made an early charge. Earle birdied three out of his first four holes and then collected another birdie on hole number eight to climb move into second place. However, Swartz collected himself and picked up three birdies on the front nine to keep his lead heading into the final stretch.

Meanwhile, fifth ranked Parker Severs (Lakewood Ranch) made a charge climbing nine spots and into second place. In addition, Lee Poppell (Tallahassee Maclay) also made a back nine charge to share second place with Severs. But resilience was key for Swartz as he kept extending his lead. After a double on the tenth hole, Swartz birdied the twelfth and then picked up two consecutive birdies on holes fifteen and sixteen to capture the win by six strokes. Swartz carded a one under par 70 in his final round to finish the tournament at eight under par.

Swartz could not be happier to be a Boys’ Junior Champion. He said, “The Boys’ Junior is one of the biggest tournaments with the FSGA, so to be able to win says a lot about my game right now and I just couldn’t be happier.”

Also in the tournament were Dylan Frein (FIHS) tied at 20th; Chase Carroll (MHS) tied at 28th; Emmet Kuhlenkamp (FIHS) tied 51st; Jaylen Abbas (FIHS) tied 57th and Matthew French (Bishop Snyder/OP) tied 88th.

In the girls Junior tournament, St. Johns Country Day School’s Addy Vogt finished tied at 34th.

In North Florida Junior Golf Action earlier this summer, Orange Park High’s Brock Buhnerkemper, an incoming senior, won the Dr. Gordon Ira Golf Classic in Hyde Park on June 14-15 in the Boys 13-18 age group and also in the Junior Players group with a second round 69 to finish four under par (140) to win by one stroke. Buhnerkemper also had finishes of seventh at the University of Florida Open (April 22), fifth at the Titleist Open at St. Johns GC (April 15-16) and 11th at the Palatka Junior Azalea March 4-5.