Junior Golf: GPJGA hosts Sugar Sands Showdown tournament at Hidden Creek in Navarre
Braydon Moye wasn’t going to be bested again.
After falling in a playoff last week, Niceville’s Moye secured the Greater Pensacola Junior Golf Association’s Sugar Sands Showdown at The Course at Hidden Creek on Monday and Tuesday.
Moye shot a two-round total score of 139, carding a three-under par 69 on Monday before coming in with a 70 on Tuesday.
It wasn’t until later in the second round when Moye finally started to pull away from Braden Duvall — who won the playoff against Moye last week at the Cook Family Classic at Tanglewood Golf and Country Club — thanks to consistent play on the back nine.
“I just kept my head down and kept going,” Moye said.
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The pair was tied after Monday’s round, both putting up a score of 69. But Moye had an early tone-setter, shooting an eagle on the par-five second hole.
“Both days I hit a good hybrid in (to the green) to about 15 feet, and knocked it in for eagle (on the first day),” Moye said. “It got me going for the rest of the round and off to a good start.”
Starting the second round, Moye initially took the lead over Duvall after he birdied the second hole while Duvall parred. Duvall evened things back up with a birdie on the par-three fourth hole and then held onto the slight advantage after Moye bogeyed the fifth hole.
Both players birdied the par-five eighth hole, but Duvall held the one shot advantage.
Moye evened things up quickly on the 10th hole with a birdie before both players shot a bogey on the 13th hole. With both players one-under par on the round, a double bogey on the 14th hole gave Moye a window.
And after a birdie on the 15th from Moye, he coasted to victory.
“I knew if I hit it tight, I knew I had a good chance at making that putt,” Moye said of the 15th hole. “Finally felt good to shoot under par for both days. That really felt nice.”
Rounding out the top three in the Junior Masters Boys Open Division (ages 16-18) were Pace’s Duvall (144) and West Florida Tech’s Bentley Van Pelt (154). Pace’s Troyce Perkins fell just behind the medalists with a 155.
Moye, who is attending Jefferson State Community College in the fall and will compete on the men’s golf team, said the win is good for momentum going into his first collegiate season.
“It was a fresh reset, and the greens were good – it was way better than Tanglewood last week. It was nice,” Moye said. “After I got done with that playoff, I just went and practiced. I finally felt good about my game coming here, and I played well.”
Niceville’s Cloe Rich knocks off the rust
Niceville’s Cloe Rich, an incoming senior, took the Junior Masters Girls Open Division (Ages 16-18) title, as well as the overall crown at the Sugar Sands Showdown after shooting a two-round score of 162 with rounds of 86 and 76.
Rich was two strokes back of Gulf Breeze’s Mia Hobbs after the opening round on Monday, noting that the first 18 holes of the tournament were “a big struggle.”
“I was really struggling (Monday),” Rich said. “I hadn’t played a tournament in awhile, so I just had to knock off some tournament rust.”
Rich got that rust off fast, going even par through the first six holes before bogeying the par-three seventh hole. She went three-over on the back nine to edge out Hobbs, who shot a total 167 84-83).
Hobbs finished second overall while Gulf Breeze’s Riley Bounds finished third overall (178), but first in the 15 and Under division.
“I just tried to have fun and play my best. It wasn’t anything crazy,” Rich said. “I just started off strong and tried to stay that way.”
Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on Twitter (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Golf: GPJGA hosts Sugar Sands Showdown at Hidden Creek in Navarre
