Belen’s Rodriguez to compete in US Amateur Championship. Sagemont pair, more area golfers excel
Lorenzo Rodriguez, 16, of Miami bested a very impressive field -- including NCAA Division I and Division II college golfers -- to win a qualifier for the 123rd US Amateur Championship.
Rodriguez took medalist honors by shooting 8-under par (69-67) at Eagle Creek Country Club in Naples. The US Amateur Championship, hosted by the United States Golf Association, is at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado.
Rodriguez, who will be a junior at Belen Jesuit High School, will be one of the youngest players in the field at the US amateur.
At the 69th Boys’ Junior Championship via the Florida State Golf Association, Rodriguez tied for second in the 16-18 division with 212 (69-72-71) at Mayacoo Lakes CC & PGA National Resort & Spa (Fazio Course) in West Palm Beach.
Rodriguez is a three-time Miami Herald All-Dade first team selection.
More golf
Golfer Hans Risvaer, a 2023 Columbus grad, qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, which is July 24-29 at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, South Carolina.
In June, Risvaer, 18, won the 105th Western Junior championship at Midlothian Country Club in Midlothian, Illinois.
It marked his first time competing in this event. He scored 10-under par 270 in the four-round tournament. He was the only player to post under-par in each round (67-68-66-69) on the par 70 course.
Risvaer earned an exemption into the Western Amateur at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Illinois in early August.
Risvaer will play golf for the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He was a Miami Herald All-Dade second team selection. He helped the Explorers place second at the FHSAA State Golf Championships.
Team Florida golf
Hans Risvaer and Lorenzo Rodriguez were selected to Team Florida under the Florida State Golf Association banner. They join three more locals on that prestigious team: Remi Bicardi, Nicholas Prieto and Ariana Silva.
Team Florida is an awards program that identifies the top 40 junior golfers from around the state. These players have not only demonstrated exceptional playing ability in local, state and national tournaments, but also display sportsmanship and etiquette.
Prieto, a 2023 Florida Christian School grad, tied for 16th with 10-over 226 (79-72-75) on par 72 at the Pete & Alice Dye Junior Invitational at the Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.
Bicardi, who will be a junior at Palmer Trinity School, was runner-up with 1-over par 217 (70-73-74) on par 72 at the Mizuno/Keith Mitchell Junior Championship under the American Junior Golf Association banner at the Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Bicardi and Prieto are two-time Miami Herald Golfers of the Year. Prieto will play golf at Arizona State University.
Silva tied for eighth with 4-over par 220 (75-75-70) on par 72 at the 29th Women’s Stroke Play Championship under the FSGA banner at TPC Treviso Bay in Naples.
Silva, who will be a junior at Sagemont School in Weston, was a Miami Herald All-Broward first team selection.
Bonus golf
Fernanda Carrion of Coral Gables shared the win in the girls’ 13-18 division of the Brendan Cunningham Junior Open at Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club in Marco Island.
This was a South Florida PGA Junior Tour event which honors the late Brendan Cunningham, who was a longtime South Florida PGA volunteer. The field consisted of 77 Medalist Tour players in the eighth major of the season.
Carrion played three consistent rounds of golf with an even-par 72 in the first round, 1-under 71 in the second and the final round low of 2-under 70 for a 3-under par finish.
The South Florida PGA Junior Tour has a membership of more than 1,300 junior golfers, ages 6-18, and conducts more than 120 tournaments annually.
In the 13-15 age group at the 64th Girls’ Junior Championships, Carrion placed 24th with (81-90-77) 248 on par 72.
The event was under the Florida State Golf Association banner at Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee.
Carrion will be an 8th grader in the fall at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, where she has been the team’s No.1 high school varsity golfer as a sixth and seventh grader. She was a Miami Herald All-Dade first team selection.
Abigail Lee of Pembroke Pines tied for 20th at the 64th Girls’ Junior Championships with 247 (82-83-82).
She was also 11th in the girls’ 13-18 division of the Brendan Cunningham Junior Open. A Sagemont freshman last season, she was a Miami Herald All-Broward first team selection.
Jonathan Weinberg, who will be a sophomore at Pine Crest in Fort Lauderdale, was 16th with 223 (74-70-79) in the 13-15 division at the 69th Boys’ Junior Championship via the FSGA at Mayacoo Lakes CC & PGA National Resort & Spa (Fazio Course) in West Palm Beach. He was a Miami Herald All-Broward second team selection.
Sohan Patel of Weston tied for fifth at 8-over-par 221 (75-76-70) at the Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Patel, as an 8th grader last season for American Heritage-Plantation, was a Miami Herald All-Broward first team selection.
Homestead’s Cole Castro, a South Dade HS alum, was 12th with 5-under par 208 (68-72-68) on par 71 at the 77th Florida Open Championship at The Golf Club at Crown Colony & Cypress Lake Golf Club in Fort Myers. He was a Miami Herald All-Dade Boys’ Golfer of the Year.
Football
The Miami Touchdown Club presented its Scholar Athlete Award and NFF Team of Distinction Award to Westland Hialeah quarterback Max Lawrence.
Lawrence threw for 3,250 total yards and 35 touchdown passes. He also graduated top 20 percent in his class and is a Bright Futures Scholarship recipient, Presidential Honor Roll, and is Co-President of Mission Possible Club. Lawrence is planning to attend the University of Miami starting this fall.
Submit summer sports info
For coaches and teams in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have high school level athletes competing in summer leagues, events and programs, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
