Birdies and books: Jacksonville Area Golf Association awards 15 scholarships to First Coast students
One of the highlights of the golf season for the Jacksonville Area Golf Association doesn't have anything to do with birdies and bogeys.
JAGA held its annual Scholarship Trust banquet on Thursday at the Deerwood Country Club, with 15 recent high school graduates recognized for earning $1,000 grants for each semester of the 2022-23 school year.
The scholarships are renewable each year up to eight semesters, based on criteria such as grade point average. The most recent scholarship winners increased the number of students currently receiving financial aid from JAGA to 42, the highest ever.
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Money is raised through JAGA events and donations from member clubs.
The recipients are children or grandchildren of members or employees of a JAGA member club on the First Coast. Each was sponsored by their club's JAGA director.
“This is the result of the great work JAGA directors have done over the course of the year in raising funds and identifying so many excellent scholar candidates at their respective clubs," said Ken Hicks, the scholarship trustee. "The caliber of students we interviewed was very impressive. They, no doubt, will go on to be leaders in Jacksonville or wherever else their lives and careers take them.”
Since the JAGA Scholarship Trust was created in 1974, around $1.8 million has been awarded to 375 students. Some have gone on to careers in golf such as club managers or superintendents, and others have played on professional tours or gone on to careers outside of the golf industry.
The 2022-23 recipients, with their JAGA club, high school and intended college destination.
• Brooklin Cameron, Marsh Creek Country Club, Creekside High, Tallahassee Community College.
• Samantha Clark, Palatka Golf Club, Palatka High, Eastern Florida State College.
• Andrew Davis, Moore-Meyers Children's Fund, Fleming Island High, Florida State College at Jacksonville.
• Jayden Diaz, Atlantic Beach Country Club, Fletcher High, Florida Gulf Coast.
• Jake Feltman, Deerwood Country Club, Christ Church Academy, Florida State College at Jacksonville.
• Nicholas Flowers, Brentwood Golf Club, Paxon High, Maryland-Eastern Shore.
• Sarah Harpster, Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, Fletcher High, Palm Beach Atlantic.
• Katey Kroog, Jacksonville Golf and Country Club, Ponte Vedra High, Florida State.
• Tori Mouton, South Hampton, Bolles School, North Carolina A&T.
• Annabelle Mozingo, Jacksonville Golf and Country Club, Providence School, UNC-Asheville.
• Manyi Ngu, Brentwood Golf Club, Stanton Prep, Florida Atlantic.
• Wesley Pacheco, Hyde Park Golf Club, Bishop Kenny High, Tallahassee Community College.
• Jenna Roach, Eagle Harbor Golf Club, Fleming Island High, Barton College.
• Bailey Studt, Hyde Park Golf Club, West Nassau High, Florida State College at Jacksonville.
• Davis White, Deerwood Country Club, Creekside High, North Florida.
Information on donations to the JAGA Scholarship Trust can be found by visiting jaxareagolf.org.
Pierce wins in Europe
Chloe Pierce of Ponte Vedra Beach won her age group in the U.S. Kids European Championship on June 2, and she did it in dramatic fashion.
Pierce fired three consecutive nine-hole scores of 37, then made a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole at the Longniddry Golf Club in East Lothian, Scotland, to beat Claudia Bananjarska Offenbach of Denmark and win the girls 9-year-old division. Both players shot 3-over 111 for 27 holes.
Pierce, who has been playing golf for two years, led or shared the lead wire-to-wire. She birdied the ninth hole in each of the first two rounds, then birdied Nos. 5 and 6 in the third round and closed with three pars in a row.
Same score, different destinations
First Coast products Moses Compaan of Jacksonville and Andrew Riley of St. Johns both shot 5-under 67 to win qualifiers for two of the state's biggest tournaments.
Compaan was bogey-free at The Palencia Club and won a Florida Open qualifier by four shots over Sam Ohno of Ponte Vedra Beach. Compaan birdied his first hole and then his last two to secure his spot at the Bradenton Country Club and Lakewood National July 15-17.
Also qualifying at even-par 72 were Brandon Mancheno of Jacksonville, Mitchell Gregson of St. Augustine and Cory Howard of Jacksonville. Howard birdied his last hole to avoid a playoff.
Riley, who became the first player in Palm Beach Atlantic history to qualify for the NCAA Division II tournament in the spring, had only one bogey at the Southwood Golf Club in Tallahassee and won a Florida Amateur qualifier by three shots. He will play at the Bear's Club and Lost Tree June 23-26.
UNF signs Peru native
The University of North Florida signed Alejandro Ramos of Lima, Peru, who recorded nine victories and 14 top-three finishes in his native country.
Ramos is the first international player UNF has signed since Nease graduate Kevin Phelan (Ireland) in 2012-13. He is a past winner of the South American Junior Championship and the Doral Junior Open.
Ramos had a 4.0 grade point average in industrial engineering at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Area Golf Association adds 15 scholarship recipients
