Miles Russell reversed his record in the Junior Presidents Cup.
After going 1-2 in 2024 in Montreal, Russell was among the top players for the U.S. Sept. 20-21 at Medinah, a preliminary to the Presidents Cup. The U.S. won 17.5-6.5 to capture its fifth Junior Presidents Cup in a row.
Russell split two doubles matches and then ended the week with a 6 and 4 victory in singles over Cooper Moore of New Zealand. Russell had a 5-up lead at the turn, then birdied five of his last six holes.
Russell and Rory Asselta of Ramsey, N.J., won a Four-Ball match, 1-up over Minsu Kim and Jeyi Son of Korea, and lost in Foursomes 2 and 1 to Fernando Saravia of Guatemala and Tomas Del Crosso of Panama.
Russell has played in three junior national match play events, two
Junior Ryder Cups and the Junior Presidents Cup. He's been on the winning side twice, with a 6-5-1 record.
Ponte Vedra women in U.S. Senior Amateur
Carolyn Creekmore and Tama Caldabaugh of Ponte Vedra Beach are carrying the First Coast banner in Oregon this week at the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur.
The stroke-play qualifying begins at the Portland Golf Club on Sept. 26. The top 64 will advance to match play beginning on Sept. 28. Caldabaugh, who has made the cut for match play in all 10 of her U.S. Senior Women's appearances, tees off No. 10 on Sept. 26 at 12:05 p.m. (EDT) and off No. 1 on Sept. 27 at 4:35 p.m. Creekmore starts at 3:45 p.m. at No. 10 in the first round and 11:45 a.m. at No. 1 in the second round.
Creekmore, 74, is the oldest and most experienced player in the field, making this her 16th U.S. Women's Senior appearance. She won the tournament in 2004 at Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, Calif., and was the runner-up in 2009 at the Homestead in Hot Springs, W. Va.
Caldabaugh, 62, had her best finish in the tournament in 2015 at the Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn., when she reached the semifinals.
Creekmore qualified by winning a playoff for the second and final spot in a qualifier at the Longue Vue Golf Club in Verona, Pa., on Aug. 5. Caldabaugh finished third in a qualifier at the Tampa Palms Country Club on Sept. 5.
Also playing in a USGA national championship this week is Bartram Trail graduate Logan Lanier, in the U.S. Men's Mid-Amateur at the Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa, Wis. Lanier will tee off at No. 1 of the Sand Valley Course at 2:10 p.m. on Sept. 26 and off No. 10 of the Lodi Course at 9:20 a.m. on Sept. 27.
Lanier was the 2017 NCAA Division III Player of the Year and a two-time All-American at LaGrange College in Georgia.
Jonah Nacional wins first college start
Beachside High graduate Jonah Nacional, a freshman at Valdosta State, birdied his last two holes to cap a final-round 67 and won the individual title of the Dunning Invitational on Sept. 21-22 at the Mossy Creek Golf Club in West Point, Miss.
Nacional shot 13-under 203 and defeated Neil Patterson of Shorter College by six shots. Nacional made only one bogey in the final round in winning his first college tournament. His performance was rewarded on Sept. 24 when the Gulf South Conference named him Golfer of the Week and the Freshman of the Week.
Valdosta shot 16-under as a team and beat UT-Dallas by five shots. Also contributing for the Blazers was Adam Waller of Jacksonville, who tied for ninth at even-par 216. Waller had an eagle-birdie finish in his first round for a 71.
Area college teams off to good start
Flagler College senior Matthew French, a Bishop Snyder graduate, fired a closing 64 at the Slammer & Squire, and then won a playoff against Tristan Wieland of Lynn University to lead the Saints to their third team title in the Jay Jennison Cup.
French, who finished 12-under-par 204, is the first individual champion for the Saints in the tournament they host. Teammates Rocco Randazzo (11-under) tied for third, Julio Goti (7-under) tied for 10th and Masen McKain and Juan Saavedra (6-under) tied for 13th as Flagler best Lynn by four shots at 28-under.
The University of North Florida got all five starters among the top 10 and finished second in the Florida Atlantic Invitational at The Bear's Club in Jupiter. The Ospreys were 26-under, one shot behind the host team.
Two freshmen making their first college starts led the Ospreys. Easton Oliva of Ponte Vedra Beach shot 6-under 210 to tie for eighth and Danny Wehle of Rochester, N.Y., shot 5-under to tie for 13th.
Senior Danny Erickson of Ponte Vedra (4-under) tied for 15th, sophomore Luke Balaskiewicz of Jacksonville (3-under) tied for 20th and senior Jean-Philippe Parr (2-under) of Quebec tied for 24th.
More ASUN honors for Kaitlyn Schroeder
UNF senior Kaitlyn Schroeder earned her fifth career ASUN Golfer of the Week after tying for third in the Ospreys' opening tournament of the season at the Boilermaker Classic in West Lafayette, Ind.
Schroeder shot 2-under 214 with an opening round of 69 for her ninth career top-10 finish. UNF finished fifth in the tournament.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ponte Vedra women set for U.S. Senior Women's Amateur in Portland
