BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - 2023 U.S. Open Final Qualifier site Pine Tree Golf Club played host to the second annual FJT Golf Road Junior. This year the Golf Road Junior was contested as an FJT Major for the first time, raising the stakes even higher for the golfers looking to capture a Major victory at this prestigious event. Ultimately, Clipper Salmon and Chloe Kovelesky both completed wire-to-wire victories and etched their names into the Golf Road Shield.
Boys (16-18)
During Wednesday’s first round players were forced to deal with not only the many challenges presented by the par-71 Pine Tree Golf Club, but blistering temperatures as well. Clipper Salmon, a 2025 graduate from Tampa, proved to have the best gameplan as he took a hold of the lead by himself after an impressive round of 2-under par, 69. Despite recording just two birdies, the 2025 graduate was the only player in the field to not record a bogey. One shot behind the leader was Tyler Bruneau, a 2024 graduate from West Palm Beach. After bogeying his first hole of the day, the West Palm Beach native recorded four birdies throughout the round and was the only other player to shoot under-par on Wednesday. Two players sat in a tie for third at even-par.
While the heat remained constant, Salmon managed to stay cool and continue his mistake-free run of golf to start the second round, growing his lead to three strokes after birdies on the par-4 fourth and par-5 fifth holes. The Tampa native would ultimately make the turn at 1-under par, maintaining a lead of two over Bruneau, who completed his first nine holes at even-par. A double-bogey from Bruneau on the par-4 12th would push Salmon’s lead to four. Even after back-to-back bogeys on the par-5 16th and par-4 17th holes, Salmon would finish as the only player under-par in the Boys’ Division (1-under par) and pick up his first FJT victory of the year by two strokes. Bruneau and Qi (Steven) Liu, a 2025 graduate from Lake Mary, finished in a tie for second at 1-over par.
Girls (16-18)
With Pine Tree Golf Club providing one of the most difficult set-ups of the year, only one player managed to record a score under-par during Wednesday’s first round. Chloe Kovelesky, a 2025 graduate from Boca Raton, recorded seven birdies (the most in the field), including a stretch of four in five holes during her first nine holes, en-route to a score of 2-under par, 69. Kovelesky, Junior Golf Scoreboard’s 15th-ranked girls junior golfer in the nation, built a four-shot lead over three players who shared second place after firing off rounds of 2-over par, 73.
After recording her only bogey of the day on her first hole, the par-4 10th, Kovelesky would continue her dominance over the rest of the field in the second round. The Boca Raton native made the turn at even-par and would go on to record three more birdies on the front-nine, ultimately completing the tournament at 5-under par with scores of 69-68–137. Kovelesky’s 10-shot victory is the fourth-largest margin of victory in the history of the Girls (16-18) Division, and her 36-hole cumulative score, the second time the 2025 graduate has recorded a score of 137, is tied for the fifth lowest in the history of the Division. Amelia Cobb, a 2024 graduate from Ormond Beach, finished in solo-second place at 5-over par.
