Junior Tour of Northern California Crowns Winners During Spring Series III Championship at Paradise Valley Golf Course
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (March 4, 2025) – The Junior Tour of Northern California (JTNC) crowned champions during the Spring Series III Championship at Paradise Valley Golf Course.
Ben Friedman shot 2-under par 142 and Stevie Umali shot 3-under par 141 to win their respective divisions during the Spring Series III Championship at par-72 Paradise Valley Golf Course.
In the Boys Championship, Ben Friedman earned his third winners medal of the 2024-2025 season thanks to rounds of 69-73 that saw him finish at 2-under par 142 for the two-day tournament. Friedman strung together eight birdies over the weekend, with his most impressive stretch coming during play of round one as he carded three straight birdies on holes 5, 6, and 7! Friedman's weekend wasn't shy of entertainment as both he, and two others, finished the 36-hole tournament tied at 142 forcing a three-way playoff. Ultimately, it was Freidman who prevailed in the playoff versus Ian Change and David Navarro as he clinched his eighth all-time win on the Junior Tour. In regards to the 2024-2025 Boys Player of the Year Standings, Friedman has built up quite the lead at the top as he is the best ranked player on the Junior Tour with a 475 point lead. As the JTNC tournament schedule begins to ramp up for 2025 it is Friedman who looks to continue to separate himself from the rest of the players on tour with more dominating performances.
Ian Cheng was the eventual second place medalist finishing at 142 with rounds of 71-71, carding a respectable six birdies over the 36-holes. Cheng's second round 71 was a highlight any player would want on their record as he carded just one bogey, two birdies, and fifteen pars that eventually lead to the three-way playoff. Third place went to David Navarro, who also qualified for the playoff but came up just shy of a winners medal, David carded rounds of 68-74, finishing at 2-under par 142, this is David's first medal finish of the 2024-2025 JTNC season. Fourth place honors went to Carson Limpus of Clayton, California with rounds of 72-71 including five birdies.
In the Girls’ Championship, Stevie Umali picked up another first place medal making it two wins out of her last two JTNC tournaments (previous win: Fall Series IX - Bayonet). Umali, who is ranked 4th on the current Girls JTNC Player of the Year standings, needed a playoff to be crowned champion after her and Paavni Behl were tied at 3-under 161 after two rounds. Stevie eventually won the playoff versus Paavni and also had some stellar stats to go along with her winners medal. Umali carded seven birdies and just four bogeys over the two day event, with her best stretch of golf coming during the back-nine of her first round as she finished with three birdies to card a 3-under 33! This makes it four podium finishes in 2024-2025 for the San Francisco junior talent as she looks to build momentum heading into the rest of the year.
Runner-up honors went to Paavni Behl after her and Stevie Umali needed a playoff for the top spot, Paavni turned in impressive rounds of 72-69 including six birdies over the weekend. Spring Series III marks Paavni's first medal finish of the 2024-2025 JTNC season with her previous best finish being a sixth place finish at Fall Series VII held in Windsor. In third place was Hayley Fong of Hayward, turning in rounds of 69-73 to finish at 2-under par 142. Hayley picked up five birdies and put in a near perfect performance as she tallied up 29 pars, 5 birdies, 1 bogey, and 1 double-bogey. Fourth place ended in a tie between Jayleen Sito and Cathy Zhang as the pair were level at 1-under par 143. Cathy carded seven birdies throughout the tournament while Jayleen picked up eight!
Next on the Junior Tour schedule is Spring Series IV at Bay View Golf Club in Milpitas, April 5-6.