South Florida PGA Juniors Head to Augusta National

South Florida PGA Junior Tour members Daniel Barcenas, Leah Gram, Luke Parsons and Larissa Wheelless head to Augusta National Golf Club to compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals this weekend.


Annually the South Florida PGA administers 10 local qualifiers, 2 sub-regionals and one regional, where juniors have the ability to advance to the national event in Augusta.


Barcenas, Gram, Parsons and Wheelless all won their age divisions during the regional competition at The Bear’s Club last October where 97 junior golfers from Florida, Georgia and Alabama competed after advancing through their respective sub-regional and local qualifiers.


Barcenas (Weston), a member on the SFPGA Prep Tour, holed his putts from six and 30 feet on his way to winning the putting skill as well as the Boys 10-11 age division title. On the Prep Tour, Barcenas won three times in 2022 and collected three additional top five finishes.


A Jupiter native, Gram finished second at the 2021 regional but this time, she used her driving to win the Girl’s 12-13 division with 129 points, earning 52 points with her driver. A member of the SFPGA Medalist Tour, Gram has one top-10 victory so far this year.


“I am looking forward to watching the professionals play such an amazing course,” said Gram. “My grandparents are also coming all the way from Swedan to watch my compete.”


Parsons (Palm Beach Gardens) was the only player from the regional qualifier to advance to a second DCP National Final, first competing at Augusta National in 2018 where he finished third. Competing in the 14-15 age division, Parsons is a member of the Medalist Tour where he won twice in 2022 and has two top-five finishes so far this year.


Lastly but certainly not least, Wheelless of Miami compiled the most points across all three skills to win the Girl’s 7-9 division by 47 points last October. A member of the Prep Tour, Wheeless has won every tournament (4) she has played in this season.


To prepare for the moment, Wheelless is doing one thing: “I am taking my wedge everywhere I go,” said Wheelless. “I even took it to Costa Rica. On Sunday, I hope to just keep calm, relax and try my best.”


Local qualifying for the ninth season of Drive, Chip and Putt began last May and was held at 342 sites across the country over the summer with 80 juniors advancing nationwide.


The 80 juniors represent 29 states and will tee it up this Sunday, April 2nd at Augusta National. Coverage will begin at 8:00 a.m. Sunday on The Golf Channel.



Click here for photos from the 2022 Regional Qualifier at The Bears Club.

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