Daniel List three off the pace in Florida with a first-round, three-over-par 74

Australian-born Daniel List, a pupil at Wellington College, Berkshire and the only "England" player in the Junior Orange Bowl international boys' and girls' tournament at the Biltmore course, Coral Gables, Florida, is lying T22 at the end of the first round.
He shot a three-over-par 74 over the 6,742yd course - five shots behind the joint leaders, Chile's Joaquin Niemann, the defending champion, and Belgium's Giovanni Tadiotto.
Kristoffer Retian (Norway) is lying third with a 70 - so a good start by the Europeans in this prestigious tournament last won by an Englishman (pro's son Ben Parker) in 2005.
List made a good start with birdies at the first, second and fifth and he did add one more, at the 10th, but the damage had been done earlier and later. He bogeyed the sixth, seventh, eighth and 11th then had a disastrous double bogey 5 at the short 13th in halves of 35 and 39.

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DAVID MACKINTOSH REPORTS:

JUNIOR ORANGE BOWL INTERNATIONAL GOLF – Day 1

CORAL GABLES, Dec 27: Defending champion Chile’s Joaquin Niemann posted a 2-uner par 69 for a share of the lead with Belgium’s Giovanni Tadiotti.  

 A windy day at this famed Biltmore golf venue produced little separation at the top of the leaderboard, 21 players within four strokes of the lead, Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan alone in third place on 70.

In the Girls Division USA’s Emigliaccio claimed the outright lead with a 3-under par 68, after a scintillating back-nine (her opening side) during which she carded five birdies.

South Korea’s Euikyung Shin lies solo second with a 69, a single stroke ahead of a three-way tie for third place between Paraguay’s Sofia Garcia, France’s Mathilda Cappeliez and Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela, Cappeliez’s round particularly notable for fifteen steady pars.  

Niemann, 17, has already had a sterling year with three international wins and a future place at the University of South Florida, but his greatest ambition is to repeat his Orange Bowl victory. ”It would be so cool,” he said, talking softly about a feat nobody has achieved in the history of the event.

“I played well today, but I can play better,” he said of a four birdie-two bogeys round, noting that for the main the gusty conditions didn’t affect his ball striking. “I didn’t miss fairways but I’d like to putt a bit better tomorrow.”

In Niemann’s favor is the Biltmore Club’s super-fast greens. “I love Bermuda-grass, it’s my favorite putting surface,” he said. “I really enjoy the challenge.”  

Tadiotti, also 17, son of a golf professional and similarly professional in his approach to this championship, credits his previous Junior Orange Bowl experience for the game plan he’s now pursuing. “Last year I made some mistakes because I did not know the course, how it plays, how to avoid the worst trouble. This year I have a strategy and I’m sticking to it.”

His five-birdie round was a full of solid golf, he said, and he easily shook off a couple of front-nine errors. “I missed the green at the 6^th in a bunker where it was virtually impossible to get up-and-down and found water at the 7^th, but I was able to put that behind me quickly. I’m very comfortable with my game right now.”                   

17-year old Will Dickson, from Providence, RI, playing in his 4^th consecutive Junior Orange Bowl championship, posted 71 for a share of 4^th place, is leads the US contenders. 

 

ALL THE WINNERS OF THE JUNIOR ORANGE BOWL BOYS' TITLE 

BOYS

1964 Richard Spears

1965 Allen Miller

1966 Jim Simon, PGA

1967 Tony Haderer, PGA

1968 Stacy Russell

1969 Gary Koch, PGA

1970 Dennis Sullivan

1971 Jim Haney

1972 Paul Rooker

1973 Jon Feinberg

1974 David Abell

1975 Bill May, PGA

1976 Willie Wood, PGA

1977 Mark Calcavecchia, PGA

1978 Tom Garner

1979 Marco Durante

1980 Adam Armagost

1981 Greg Weber

1982 Marc Pendares

1983 Miles McConnell

1984 Dean Refram

1985 Mangus Rosenback

1986 Eric Anderson

1987 Nicky Goetze, PGA

1988 Kevin Hammer

1989 Frederic Duger

1990 Chris Couch, PGA

1991 Tiger Woods, PGA

1992 Lewis Chitengwa

1993 Grady Girard

1994 Ryuji Imada, PGA

1995 Oliver David

1996 Boyd Summerhays

1997 Camilo Benedetti

1998 Yusaku Miyazato

1999 Camilo Villegas, PGA

2000 Kevin Na, PGA

2001 James Vargas

2002 Benjamin Alvarado

2003 Pablo Martin

2004 Chris Ward

2005 Ben Parker

2006 Sihwan Kim

2007 Sean Einhaus

2008 Mathias Schjoelberg

2009 Romain Wattel

2010 Max Rottlu­ff

2011 Juan Cerda

2012 Patrick Kelly

2013 Renato Paratore

2014 Joaquin Niemann