Scott Gilbertson and Mitchell Campbell, two of Bermuda’s top Junior golfers teed off in the first round of the FCWT tournament being held at the Falcon’s Fire course in Orlando, Florida. Both golfers got off to a good start with Gilbertson shooting an even par 72 and Campbell a one over 73.
Campbell teed off on the front 9 and started well with pars at the first 3 holes before recording a Birdie on the par 5 4th hole to go 1 under. 4 more pars followed before a Bogey at the 9th dropped Campbell back to even par for the front 9.
Playing solid golf Campbell ran off a streak of 8 consecutive pars on the Back 9 before his second Bogey at the par 4 18th saw him finish the Back 9 at 1 over for his 18-hole total of 73 - good for T19.
Gilbertson teed off on the Back 9 starting inauspiciously with a 3-putt Bogey on the par 5 10th hole. 2 pars followed before Gilbertson hit a hot streak with Birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th, par 4, par 5 and par 3 holes respectively. Gilbertson finished the Back 9 with 3 pars for a first 9 total of 2 under par.
Gilbertson started his second 9 like his first dropping a shot on the first hole to slip back to 1-under. A par was followed by Gilbertson’s 4th Birdie of the day at the par 3 3rd. He immediately gave this shot back with a Bogey on the par 5 4th hole but followed this with 4 straight pars before a Bogey on the par 4 9th hole caused him to just miss recording his first under par round in an FCWT tournament. He finished on an even par 72 for the first round – good for T13, 3 shots behind the leaders. After the round he said he was very pleased with his ball striking having hit the first 10 greens in regulation and 15 of 18 in total but felt his putting let him down.
Gilbertson is about to graduate from Montverde Academy in the US and, at 18 years old, is in the closing stages of his Junior golf career. He will be moving to the College level in August of this year having signed a National Letter of Intent to play golf for Limestone College in South Carolina – a Division II school where he has been awarded partial athletic and academic scholarships. This fulfills one of the goals Gilbertson set for himself when he moved 2 years ago to Florida to attend the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy.
Having been selected by the BJGA to represent Bermuda, Gilbertson is the current Bermuda Junior National champion he still has on his list of goals to be selected by the BGA to represent Bermuda in a Senior International amateur golf event and hopes the College golf experience will help him achieve this goal.
