Muni He of Rancho Santa Fe and Ryan Gerard of Raleigh, N.C. took home the hardware in the American Junior Golf Association’s Polo Golf Junior Classic at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
He, a junior at Torrey Pines High, never trailed in defeating stroke-play medalist Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii, 3 and 1, in the final, taking a 2-up lead with a birdie on the 15th hole and closing out the match with another birdie two holes later.
“I’m just so blessed and honored to be able to experience this,” said He, who has committed to USC. “I’ve never come this far in an AJGA or USGA match play event, so I’m very proud of myself right now.
“I’m very excited about next year. I think I’ve grown and matured a lot over the past year.”
He, seeded 19th, prevented Galdiano from becoming the first top-seeded player to claim the title since Vicky Hurst in 2007. She won three of her matches on the final hole en route to the final.
In the quarterfinals, He knocked off Kristen Gillman of Austin, Texas, the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, 1 up, and she defeated Emilee Hoffman of Folsom in an all-California semifinal, 3 and 2.
Gerard, who has committed to North Carolina defeated Cooper Dossey of Austin, Texas, 2 and 1, for the Boys’ title, taking a 1-up lead when Dossey conceded the 15th hole.
Then he finished things off by winning the 17th with a par.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet, but it’s really cool when you put the magnitude of the win into perspective,” Gerard said. “It was really tough today. Today wasn’t the windiest, but the hole locations were the toughest and all the tees were all the way back, but I was playing Cooper, not the course.”
Gerard finished stroke play as the No. 5 seed and didn’t have to go past the 17th hole in match play before defeating Garrett Barber of Stuart, Fla., on the 20th hole in the round of 16.
In the quarterfinals, Gerard downed Aden Ye of Lake Mary, Fla., 2 and 1, before defeating Norman Xiong of Canyon Lake in the semifinals, 4 and 3.
