TAMPA, Florida (August 22, 2014) -- Jon
Veneziano, Sam Horsfield and Gabriel Lench
have been named to the Florida team who will
represent the Sunshine State (and the Florida
State Golf Association) at the 2014 USGA
Men’s State
Team Championship.
The 11th playing of
this biennial event will be held at French Lick
Resort in French Lick, Indiana on September 30
- October 2.
Jon Veneziano, 43, of
Mount Dora, earned his spot on the team by
leading the two year points list with 27,124
points. The multiple time FSGA State
Champion will serve as the veteran on the
team. Veneziano has had the opportunity to
represent Team Florida at the 2007, 2010 and
2012 USGA State Team Championships.
Veneziano had a great 2013 capturing the
Florida Mid-Amateur
Championship, and
qualifying for two USGA National
Championships. [Veneziano also was runner-
up against a stacked field at the 2013 Crane Cup, Ed.] He has
continued his stellar
play in 2014 by capturing the Florida Senior/Mid-
Amateur Four-Ball Championship,
finishing T17
at the 97th Florida Amateur Championship, and
advancing to the round of 16 at the USGA
Public Links Championship.
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Sam Horsfield, 17, from
Davenport, who is currently ranked 67th in
the GolfWeek/AmateurGolf.com World
Amateur Ranking will also represent
Team Florida. Horsfield’s remarkable 2013
season was capped off by winning
the 96th State Amateur Championship by
eleven strokes at the Jupiter Hills Club.
Horsfield also qualified for the USGA Junior
Amateur Championship, where he advanced
to
the Quarterfinals and advanced to the round
of
16 at the USGA Public Links Championship.
2014 has been just as impressive for
Horsfield,
qualifying for the USGA Public Links
Championship, the USGA Amateur
Championship and advancing all the way to
the
semi-finals at the USGA Junior Amateur. This
will be Horsfield’s first time representing Team
Florida for the USGA State Team
Championship. [Horsfield, who has committed
to Florida, has long been on
AmateurGolf.com's
"watch list" for a while. You might
enjoy our February, 2014 Q&A with Sam
Horsfield. Ed.]
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Gabriel Lench, 17, of
Lake Mary, earned an automatic selection to
Team Florida by capturing the 97th Amateur
Championship. Lench won his first State
Championship in 2013 outlasting the field at
the Junior Match Play Championship, and
finished no worse than T17 at all of his 2013
Florida Junior Tour events. After Lench won
the 97th Florida Amateur
Championship back in June,
he also made a run at the Boys’ Junior
Championship where he would fall just short
to
finish in 4th place. This will also be Lench’s
first time representing Team Florida for the
USGA State Team Championship.
The USGA State Team Championship began
in 1995 to celebrate the USGA’s Centennial
celebration. It was such a success that the
USGA now conducts the event every two
years. Fifty-two teams, from all 50 states and
Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, are
invited to send three non-college amateur
players and can choose their teams by any
method. Teams compete in three, 18-hole
stroke play rounds; the two lowest scores by
players from each team constitute the team
score for each round. The 54-hole total is the
team’s score for the Championship.
- story courtesy Florida State Golf
Association
ABOUT THE
USGA Men's State Team
The USGA State Team Championships grew out
of the Association's Centennial Celebration in
1995, and have been held on an every-other-
year basis since. 52 men’s teams (including
teams from Puerto Rico and the District of
Columbia) compete for the trophy named in
honor of former USGA President James Hand.
Fifty women’s teams compete for the trophy
named for past USGA President Judy Bell.
State golf associations select three of their top
non-college amateurs to represent them in this
biennial team championship. The top two scores
of the three players count toward the team total
for each of the three days.
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