Miles Russell (American Junior Golf Association Photo)
Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, shot a final-round 1-under-par 71 for a tournament total of 11-under-par 205 and his third Invitational win.
The AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods is one of the longest-running events on the AJGA schedule. Originally played in 1987, the tournament settled at The Club at Carlton Woods in 2009. It has a storied past, with champions such as Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler, and Jordan Spieth.
Russell began the final round with a four-shot lead, which he maintained throughout the day. He made six pars to start the day before birdieing Nos. 7 and 8 en route to a front nine 2-under-par 34.
"I played really solid for all three rounds," Russell said. "The second round, especially even though the weather wasn't as good, and today I played fine outside of No. 18, but otherwise, it was a good day. It was a great way to start off 2025."
Russell had an interesting back nine with three birdies, two bogeys, and a double bogey on No. 18. In the end, the lead he built throughout the tournament was enough as he claimed the victory by three strokes over Michael Riebe of Encinitas, California, and Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
Coming into the event at No. 2 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, 2027 grad Bowen Ballis is coming off a win at the Rolex Tournament of Champions in November of 2024. The 2023 Rolex Junior Player of the Year played in this event in 2024 and finished T14.
"This is definitely one of the better events," Bowen Ballis said. "The course and the setup and how everyone gets behind the event it is really awesome."
Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., and Michael Riebe of Encinitas, Calif., finished T2 at 8-under and three shots back of Russell.
Will Hartman of Marvin, N.C., Benjamin Baker of Broadlands, Va., William Lisle of (Hong Kong) Bradenton, Fla., John Daniel Culbreth of Thomasville, Ga., and Dawson Lew of Toronto, Canada all finished T4 at 4-under.
Preston Hage of Raleigh, N.C., Brooks Simmons of Dallas, Tex., Carson Bertagnole of Pinehurst, N.C., Luke Colton of Frisco, Tex., and Jessy Huebner of Port St Lucie, Fla., all finished T9 at 3-under to round out the top ten.