{"id":517,"date":"2010-06-11T13:12:11","date_gmt":"2010-06-11T18:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/golfcoursebusiness.com\/?p=517"},"modified":"2010-06-11T13:12:11","modified_gmt":"2010-06-11T18:12:11","slug":"gilchrist-academy-s-monifa-sealy-wins-ijgt-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/golfcoursebusiness\/golf\/instruction\/517\/gilchrist-academy-s-monifa-sealy-wins-ijgt-championship","title":{"rendered":"Gilchrist Academy’s Monifa Sealy Wins IJGT Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>True champions know how and when to rise to the occasion. Monifa Sealy, last year\u2019s Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Player of the Year, lived up to that billing perfectly at this weekend\u2019s 2010 Bridgestone Golf Tournament of Champions at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando.<\/p>\n

With 26 victories in her illustrious junior golf career, Sealy, a 17-year-old junior from Glencoe, Trinidad\/Tobago, is certainly no stranger to winning. But Sealy\u2019s latest victory was one of her more memorable ones as she overcame a 5-stroke deficit with a fearless final-round 69 to win the prestigious season-ending International Junior Golf Tournament event.<\/p>\n

Sealy\u2019s 3-under 69 gave her a 2-under 212 for the tournament (70-73-69), which proved to be more than enough to beat Ri Hyang Park of Japan by three strokes (71-67-77). Gilchrist Academy teammate \u201cJamie\u201d Yingzhou Yun, a sophomore from China, almost made it a 1-2 GGGA finish after posting a 2-over 216 (71-69-76), highlighted by nine birdies in her first 36 holes.<\/p>\n

Sealy, a member of her country\u2019s national golf team and elite athlete training program, wasted no time in applying final-round pressure on Park by posting birdies on three of the first eight holes. At the turn, the two players were tied and the rest was all Sealy.<\/p>\n

Scott Shaffer, GGGA assistant director of instruction and Sealy\u2019s junior golf coach, said Sealy was striking the ball really well during her first two rounds and wasn\u2019t putting that bad, either. She just couldn\u2019t score. Her plan for the final round was focusing on one shot at a time.<\/p>\n

The strategy and patience paid off as Sealy \u201creally played solid the final nine holes,\u201d according to Shaffer, who also coaches Yun.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to see Monifa win,\u201d Shaffer said. \u201cShe\u2019s been playing real well the past 3-4 months. The remarkable thing was she was so focused she didn\u2019t know she won by three strokes when she walked off.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing Shaffer is starting to notice about Sealy is her overall growth as a player and person.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s starting to mature as a person and really starting to prepare more and plan more on the golf course,\u201d Shaffer added. \u201cShe\u2019s a lot more aware of where she is and what it takes to succeed at the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several other GGGA players had strong finishes at this weekend\u2019s Tournament of Champions as well. Consider:<\/p>\n