PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Estero's Clemente, teammate win U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball tournament; are youngest champs

Estero's Gianna Clemente, 15, at right, and her teammate, Avery Zweig, 16, of McKinney, Texas, took the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Tournament championship Wednesday, becoming the youngest champions in the brief history of the tournament.
USGA
/
Special to WGCU
Estero's Gianna Clemente, 15, at right, and her teammate, Avery Zweig, 16, of McKinney, Texas, took the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Tournament championship Wednesday, becoming the youngest champions in the brief history of the tournament.

The legend of Gianna Clemente continues to grow.

The 15-year-old part-time Estero resident won her first United States Golf Association tournament this week. Clemente, and her playing partner Avery Zweig, won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Tournament outside of Seattle.

“It was very surreal at first,” Clemente said. “I don’t think it sunk in for either of us until at least a couple of hours after.”

Estero's Gianna Clemente, 15, at right, and her teammate, Avery Zweig, 16, of McKinney, Texas, took the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Tournament championship Wednesday, becoming the youngest champions in the brief history of the tournament.
USGA
/
Special to WGCU
Estero's Gianna Clemente, 15, at right, and her teammate, Avery Zweig, 16, of McKinney, Texas, took the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Tournament championship Wednesday, becoming the youngest champions in the brief history of the tournament.

Clemente and Zweig, 16, defeated college golfers Tiffany Le and Kate Villegas 3 and 1 in the championship match. They came back from a two-hole deficit on the front nine.

Four-ball is also known as best ball. The team, in this case two players, uses the lowest score of the pair on each hole.

Clemente and Zweig were the youngest golfers to win the eight-year-old tournament. Clemente is finishing ninth grade and Zweig, who lives in Dallas, is finishing 10th grade.

Le will be a junior next year at UC Riverside. Villegas, a junior, will play at UCLA.

Clemente and Zweig played seven rounds of golf over five days. Clemente was 26 under par for 112 holes.

“She played better than I’ve ever seen her play,” said her swing coach Spencer Graham.
“Definitely the ball striking was at an all-time high, for sure,” Clemente said.

Clemente and Zweig breezed through their first two matches, winning 5-and-4. They won 3-and-2 in their quarter-final match and 4-and-3 in the semifinals.

They immediately fell two holes down in the championship match.

“We were trailing for a little bit on the front nine, so it was definitely a kind of a dogfight,” Clemente said.

They birdied number nine to cut the deficit to one hole and then won four of the next eight holes for 3-and-1 victory.

“I think the endurance part came in on the back nine,” Clemente said. “We were all pretty tired.”

Estero's Gianna Clemente, 15, above, and her teammate, Avery Zweig, 16, of McKinney, Texas, took the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Tournament championship Wednesday, becoming the youngest champions in the brief history of the tournament.
USGA
/
Special to WGCU
Estero's Gianna Clemente, 15, above, and her teammate, Avery Zweig, 16, of McKinney, Texas, took the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Tournament championship Wednesday, becoming the youngest champions in the brief history of the tournament.

Patrick Clemente caddied for his daughter for the seven rounds.

“Gianna had a spectacular week,” he said in a text message. “It was thrilling to see her get her first USGA win.”

Clemente, ranked number one by the American Junior Golf Association, will have a busy summer.

She will play the first week of June in New Jersey at an American Junior Golf Association tournament with 23 other girls between age 12-19. The girls will share the course with LPGA golfers who will compete in a separate tournament.

By winning this week, Clemente and Zweig earn exemptions for the U.S. Women’s Amateur in Los Angeles in August. Clemente already qualified for the U.S. Girl’s Junior in July in Colorado Springs.

Clemente also hopes to earn spots on the Junior Soldheim Cup being held in Spain and the Junior Ryder Cup being held in Italy. Both are being held in September.

WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.