14-year-old teen phenom Sofia Cherif Essakali finished 6-under overall to win the 2023 Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational at Sun 'n Lake Golf & Country Club, the Deer Run Course, in Sebring, Fla.
Essakali shot a final round 4-under 68 to win by two shots after starting the day tied at 2-under with Thanana Kotchasanmanee and Angela Zhang. Kotchasanmanee finished in solo third place after shooting a final round 1-under to finish 3-under, and Zhang finished in solo fourth place after a final round even par 72 to finish 2-under. Chloe Schiavone shot a final round 3-under 69 to propel to solo second place on the leaderboard, finishing 4-under.
Essakali shot rounds of 71-74-69-68 to finish 6-under. In the final round, she recorded four birdies, an eagle, and a double bogey. She was 6-under in the final round through 14 holes after an eagle on No. 14 but made a double bogey on No. 17 to fall back to 4-under for the day. Schiavone was even par on the final nine holes, unable to make a late push to challenge Essakali.
Essakali made headlines at the Lalla Meryem Cup after becoming the youngest player to make the cut in the tournament at 13 years old.
Formerly known as the Harder Hall Invitational, this is a four-day, no-cut stroke play tournament for women amateurs. It was played at Harder Hall CC for more than 65 years, but in 2021 it moves to a rotation of courses on the Citrus Golf Trail in Sebring, Florida.
The illustrious list of past champions includes the current world #1 Nelly Korda; Hall-of-Famer Joanne Carner; LPGA stars Christie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Stacy Lewis, and Charley Hull; amateur legends Carol Semple Thompson and Meghan Stasi; and two members of the winning 2021 Curtis Cup Team, Emilia Migliaccio and Gina Kim.
It has long drawn an international field and has two Divisions: the Championship Division and the Forever 49 Division (max index 16.4). It is the first of the "Orange Blossom" series of Florida winter tournaments.