The last two events of the 2025 PGA Winter Championships presented by GolfPass and On Location – the Women’s Stroke Play Championship and Stroke Play Championship – were conducted in mid-February at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Katelyn Sepmoree of Tyler, Texas, held off Sandra Changkija of Daytona Beach, Florida, by two strokes, while Domenico Geniniani of Italy defeated Jared Jones of Houston by three strokes.
Barb Moxness of Stuart, Florida, claimed the Women’s Stroke Play Senior Division.
A review of the first four 2025 PGA Winter Championships appeared in the March issue of PGA Magazine, available at PGAmagazine.com.
Sepmoree edges Changkija, while Moxness prevails by seven shots
When Katelyn Sepmoree of Tyler, Texas, saw her ball in the bunker on the par-4 18th fairway on the Wanamaker Course, she shook her head in frustration. Her drive had rolled under the lip, leaving her with only a chip out.
Tied for the lead with Sandra Changkija, who had split the fairway, Sepmoree knew her odds of winning the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship had become slimmer than a 1-iron. Things didn’t look better when her chip out left her behind Changkija’s drive.
From 147 yards into a stiff, left-to-right wind, she had one thought: “This is it, Katelyn, you have to do it.”
And she did, firing a 9-iron to 7 feet to keep her in the hunt. Changkija, who had won this championship three of the last four years, pulled her ap proach 60 feet left of the pin.
Changkija left her first putt 8 feet short, changing the tenor of the hole. Her par putt missed the right edge and, suddenly, Sepmoree had a putt to win.
“She’s a really great player and I fully expected her to make that second putt,” said Sepmoree, who works at Willow Brook Country Club. “In my head, I just kept saying, ‘You have to make this, you have to make this.’”
And she did, rolling in the unlikely par putt to cap off a wild finish at PGA Golf Club on Feb. 18. The conclusion of the PGA Winter Championships saw Sepmoree finish at 1-over 216.
“I still don’t really believe I won,” Sepmoree said.
As a bonus, Sepmoree earned a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team playing in the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship June 19-22 at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, enabling her to play in her first major championship in her home state.
“To play my first major in my home state gives me chills,” explained Sepmoree.
Changkija appeared headed for her fourth win in the last five years. She has won three in a row (2021–23) and was second last year to Stephanie Connelly-Eiswerth.
Barb Moxness from Stuart, Florida, coasted to the Senior Division title, winning by seven shots over Lisa Grimes, who had won the title the last three years. Moxness started the final round with a two-shot lead and quickly pulled away with a 3-under 69 to finish at even-par 215.
“Any win feels good because you’re still under pressure and you’ve got to perform,” said Moxness, who played on the LPGA Tour.
Top Finishers
1 Katelyn Sepmoree, Tyler, Texas....................................72-72-72—216
2 Sandra Changkija, Daytona Beach, Fla.........................74-71-72—217
T3 Taylor Collins, Davie, Fla................................................77-72-71—220
T3 Ashley Grier, Hagerstown, Md.....................................72-73-75—220
Senior Division
1 Barb Moxness, Stuart, Fla.............................................73-73-69—215
2 Lisa Grimes, Gold Canyon, Ariz....................................73-76-73—222
3 Christy Longfield, Austin, Texas...................................75-73-75—223
4 Cheryl Anderson, Lake Mary, Fla..................................78-76-73—227
Geminiani goes wire-to-wire to win Stroke Play by three strokes
When Domenico Geminiani of Italy gets hot, it seems like the rest of the field is playing for second place. Even when he makes a major putting change.
Geminiani took control of the PGA Stroke Play Championship with a first-round 63 on Feb. 11 and never let go. He closed with a 4-under 67 on the Ryder Course to win by three shots at PGA Golf Club.
Geminiani went wire-to-wire to finish at 14-under 200, three ahead of Jared Jones of Houston, to earn the $6,000 first prize.
“I played phenomenal the first day, one of the better rounds I’ve had in a while,” said Geminiani, a PGA Assistant Professional at Old Corkscrew Golf Club near Naples. “And I had a lot of putts lip out. It was crazy.”
Geminiani maintained his two-shot lead in Round 2 with a 70 on the tougher Wanamaker Course. He bogeyed his first hole in the final round, before he started dealing with more lip outs.
Geminiani had been putting with great success the last year with the flag in, but decided to take the flag out two weeks ago after he struggled on the greens. Wise move.
“I wasn’t holing much, and I was feeling tentative, so I pulled the flag back out,” he said. “Who knows, in a couple months, maybe I’ll put it back in.”
Jones (68) twice got within a shot of Geminiani in the final round. The last time, Geminiani then matched Jones’ birdie on the 14th hole to keep a multiple-shot lead the rest of the day.
“He played great and made some great putts at the end,” said Jones, the PGA Director of Instruction at River Oaks Country Club.
Also at stake on Feb. 11 were the final two spots in the PGA Professional Championship, scheduled for PGA Golf Club on April 27-30. They went to Andre Chi of Flushing, New York, with a sparkling, bogey-free 64, capped with a 60-foot birdie on the 18th; and Jon Mayer of Greenville, South Carolina, to finish tied for third at 10-under 204.
“I’m glad I was able to get it done. I wanted to get to 10 (-under). Making that long putt at the end was a bonus,” said Chi, a 24-year-old Assistant PGA Professional at Deepdale Golf Club. —Craig Dolch
1 Domenico Geminiani, Italy.........................................63-70-67—200
2 Jared Jones, Houston.................................................69-66-68—203
T3 Andre Chi, Flushing, N.Y..............................................73-67-64—204
T3 Jon Mayer, Greenville, S.C...........................................66-70-68—204
5 Andy Svoboda, Oak Brook, Ill......................................65-71-70—206
