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Aaron Sherry decided to go with a younger caddie, someone who wasn't afraid to give him some advice. It was the difference in the 16-year-old qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur on Wednesday.

Sherry, who will be a junior this fall at Canterbury School in Fort Myers, was struggling a bit down the stretch, missing the fairway on his next-to-last hole and getting up and down for bogey out of a bunker at Hideout Golf Club. He also left himself having to two-putt from 60 feet for par on the 18th hole.

Reza Sultan, a former teammate of Sherry's at Canterbury, was there to calm him down and keep him focused. Sultan reassured Sherry he may need to make that 8-foot par putt. And it turned out he did, grabbing the final of two qualifying spots by a single stroke.

"Somehow he was able to keep me calm out on the course," said Sherry, who works with instructor Rich Prange. "I definitely maintained my composure in this tournament much better than I have in the previous qualifiers.

"He's pretty good at improvising and stuff like that. He probably saved me at least three shots (Tuesday) ... situations when to lay up and when to go for it. I think in the past, my caddies, I've kind of just let them stay out of the way and I've just played on my own. This time I realized it really helps when you have a good caddie there."

Bobby Bode of Fort Lauderdale rode the disappointment of missing out in a playoff last year to earn medalist honors on Wednesday. "I was a little bitter last year," he said. "So I just came out and practiced even harder. I played real well today. I played real well."

The 17-year-old senior-to-be at Cardinal Gibbons High School fired back-to-back 69s for a 138 total. Bode had a 31 on the front nine in the second round.

"It took a lot of the pressure off," Bode said.

Perhaps Sherry was feeling the pressure coming down the stretch. He hit his tee shot thin on No. 17 and into a fairway bunker, facing a downhill lie. He put his next shot in another bunker, then misclubbed and hit his third shot over the green into "some, like, hazard stuff." But Sherry hit a good shot out of the lie. He missed the 15-footer for par, but it could've been worse.

Then on No. 18, he was kicking himself after leaving that approach shot 60 feet away. But Sultan was there to keep him focused. "I was a little upset and he told me 'Hey, let's get this down in two putts,' " Sherry said.

The Junior Amateur is July 17-22 at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

None of the local players who were in contention going into the final round could overcome the tough back nine at The Hideout.

Fort Myers' Daniel Mazziotta shot a 78 and tied for seventh at 151. Naples' Josh Leppo had a 79 and ended up part of a tie for ninth, as did Naples' Jack Schroeder, who had a 78.

FIGUEROA QUALIFIES FOR GIRLS JUNIOR: Naples' Courtney Figueroa qualified for the U.S. Girls Junior Amateur last Thursday at Hammock Creek Golf Club in Palm City.

Figueroa grabbed the seventh and final spot with a 76. Cape Coral's Michelle Shin also qualified, finishing second with a 71.

The Girls Junior Amateur is July 17-22 at Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, N.C.

SANTOS-OCAMPO SECOND IN AJGA EVENT: Naples' Carl Santos-Ocampo, who is headed to Notre Dame, shot a 5-under-par 67 on Wednesday and moved into a tie for second at the American Junior Golf Association's First American Title Junior Classic in Lutz.

Santos-Ocampo trails Adam Long of Defiance, Mo., by three shots. In the girls division, Cape Coral's Shin is nine back of Plantation's Lindy Duncan at 151. Naples' Figueroa is another stroke behind Shin. The tournament wraps up today.