Cyclone capture SOSSA golf title
A combination of youth and home course advantage helped the E.L. Crossley Cyclone to a Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association golf championship Monday.
Brennan Turner (73), Ben Julie (74), Blake Furtney (75) and Kelton Pitts (88) combined for a 310 to win the overall boys team event, six strokes ahead of A.N. Myer and Sir Winston Churchill.
“I thought we had a good chance to win,” Crossley coach Jamie MacDonald said. “We had two really good Grade 9s (Turner, Julie) coming in this year and a third Grade 9 (Pitts) who is capable as well and we had Blake and Jonah (Shapland) coming back.
“We felt we had a pretty good chance plus three of the five members are from Sawmill as well. It was a good advantage.”
Turner, a 13-year-old, Grade 9 student who golfs out of Peninsula Lakes, led the team with a 73.
“I definitely thought we had a chance,” Turner said. “I know most of us can go petty low and I thought if we could all play really well we could get it together.”
Julie, a 14-year-old, Grade 9 student, enjoyed competing for SOSSA on his home course.
“It was pretty cool,” he said. “It was really helpful knowing the course and I knew everything about it.”
Julie got off to a strong start in his round.
“I was one under after six and then made a double on seven but then got it back together on the back nine.”
Furtney, a 16-year-old, Grade 11 student, also appreciated playing at Sawmill.
“It helped a lot. I knew where to hit it off the tee,” he said.
Furtney was confident heading into the round.
“I thought we had a pretty good chance because we won by at lot at zone,” he said.
Shapland also competed for Crossley and shot a 97 with the top four scores counting.
The 15-year-old, Grade 10 student who golfs out of Lookout Point, had a rough day but was appreciative of his teammates.
“It feels good. All my guys picked me up. I thought I was going to let them down and I was going to be the reason we didn’t move up but they played really good,” he said.
The Cyclone advance to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship Oct. 11-12 at the Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor.
The Myer team consisted of Patrick Babin (84), Logan Rossi (75), Jeff Vormittag (80) and Ed Friesen (77).
Nick Mooradian (78), Dawson Dermatas (84), James Lindsay (79) and Elliott Christopher (75) made up Sir Winston’s squad.
In the individual boys high school category, Matthew Hitchcock of St. Francis fired a 74 to finish first and will advance to OFSSA.
The top open player was Lucas Smith of Ancaster who carded a 69, beating out Cole Thompson of Blessed Trinity by one stroke to advance to OFSAA.
In the girls high school individual category, Tiffany Kang of Eden shot an 88 to place first overall.
“My shots off the tee were working pretty well,” said Kang, a 14-year-old, Grade 9 student. “They weren’t going too crazy and I could keep it consistent so it worked out well and my short game wasn’t terrible.
Kang, too, is a member at Sawmill.
“I guess I’m more comfortable here than other courses,” she said.
Hazel Templeman of Orchard Park placed second with a 93 while Mya Nitsopoulos of Denis Morris earned the third and final individual spot for OFSSA with a 102.
“Back nine was pretty tough which is what we did first,” she said. “That was the most difficult part of it because of the small fairways. As we did the front nine it started to open up and I started to hit more fairways. I just struggled with my long putts.”
Nitsopoulos, a 16-year-old, Grade 11 student, takes golf lessons but doesn’t compete on a regular basis.
“I haven’t golfed two years,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to go to OFSAA. We’ll see how it goes.”
In the girls open category, Mikaya Lacey of Port Colborne High School placed second to Anna Kim of Westdale (73) with an 81.
“I struggled on the back nine,” said Lacey, a 17-year-old, Grade 12 student. “I had a better front nine. It was very slow and it threw me off a little bit. I tried to stay with it. I had a lot of three putts which hurt.”
Lacey placed in the middle of the pack at OFSAA last year.
“I think I have to go in there thinking it’s definitely possible and knowing if I play my own game I have a chance and that’s all that I can really can do,” she said.
Girls OFSSA will be held Oct. 11-12 at the Batteaux Creek Golf Club in Collingwood.
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