Junior tour launches early

The Niagara Junior Golf Tour got off to an early start Saturday at Brock Golf Course.

“I do try to get 10 events in the summer and we don’t usually start until they get out of school at the end of June and there was a suggestion to try and spread it out more,” tour organizer John White said. “Sometimes to get to 10, I will have two or three in a week and I think this way it is good. It spreads them out a little more.”

The number of players competing on the tour in 2023 is down a little with 53 golfers signed up and 40 of them playing in the opening tournament.

“I anticipate that we will get a few more as we get into the summer months,” he said.

The trend is comparable with the golf industry which has adjusted downward after the boom precipitated by the COVID-10 pandemic.

“There are more things going on now than when COVID was here,” White said.

The majority of the players on the tour are boys and the girls division has six players, including a couple of young golfers.

“There are some up-and-coming young ones from Sawmill and they obviously run a great program out there. They are feeding a lot of their kids into the tour.”

White is not exactly sure what can be done to attract more golfers on to the tour.

“I still think there are a lot of kids playing. It is just whether they want to play competitively or not,” White said. “It is a totally different animal. Sometimes it is intimidating and I still don’t know if we are doing a good enough job of getting the word out. I do try to send posters and talk to all the clubs, the pros and the powers that be to spread the word but I am sure there are lot of kids out there who could be playing.”

Divisions include under-19 girls and under-13, under-15 and under-19 boys.

“I toyed with the idea of under-17 but a lot of times, under-17s will win the overall crown any ways and the under-13s and under-15s play different tees,” White said. “At one time when I did the tour, the first 10 or more years, it was all under-19 and everyone played from the same tees whether you were 12 or 18.”

Returning to defend their titles are Cole Thompson in the under-19 boys division and Casey Kenney in the under-19 girls division. Thompson didn’t play Saturday because he was taking part in a practice round for the International Junior Masters in East Aurora, N.Y.

Kenney, who placed fifth Saturday, is looking for her third straight junior girls title.

The tour continues Sunday, June 25 at Sawmill, Friday, June 30 at Willodell, Friday, July 7 at Rockway Vineyards, Monday, July 10 at Bridgewater, Wednesday, July 19 at Twenty Valley, Monday, July 24 at Grand Niagara, Monday, July 31 at Rolling Meadows, Tuesday, Aug. 15 at Niagara National and Wednesday, Aug 23 at Beechwood.

Below are the leaderboards from Saturday’s action.

Under-19 girls: Sierra Kowalyshyn, Sawmill 65; Grace Stewart, Sawmill 66; Edyn Sobie, Players Club Mississuaga West 67; Mikayla Lacey, Port Colborne 67; Casey Kenney, Sawmill 71; McKinley Stewart, Sawmill 75.

Under-13 boys: Landon Friesen, Sawmill 69; Jack Vitiello, Sawmill 73; Daxx Partridge, St. Catharines G&CC 74; Alex Shorthouse, Players Club Hamilton 78; Jonah Sobie, Players Club Mississauga West 88.

Under-15 boys: Ben Julie, Sawmill 57; Trent Clarke, Sawmill 62 ; Joseph Zupanic, Sawmill 67; Brennan Turner, Peninsula Lakes 68, Matthew Gray, Sawmill 68; Ryan Kirkpatrick, Sawmill 73; Dawson Dermatas, St. Catharines G&CC 75; Jaxon Pozzobon, Sawmill 78; Charlie Smith, Players Club Ottawa 80; Jordan Spratt, Twenty Valley 80; Vince Belardi 80.

Under-19 boys: Andrew Burciul, Sawmill 59; Will Burleigh, Sawmill 62; Alec Linton, Sawmill 65; Austin Ste. Croix, Twenty Valley 65; John Kingdom, Sawmill 66; Benjamin Morin, Bridgewater 67; Tommy Goodwin, St. Catharines G&CC 68; Mateo Rego, Players Club Ottawa 68; Noah LeBrasseur, Cherry Hill 69; Vincent Cuviello, Players Club Ottawa 70.