Martel, Lacey win first junior tour event
Michael Martel made a winning debut in the under-19 division on the Niagara Junior Golf Tour.
The 14-year-old Lookout Point member fired a two over par 59 to finish first in the opening event on the 2021 tour at Brock Golf.
It is the 29th year for the tour, which also started last season at Brock.
Martel, the defending under-15 boys champion, edged Noah LeBrasseur of Players Club Ottawa by two strokes and Benjamin Hebert of Lookout Point by three.
“I had a GAO (Golf Association of Ontario) qualifier last Thursday (in Guelph) and I didn’t play too well so it was nice to bounce back and just have iron shots and wedge shots,” he said. “I feel like that helped and I’m more dialled in now and back on my game.
“I wasn’t really nervous. I just went in with the mindset of winning.”
Martel, who just finished his Grade 10 year at Notre Dame, is still eligible to play U15 but moved up to test himself against better competition.
“It didn’t feel any extra pressure or anything,” he said.
Martel didn’t have to face older brother Matt Martel, the defending U19 division winner who was away at a GAO event Monday.
“The only thing I’m worried about is when Matt comes back!” Michael said. “He will be back for the next tournament.”
Michael Martel adjusted his thought process playing a short course.
“I’m not really thinking about distance, I’m just thinking about being on point,” he said. “I don’t mind it but I’m looking forward to the next tournament (Monday, July 19 at Rolling Meadows) and being able to hit drivers and see where I am at.”
Michael Martel had a consistent round, shooting a 28 on the front nine and 31 on the back nine.
“That’s good,” he said. “Obviously that keeps me confident and I’m not as concerned. I was playing conservative, more than anything today. I didn’t need to play aggressive. I was hitting greens and two-putting.”
Michael Martel also plans to play in the U19 provincials, U17, U15 GAO events this summer.
“Lots of golf,” he said.
LACEY WINS PLAYOFF
Mikayla Lacey finally got over the hump.
The 14-year-old Port Colborne Country Club member edged Anisha Ghosh of Burlington Golf & Country Club by one stroke in a playoff to capture her first win on the junior tour in three years of competition.
“It felt great because I’ve worked really hard to come this far,” Lacey said. “I feel this (will give me) quite a lot of confidence because now I feel I can actually do it.”
Lacey said the focus of her work with coach Jamie Stevenson of Modern Golf has been her short shots and half swings.
Lacey and Ghosh tied after 18 holes at 71 necessitating the playoff which was held on the 120-yard, par three first hole. Lacey won the playoff by one stroke, 5-4.
“I hit my tee shot and I was short of the green and she hit it in the bunker and she hit it before me. I knew I really had to step on it and really push to make it,” she said.
It was the Port Colborne High School student’s first experience in a playoff.
“It was kind of nerve wracking. I’ve never been in a situation like that so it was kind of exciting as well.”
Lacey, daughter of former St. Catharines Falcons sniper Peter Lacey, had an inconsistent round. After a seven on the par three 14th hole, she recovered with a birdie on the next hole.
“It was like a rollercoaster ride,” Lacey said of her round. “It was up and down. I left a lot of shots out on the course.”
Lacey isn’t a big fan of the short course at Brock.
“I find it kind of difficult because some of those par threes are really short and it’s in between clubs,” she said.
The tour continues Monday, July 12 at Rockway Vineyards followed by Wednesday, July 14 at Sawmill; Monday, July 19 at Rolling Meadows; Wednesday, July 21 at Grand Niagara, Friday, July 23 at Willodell; Monday, July 26 at Legends on the Niagara Battlefield; Wednesday, Aug. 4 at Twenty Valley; and Monday, Aug. 23, at Beechwood in Niagara Falls.
U13 BOYS
1. Matthew Graysons, Sawmill +7 64; T2. Chase Partridge, St. Catharines Golf & Country Club +10 67, T2. Brennan Turner, Hamilton +10 67; 4. Trent Clarke, Sawmill +13 70; 5. Daxx Partridge, St. Catharines Golf & Country Club +15 72; 6. Dawson Dermatas, St. Catharines Golf & Country Club +16 73; 7. Joseph Zupanic, Sawmill +18 75; 8. Ryan Kirkpatrick, Golf Canada Clubhouse +21 78; T9. Carter Fulkerson, Player’s Club +22 79, T9 Jackson Jones, Beechwood, +22 79.
U15 BOYS
1. Andrew Burciul, Sawmill, +2 59; T2. Angelo Butera, Players Club Ottawa +9 66, T2. Kiam Oelofse, Lookout Point, +9 66, T2. Will Burleigh, Sawmill Golf Course +9 66; T5. Cole Thompson, Sawmill, +14 71, T5. Vincent Cuviello, Players Club Ottawa +14 71; 7. Elliott Christopher, St. Catharines Golf & Country Club +16 73; 8. Aidan Smith, Players Club Ottawa +19 76; 9. Alec Linton, Players Club Ottawa +21 78; 10. Jack Ilskens, Players Club Hamilton +22 79.
U17/19 BOYS
1. Michael Martel, Lookout Point +2 59; 2. Noah LeBrasseur, Players Club Ottawa +4 61; T3. Benjamin Hebert, Lookout Point +5 62, T3. Morgan Daly, St. Catharines Golf & Country Club +5 62; T5. Ben Kelly, Sawmill +6 63, Caleb Shorthouse, Twenty Valley Golf & Country Club +6 63; 7. Deryck Burke, Lookout Point, +8 65; T8. Aidan Lopinski, Lookout Point +9 66, T8. Andrew Scott, Port Colborne Country Club +9 66, T8. Kayden Grenier, Players Club Ottawa +9 66.
U19 GIRLS
T1. Mikayla Lacey, Port Colborne Country Club +14, 71; Anisha Ghosh, Burlington Golf & Country Club +14 71; 3. Sierra Kowalyshyn, Sawmill +16 73; 4. Alexis Alderson, Lookout Point +22 79; 5 Marieve Ayres, Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club +25 82.
Lacey won in a playoff by one stroke.
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