Oelofse, Kenney and Turner tops at Willodell
Kian Oelofse is off to an impressive start on the Niagara District Junior Golf Tour.
The Grade 11 student at Ridley College has won both tournaments he has played in, most recently Friday at Willodell. Oelofse and Will Burleigh tied with 74s after regulation play before the former won it with a birdie on the first playoff hole. It was his second straight win in a playoff.
Oelofse is not yet willing to assume the nickname Mr. Clutch.
“I played bad coming down the last three holes and I missed some big opportunities to go lower. I could have been under par if it wasn’t for a three putt and some poor putting and short game.”
His putter almost let him down again in the playoff. He had about a 12-foot fringe putt for eagle and left it short enough that he had an anxious final putt.
“I thought I sold it there and gave my opportunity away but it worked out.”
The 16-year-old member at Cherry Hill and Lookout Point started playing on the local junior tour when he was 11. He played in the under-19 division last year for the first time and didn’t win any events. He has changed that stat quickly in 2024.
“It’s my mentality. I got the season started with some good rounds and that boosted my confidence and upped my expectations and standards a little bit.”
He averaged 80-81 on the tour last year and was thrilled with anything in the high 70s.
“This year, I have played a couple of really good rounds and have played good golf this year. Now 80 is bad golf compared to last year when it was good golf. I want to push myself to shoot lower scores.”
His motivation can be summed up in one word.
“Winning,” he said, with a laugh. “And self-improvement. A 72 sounds a whole lot better than an 82.”
Friday’s result caught him by surprise.
“I didn’t come out and expect to play good golf today because I played yesterday and I didn’t play well,” he said of his round which followed an 81 at Cherry Hill Thursday.
Oelofse has been adjusting to growth spurts in 2023 and 2024 and the 6-foot-4 golfer had added some muscle as well.
“Over the winter, I did a lot of strength training and I put on a lot of mass. I have gained 20 pounds.”
Thankfully he hasn’t struggled with adjusting to his new dimensions.
“I have reached the point where I am done growing in big spurts and I have found more consistency in my game in terms of distance.”
UNDER-19 GIRLS
An attitude adjustment is paying immediate dividends for golfer Casey Kenney.
The Sir Winston Churchill graduate has decided to have fun playing golf and that has translated into results, most recently a one-shot victory Friday at Willodell after carding a 77.
“It’s amazing what you can do when you have fun,” she said after her round. “Last year, I wasn’t too happy with my golf game and I just wanted to look at it a little bit differently. It means nothing. I don’t plan on getting a scholarship. I am committed to Brock already and it’s just for fun. I have had a hard time to see it like that.”
The 18-year-old has always seen golf as competition even when she wasn’t playing in a tournament. That has changed in 2024.
“It’s my last year. It’s a bonus year and I want to have fun.”
She agrees it took some soul searching to come to this point in her golf career.
“It was hard because I have had a lot of expectations from everyone around me, especially myself. This year I just tried to let them go.”
She is finding out having fun is a great way to approach golf.
“I think I am finally doing that after a long time of not. It’s good.”
In hindsight, she wishes she would have taken that approach sooner.
“It’s hard though. Sometimes when you are younger, you just get so focused in on winning and you can’t see both sides of it. Last year was a very love/hate relationship and this year it is just a loving one.”
She is going to study kinesiology this fall at Brock and plans to try out for the school’s golf team.
UNDER-15 BOYS
Brennan Turner has made a habit of dominating his division on the Niagara District Junior Golf Tour.
He won every event in the under-13 division in 2022 and in 2023 he placed first in two events to finish second overall in the under-15 division. He shot a 74 Friday at Willodell to record a 15-shot victory and remain unbeaten in the under-15 division in 2024.
“I don’t really focus on anybody’s else score. I play my own ball and focus on hitting the right shots, making the right plays, managing my misses and just trying to keep the ball in play,” the Grade 9 student at E.L. Crossley said.
The 14-year-old Fonthill resident has been playing golf since he was three and began competing in tournaments when he was seven or eight. He has continued to evolve his game every year.
“This year, I have been getting off the tee a lot better. Last year, I was a little bit inconsistent. It was going left. It was going right. But this year I have figured it out.”
He trained over the winter on a golf simulator at home and he took lessons from John White.
“It was very big. You always want to be prepared because I usually play my first tournament in April or early May. I want to have my game really good going into the first tournaments because you don’t want to be rusty.”
The Rockway Vineyards member placed in the top 40 at the under-15 provincials last year but has set his sights higher in 2024.
“I would like to make U15 or U17 provincials and place well in them, at least better than last year. I want to get my name out there and maybe get some attention from people down south.”
Next stop on the tour is next Friday at Rockway Vineyards.
Friday’s event was the third stop on the tour. Earlier events were held at Sawmill and Brock.
“Last year we had a couple tournaments in June and that actually was on the advice of Sawmill to spread it out so we are not trying to get 10 in all at once,” tour organizer White said.
The early tournaments worked well because it allowed him to do a better job of selecting the six boys and three girls for the under-19 teams at the Ontario Summer Games.
“Our numbers for the tour are down this year but we have players registered in the 50s. The first two tournaments were down but we had 42 players today,” White said. “A lot of kids are playing other events and maybe because we started early they haven’t shown up yet.”
This summer, there are seven girls signed up to play.
Following are top 10 results from Friday’s tournament:
Under-19 boys: Kian Oelofse 74; Will Burleigh 74; Tommy Goodwin 75; Michael Martel 76; Dawson Dermatas 77; Andrew Burciul 77; Elliott Christopher 77; John Kingdon 82; Austin Ste. Croix 83; Benjamin Shaver 83; Carter Fulkerson 83.
Under-19 girls: Casey Kenney 77; Sierra Kowalyshyn 78; Hazel Templeman 90; Mikayla Lacey 90; Tiffany King 99.
Under-15 boys: Brennan Turner 74; Mike Nevinger 89; Joshua Bertrand 90; Eli Corfield 92; Charlie Smith 92; Alex Shorthouse 93; Callum Birdsell 96; Brett Sharpe 100; Logan Taylor 119.
Under-13 boys: Eli Perng 80.
