Rossi, Kang tops at Zone 3/4 golf
Logan Rossi was king of the tee box Wednesday at Twenty Valley.
The Grade 12 student at A.N. Myer carded a 75 to record the lowest Zone 3 and overall boys score at the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Zone 3/4 golf championships. Churchill’s Jack Hanna was the Zone 4 individual boys champion with a 76.
“I was pretty hyped when I found out that I had won,” Rossi said.
The 16-year-old’s secret to success was playing simple golf.
“It was a windy day out there so I kind of just hit fairways, greens and two-putted. I also made four or five birdies which definitely helped the scorecard,” he said. “I made sure my mental game was in check shot by shot and I didn’t look ahead. I focused on the shot that I had.”
His turning point in the round came on the par 3 15th hole where was two feet from the pin on his tee shot and was able to tap in for an easy birdie.
“That gave me a lot of confidence moving forward,” the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club member said.
His goals for the fall are to score well enough at the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association tournament to advance to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship.
“I am training for SOSSA and I have (Maple Leaf Junior Tour) nationals coming up. That will be a big step for me this fall if I keep putting in the work.”
His low score at zone continued what has been an excellent season.
He finished eighth in juvenile division of the Maple Leaf Junior Tour’s Order of Merit and competed in the the Ontario Junior Players Invitational, the Ontario under-19 and under-19 match play tournaments, and the Ontario under-17 championship, where he tied for 21st.
“This was a good year but I want to get the scoring average down a little bit.”
His biggest gains came in his mental game.
“Last year I felt that I got way too worked up over one bad hole and this year I am way more composed. If I make a bad hole, I am right back into it on the next hole making a birdie or a par. I also find that I am able to string holes together this year.”
The next step in his progression will come with hard work.
“It is definitely putting the practise in, working on my fundamentals and trying to score when I can score.”
He hopes to play golf at the post secondary level.
“I have an agent and I have been reaching out to schools. I am continuing to try and improve my golf game and see what happens.”
Rossi and teammate Ed Friesen (78) qualified for SOSSA as individuals as did Westlane’s Peter Zhang (80) and Laura Secord’s James Quinn (93) and Sam Prichard (98)
E.L. Crossley won the Zone 3 team title while Sir Winston Churchill was tops in Zone 4.
Zone 3 teams: 1. E.L. Crossley 313 (Brennan Turner 76; Ben Julie 77; Blake Furtney 80; Christian Baxter 80; Jonah Shapland 85); 2. Greater Fort Erie 342 (Cam Strugar 83; Ryder Fletcher 84; Brayden Stoddard 86; James Collison 89; Josh Neufeld 95); 3. Centennial 345 (Jack Ilskins 83; Kohen Crastina 84; Carter Fulkerson 87; Lucas Homan 91; Kohen Bergeron 101)
Zone 4 teams: 1. Sir Winston Churchill 318 (Christopher Elliot 77; Dawson Dermatas 77; James Lindsay 77; Jack Mooradian 87; Nick Gilby 91); 2. West Niagara 320 (Jack Hanna 76; Sullivan McDaniel 79; Trent Clark 80; Carter Grosvenor 85; Malachi O’Brien 87); 3. Eden 359 (Mason Ritzema 81; Jaxon Pozzobon 90; Callan Noyes 91; Bradley Kim 97).
GIRLS DIVISION
It was a great day for Tiffany Kang Wednesday at Twenty Valley as the Grade 10 student at Eden carded a 91 to record the low score at the Zone 3/4 golf championship.
“It was exciting. It was fun because there are always people from schools nearby and it’s an enjoyable experience.”
The weather made play challenging.
“It was so windy and the greens were tricky and it made things difficult. I stayed in the present, focused on each of my shots and didn’t get too ahead of myself. I focused on what mattered.”
Her round had peaks and valleys.
“At the beginning, I started out fine and then the weather and my scores got worse. I told myself that I need to focus on each shot.”
The 15-year-old finished second at zone behind a Grade 12 player in 2023 and then advanced to SOSSA where she won the high school division and advanced to OFSAA.
“I am hoping to do well at SOSSA and go to OFSAA again because that was such a fun experience. If it doesn’t happen, that is also fine.”
Kang played on the Niagara Junior Golf Tour this summer and the Sawmill member finished third in the overall points race. That experience paid dividends in her game.
“I got better at keeping it consistent with my entire game all-around with my drives, irons, chips and putts and not getting too crazy good or bad,” she said. “I was able to keep the same pace for everything which was really nice because then I could rely on the shots that I wanted to hit.”
Joining Kang at SOSSA will be West Niagara’s Brynne Kenesky (97), West Niagara’s Lexie Wickman (105), West Niagara’s Kiera Bacchus (107) and Eden’s Danyoo Kim (107).
The SOSSA championship will be held will be held Monday, Oct. 7 at Sawmill.
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