Scott, Bennett earn wins on first tour stop
Payton Bennett placed first in the U-19 girls division with a 58 Monday at Brock Golf Club. Photo by: BERNIE PUCHALSKI.
Hours of work over the winter have paid huge dividends for Andrew Scott.
The 17-year-old Port Colborne resident fired a 59 to capture the boys U17-19 title at the first stop on the 2020 Niagara Junior Golf Tour at Brock Golf Club Monday.
“I was ready to win today,” said Scott, who golfs out of the Port Colborne Country Club. “We put in a lot of work. We wanted to take it to the next level. My coach told me you either want to compete or you don’t. We put in the work and this is what came of it.”
Scott overhauled his swing with the help of coach Jamie Stevenson of Modern Golf in Mississauga.
“We made pretty big swing changes. I used to be pretty inside and be hitting hooks and we turned it into more of an outside-in move and it’s been working great for me,” he said. “I’ve been striking a lot better.”
Scott, who plans to return to Lakeshore Catholic High School for Grade 12B this fall, also worked on his short game.
“I put in hours of putting on the artificial putting green just ripping balls. It really made my stroke better.”
The win was the first for Scott, who is in fourth season on the tour.
“I was prepared and really excited to compete and had a great time,” he said. “I was pretty dialled in with my gap wedge today which is my main club because most of those holes are between 90 and 130 (yards) which is ideal for that. I could knock it down and dial it in.”
Scott was thrilled the tour was able to work out the logistics and run a schedule this summer.
“It was great finally compete. I spent my winter preparing and getting ready and then, boom, no golf. We weren’t even sure if there were going to be tournaments. I think the Junior Tour of Niagara is the only one going right now.”
BENNETT SECURES FUTURE
Payton Bennett went into Monday’s tour stop with the weight of the world off her shoulders and her future mapped out.
The 17-year-old Stoney Creek resident placed first in the U-19 girls division with a 58 with the knowledge she will be attending Ball State University in Indiana on a golf scholarship in 2021.
“It really is the biggest relief. I couldn’t have asked for it to work out any better,” said Bennett, who is heading into Grade 12 this fall at Saint John Henry Neumann in Stoney Creek. “I committed in February three weeks before everything started to happen.
“I got so lucky and it lifts the weight off stressing about not being able to cross the border to get to my tournaments.”
Bennett, who finished second in the U-19 overall girls title on the tour last summer to Megan Miron, plans to have some fun on the tour this summer.
“I’m just focusing on playing as good a golf as I can, but at the same time, enjoying golf,” she said. “This is the first summer where I’m not constantly worried about what tournament I’m playing next. I’m able to really enjoy the game again, which I really needed.”
Bennett, who will be majoring in sports administration, honed her game this spring in a non-competitive environment.
“It was great to be able to be in competition form again. You can play with your friends all you want, but to be able to compete again was great,” she said.
Bennett didn’t put too much thought into the fact she was golfing on a short course.
“No matter what golf course it is, it’s tournament conditions so I have to treat it just as I would any other event,” she said. “You could go into it and think it’s a short course and you don’t have to warm up or prepare but it’s the first tournament of the year and you have to treat it as any other event we would play.
“I play all my events, other than this tour, in the States and I can’t cross the border so this is my one level of competition so I’m trying to take these as seriously as I can.”
Miron finished second with a 66, which included a hole-in-one on the third hole.
The next stop is Monday, July 13 at Rolling Meadows.
BOYS U17-19
1. Andrew Scott, Port Colborne, 59; 2. Adam Scarlett, 61, Matthew Martel, Fonthill, 61; 4. Johnny Romak, 63, Benjamin Hebert, Thorold, 63; 6. Damien Stehling, Ridgeway, 64; 7. Morgan Daly, St. Catharines, 65, Ben Kelly, Vineland, 65, Isaiah Ellis, Smithville, 65; 10. Ryan Harold, Welland, 66, Aidan Longley, Niagara Falls, 66.
BOYS U-15
1. Michael Martel, 61; 2. Will Burleigh, Grimsby, 69; 3. John Kingdon, Grimsby, 73; 4. Jaxon Christie, Beamsville, 77, Cole Thompson, Beamsville, 77; 6. Elliott Christopher, St. Catharines, 78; 7. Alec Linton, Niagara Falls, 78; 8. Benjamin Shaver, Welland, 85.
BOYS U-13
1. Kian Oelofse, Fonthill, 59; 2. Ben Julie, Fenwick, 61; 3. Matthew Gray, Beamsville, 63; 4. Trent Clarke, Vineland, 70; 5. Joseph Zupanic, Stoney Creek, 71; 6. Lucas Sartor, Thorold, 73; 7. Michael Jones, Thorold, 91.
GIRLS U-19
1. Payton Bennett, Stoney Creek, 58; 2. Megan Miron, 66; 3. Sasha Baker, 69; 4. Casey Kenney, St. Catharines, 72; 5. Mikayla Lacey, Port Colborne, 73; 6. Alexis Alderson, Vineland, 74, Mya Mackey, Grimsby, 74; 8. Shawn Kowalyshyn, Stoney Creek, 76; 9. Ella Zanatta, Hamilton, 78; 10. Jade Gracie, Niagara Falls, 79.
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