Thompson captures junior boys crown
Cole Thompson is on a roll.
The 15-year-old student at Blessed Trinity, who captured a pair tour stops to place first atop the U19 division overall points standings on the Niagara District Junior Tour this summer, added another trophy to his case Saturday.
Thompson fired a 71 to win the junior boys division at the 73rd Annual Walt McCollum Niagara District Champions of Champions golf tournament at the St Catharines Golf and Country Club.
“It makes me feel awesome. All the hard work’s paying off and I am just looking forward to getting better and better every year,” he said.
Thompson edged out Anthony Sartor of Beechwood by three strokes for the win.
“I was hitting the ball pretty solid today,” Thompson said. “My putting was really good. I had five birdies and made some putts.
“The greens were pretty quick and we were playing from shorter tees. It was all about keeping it on the fairway and getting some wedges in my hand and putting it in tight to have birdie chances.”
Thompson, who is a member at Sawmill, wasn’t particularly familiar with the course in St. Catharines.
“I know Sawmill like the back of my hand,” he said. “I have been playing it for a while and I’ve never played this course before. I only got to play the front nine because our practice round got rained out so it was definitely tougher.”
Thompson said the competition made winning all that much more satisfying.
“There’s tons of good golfers — the champions of all the clubs around — so it was definitely tougher,” he said.
Thompson is a late bloomer. He quit playing competitive baseball when he was 12 to focus on golf and didn’t start playing tournaments until he was 13 but quickly improved. He was a 36-plus handicapper when he was 13, dropped it down to 16 last year and this spring he started with a 6.9 handicap.
JUNIOR BOYS LEADERBOARD
1. Cole Thompson, Sawmill GC 71; 2. Anthony Sartor, Beechwood G&SH 74; 3. Morgan Daly, St. Catharines G&CC 75; T4. Aidan Lopinski, Lookout Point CC 77, T4. Damien Stehling, Bridgewater G&CC 77; 6. Caleb Shorthouse, Twenty Valley G&CC 78; 7. Noah Lebrassuer, Twenty Valley 79; 8. Caleb Shorthouse, Twenty Valley G&CC 81; T9. Asher Willett, Whisky Run GC 89, T9. Benjamin Shaver, Grand Niagara 89; T. 11 Brady Perry, Rolling Meadows 90, T. 11Will Thies, Peninsula Lakes 90, T. 11 Sam Walker, Niagara-on-the-Lake GC 90; 14. Carter Fulkerson, Cardinal Lakes GC 94; 15. Vincent Cuviello, Brock GC 95; 16. Logan Dueck, Rockway Vineyards 103.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 4,500 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
