Grand Niagara Golf Course hosted the Niagara Junior Tour on Tuesday, July 26th and as usual they were the most gracious hosts welcoming the players with open arms. The course was in its usual magnificent condition thanks to John Taylor despite getting two inches of rain the day before. It is always a treat for the juniors to play one of the top courses in Canada. Bob Culig and his staff really look after the kids and many thanks to Ron and all the staff for a great day
Emily Ward of Willodell put on a great performance particular on the front nine of the course recording five birdies and no bogies for a 5 under 31 which helped her fire a 2 under par 70 to capture the girls division. Emily is off to the Canadian Junior Girls Championship next week in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia and we wish her luck. Second spot was taken by Sukrit Harjai of St. Catharines Golf & Country Club shooting a 2 over par 74. Third spot also of St. Catharines Golf & Country Club was Taylor Simoneau at 78, fourth was Kayla Burke at 78 and rounding out the top five was Susan Leone of Beechwood coming in at 85.
Ethan Bennett of Twenty Valley captured his first ever Niagara Junior Tour Title in great fashion at Grand Niagara with a five shot victory carding an impressive 72 over the challenging layout. Knocking on the door all season, Ethan’s hard work was rewarded on Tuesday carding three birdies to go with 3 bogies. There was a three way tie for second with Freddie Gualtieri of Lookout Point, Nolan VonKalekreuth of Bridgewater and U17 winner Justin Dicienzo, all at 77. Fifth place was shared between Jaret Chipman, Ben Simmonds and Jared Sloan.
In the U17 division Justin Dicienzo of the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club carded a 5 over 77 to take top spot by one stroke over Jared Sloan of Grand Niagara. There was a two way tie for third between Zach Smith of Lookout Point and Rein Zenka of Twenty Valley. Rounding out the top 5 were Michael Athoe of Bridgewater, Josh Holjak of St. Catharines and Brendan Morin all with 80’s.
Nolan Piazza of Willodell kept his roll going in the U15 division with a solid performance at Grand Niagara shooting a three over par 75 to win the division by 5 over Blake Pingue who shot 80. Third spot went to Johnny Romak at 81, fourth was Luke DelGobbo at 82 and rounding out the top 5 was Noah Sloan who carded a 83
Bradyn Wark of Eagle Valley was victorious in the U13 division firing an impressive 76 to top the field. Second spot was Isaiah Ellis at 79. Kile Romak and Giancarlo DiPompeo both tied for third at 80 and tied for fifth were Sammy Rootes and Matthew Martel at 85