Willodell Golf Club of Niagara hosted the fourth stop on the Niagara Junior Tour on Friday, July 22 and under early morning threatening skies the day went off without a hitch thanks to the great hospitality of the staff and owners of Willodell. Chuck Gates and his pro shop staff were there early to help set up for the players, the course was in tremendous shape thanks to Pat Viele, Superintendent and the clubhouse staff was amazing after for the players thanks to Mario Caputo and all the ladies.
There was some excellent golf played and in the U19 boys, Jake Dupuis of the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club came in with the low score of the day, firing an even pay 72 to nip U17 champion Cristian Bate of Lookout Point by one stroke who came in with a 73. In third place was Nolan VonKalekreuth of Bridgewater at 74 and tied for fourth was Ethan Bennett of Twenty Valley, Freddie Gualtieri of Lookout Point and Ethan Siebert as well of Lookout Point at 77.
In the Girls Division, coming off an impressive finish at the Ontario Ladies Women’s Amateur, Emily Ward of Willodell used a two under par second nine to record a 73 and a 5 shot victory over her nearest competitor Sukriti Harjai of St. Catharines Golf & Country Club at 78. Third spot was Taylor Simoneau of the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club at 79, Susan Leone of Beechwood was fourth at 85 and fifth was Kayla Burke of Whisky Run at 90.
In the U17 division Cristian Bate of Lookout Point fired a one over par 73 to almost get in a playoff for the overall title but settle for low in this division. Second was Ethan Siebert also of Lookout at 77. Jason Maloney of Twenty Valley was third at 78, fourth was Jordan Antonucci also of Twenty Valley at 78 and fifth was Josh Holjak of St. Catharines.
Nolan Piazza of Willodell made it 4 for 4 in the U15 division firing a fine 4 over par 76 to win by two strokes over Blake Pingue also of Willodell at 78. Third was Cameron Kiemele of Eagle Valley at 81 and there was a two way tie for fourth at 83 between Luke DelGobbo of Lookout Point and Blake McGowan of Sawemill.
Ben MacLean also made it 4 for 4 in the U13 division although this time was a little more of a struggle. Behind Matthew Martel of Sparrow Lakes by 2 after 9, Ben rallied on the back to record a 79 to win by 5 strokes over Matthew who shot 84. Third was taken by Benjamin Hebert of Lookout Point at 89, fourth was Sammy Rootes of Eagle Valley and a two way tie for fifth between Jackson Barnes of Eagle Valley and Isaiah Ellis of Sparrow Lakes who came in at 92’s.