Golf Ontario – WINDSOR— In what can only be described as a phenomenal final round, 16-year-old Sudarshan Yellamaraju captured the Investors Group Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship at Ambassador Golf Club on July 14.

Yellamaraju, from Mississauga and Blue Springs Golf Club, entered the day one shot off the pace at seven-under for the tournament. Despite being one of the youngest in the field, Yellamaraju was dialed in early during the final round.  After a birdie on the third hole, he proceeded to drain three in a row from six to eight and made the turn at four-under. He would not let up on the back nine. He birdied both 10 and 12, stretching the lead to five strokes. While he did run into trouble with bogeys on 14, 15 and 17, he drained a clutch birdie putt on the 18^th, which earned him the win. He went on to finish the round four-under (67) and finished the tournament 11-under (69-68-69-67-273). 

Yellamaraju spoke about what the win meant to him, especially after he came up just short last week at the Ontario Junior Boys’ Championship. “I am feeling great right now considering what happened last week at the Ontario Junior. I felt I bounced back well this week and played pretty well. This course provided a good challenge and I am glad I got the victory in the end.”

At just 16, Yellamaraju sees the win as a big stepping-stone in his development. “I definitely think this is a big accomplishment and a great way for me to take the next step in my golf career. To win at my age is very special to me.”

As for his strength during the week, Yellamaraju pointed to his putting. “I felt like the strongest part of my game was my putting. Every time I had five or six footers to make par, I made them. This week I felt very confident putting within 10 feet and it got me to where I finished.”

The silver medal went to Stouffville’s Gajan Sivabalasingham. Sivabalasingham, from Meadowbrook Golf & Country Club, went low during the final round finishing the day five-under (66). Sivabalasingham ended the tournament at 10-under (68-67-73-66-274).

Picking up the bronze was last year’s champion, Unionville’s Max Sear. Sear, from York Downs Golf & Country Club, also had a strong round ending the day three-under (68). That moved him to nine-under (67-67-73-68-275) for the championship.    

Yellamaraju, Sivabalasingham and Searall earned the right to represent Ontario in the inter-provincial competition at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, at the Toronto Golf Club and Islington Golf Club, Aug. 7-10.

For full tournament information, including the final leaderboard, see the tournament site at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao17/event/gao172/index.htm

Golf Ontario would like to thank Ambassador Golf Club, their staff and volunteers for hosting the event. Thanks also to the Golf Ontario volunteers and to title sponsor Investors Group for their continued support of golf in the province.

About the Investors Group Ontario Men’s Amateur

The Investors Group Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship was first played in 1923 at Lakeview Golf and Country Club. Past winners include: 2003 Masters Champion Mike Weir (1990 & 1992), Gerry Kesselring (1949, 1951, 1952, 1953), professional players Jon Mills (2001), Corey Conners (2010), Albin Choi (2012), Chris Hemmerich (2014) and Gary Cowan, who holds the record for the most Ontario Amateur Championships with nine (1964, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1981 & 1984). This first time Ambassador Golf Club has hosted the Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship.

ABOUT GOLF ONTARIO

Golf Ontario is Ontario’s Provincial Sport Organization focused on enhancing participation, elevating performance and supporting the passion of golfers in Ontario. With over 90,000 individual members and 450 member clubs, Golf Ontario is one of the largest golf associations in the world.  From rating courses and keeping the integral rules of the game intact, to growing the game at the grassroots level and getting the game of golf into our school systems, to keeping the Ontario golf community aware of all relevant issues and hosting the best amateur tournaments in Canada, Golf Ontario is a passionate group dedicated to making golf better for everyone in Ontario. We share a love and passion for golf, while preserving its past, fostering its future, and championing golf’s best interests for everyone who enjoys the sport.

For more information please contact:

Darren Matte, Communications and Marketing Coordinator

Golf Ontario

905-852-1101 ext. 234

dmatte@gao.ca

============================================================
Results for contest Overall:
============================================================
 1    Sudarshan Yellamaraju  69-68-69-67--273 -11 
 2    Gajan Sivabalasingham  68-67-73-66--274 -10 
 3    Maxwell Sear           67-67-73-68--275 -9  
 T4   Ben Thompson           70-71-70-67--278 -6  
 T4   Ryan Neil              68-70-71-69--278 -6  
 T4   Sam Meek               71-68-70-69--278 -6  
 T4   Johnny Travale         67-72-70-69--278 -6  
 T8   Hanish Nagrani         70-69-72-68--279 -5  
 T8   Michael Forbes         67-72-71-69--279 -5  
 T8   David French           71-66-73-69--279 -5  
 T8   Kelvin Lim             74-64-70-71--279 -5  
 T12  Robert Wilkinson       72-68-70-70--280 -4  
 T12  Thomas Giroux          71-68-71-70--280 -4  
 T12  Trevor Ranton          70-70-68-72--280 -4  
 T12  Marcus Khaw            71-68-68-73--280 -4  
 T12  Keaton Veillette       70-70-68-72--280 -4  
 T12  Shyamal Nagindas       66-68-72-74--280 -4  
 18   Marc Lefebvre          67-69-69-76--281 -3  
 T19  Michael Rutgers        67-72-74-69--282 -2  
 T19  John Foster            67-67-77-71--282 -2  
 T21  Thomas DeMarco         64-77-74-68--283 -1  
 T21  Chase Komaromi         72-72-69-70--283 -1  
 T21  Yaroslav Ilyenko       69-69-73-72--283 -1  
 T21  Thomas 'Jack' Simpson  70-73-69-71--283 -1  
 T21  Josiah Dixon           70-65-75-73--283 -1  
 T26  Cougar Collins         70-75-70-69--284 E   
 T26  Thomas Code            70-71-71-72--284 E   
 T28  Luke Moser             72-70-75-68--285 +1  
 T28  Nicholas Ross          70-70-72-73--285 +1  
 T30  Justin Allen           71-73-67-75--286 +2  
 T30  Curtis Hughes          71-67-70-78--286 +2  
 T32  Craig Stefureak        73-72-74-68--287 +3  
 T32  Jake McNulty           74-70-72-71--287 +3  
 T32  Kyle Gordon            73-70-71-73--287 +3  
 T35  Ty Celone              74-70-73-71--288 +4  
 T35  Kevin Fawcett          71-72-74-71--288 +4  
 T35  Trevor Corner          70-73-74-71--288 +4  
 T35  Tyson Turchanski       71-74-72-71--288 +4  
 T35  Marc Casullo           72-71-71-74--288 +4  
 T35  Gordon Gibson          74-68-71-75--288 +4  
 41   Aidan Gavey            70-70-73-76--289 +5  
 T42  Crawford McKinlay      72-67-79-72--290 +6  
 T42  Mathew Iceton          72-73-73-72--290 +6  
 T44  Philip Arci            71-73-75-72--291 +7  
 T44  Eric Pattenaude        71-74-74-72--291 +7  
 T44  Jacob Presutti         72-70-76-73--291 +7  
 T44  Bryce Evon             73-72-70-76--291 +7  
 T44  Harris Bundy           68-74-73-76--291 +7  
 T49  Andrew Crampton        67-78-78-69--292 +8  
 T49  Luke McLean            78-67-75-72--292 +8  
 T49  Jacob Lehman           75-70-73-74--292 +8  
 T52  Sam McNulty            76-69-78-70--293 +9  
 T52  Matt LeMay             68-73-79-73--293 +9  
 T52  Riley Spear            72-69-78-74--293 +9  
 T52  Spencer Dobbs          71-74-74-74--293 +9  
 T52  Mathew Stevens         72-72-71-78--293 +9  
 T57  Stephen Brown          73-72-76-73--294 +10 
 T57  Kyle MacDonald         74-71-74-75--294 +10 
 59   Eric Flockhart         71-72-76-76--295 +11 
 60   Steven Poulos          71-72-77-76--296 +12 
 T61  Ward Kyle              71-74-77-75--297 +13 
 T61  Ranga Sugathapala      71-73-77-76--297 +13 
 T61  Daniel Knapp           71-73-76-77--297 +13 

DID NOT MAKE THE CUT

 MC   Eric (Joohyung) Byun   73-73-0-0--146 +4    
 MC   Russell Bowie          76-70-0-0--146 +4    
 MC   Zach Viminitz          72-74-0-0--146 +4    
 MC   Abe Holmes             73-73-0-0--146 +4    
 MC   Jake Adams             73-73-0-0--146 +4    
 MC   Keaton Jones           78-68-0-0--146 +4    
 MC   Ryan Stolys            73-74-0-0--147 +5    
 MC   Mark Henderson         78-69-0-0--147 +5    
 MC   Matthew Vihant         71-76-0-0--147 +5    
 MC   Dave Bunker            75-72-0-0--147 +5    
 MC   Joel Giornofelice      72-75-0-0--147 +5    
 MC   Josh Montgomery        70-77-0-0--147 +5    
 MC   Paul Edgar             78-69-0-0--147 +5    
 MC   Charles Fitzsimmons    73-75-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Joseph Burgess         78-70-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Tyler Hull             78-70-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Brandon Mihalo         75-73-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   John Zdonek            77-71-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Shawn Sehra            74-74-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Conner Watt            72-76-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Riley Goss             74-74-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Matthew Anderson       75-73-0-0--148 +6    
 MC   Daniel DiFrancesco     73-76-0-0--149 +7    
 MC   Alexander Zappio       71-78-0-0--149 +7    
 MC   Brett Pearl            71-78-0-0--149 +7    
 MC   MacKenzie Dasti        74-75-0-0--149 +7    
 MC   Ryan Tsang             76-74-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   Michael Vance          79-71-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   James Rim              75-75-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   Michael Nunes          76-74-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   Robin Petras           75-75-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   Craig Watkins          78-72-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   John Kim               78-72-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   Andrew Cox             76-74-0-0--150 +8    
 MC   Pierce Saly            77-74-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Ethan O'Meara          80-71-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Christopher Holmes     79-72-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Jason Wellings         80-71-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Michael Ayotte         74-77-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Adam Bestard           78-73-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Derek Dalziel          74-77-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Joseph Kremer          75-76-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Robert Gribbons        73-78-0-0--151 +9    
 MC   Jeffrey Clarke         75-77-0-0--152 +10   
 MC   Scott Banks            81-71-0-0--152 +10   
 MC   Ryan Murphy            79-73-0-0--152 +10   
 MC   Zachary Greifenberger  75-77-0-0--152 +10   
 MC   Nic Francis            79-73-0-0--152 +10   
 MC   Kevin Gordon           72-80-0-0--152 +10   
 MC   Owen Bates             74-78-0-0--152 +10   
 MC   Callum Biehn           76-77-0-0--153 +11   
 MC   Colton Clemmer         74-79-0-0--153 +11   
 MC   Peter Beneteau         79-74-0-0--153 +11   
 MC   Marc Savard            76-77-0-0--153 +11   
 MC   Daniel Margettie       72-81-0-0--153 +11   
 MC   Matthew Cholod         76-77-0-0--153 +11   
 MC   Ryan Page              80-74-0-0--154 +12   
 MC   Brady Zordan           77-77-0-0--154 +12   
 MC   Ryan Hagger            80-75-0-0--155 +13   
 MC   Adam Graham            78-77-0-0--155 +13   
 MC   Cody Watson            76-79-0-0--155 +13   
 MC   Ethan Bennett          76-79-0-0--155 +13   
 MC   Peter Leone            77-78-0-0--155 +13   
 MC   Tyler Nagano           78-78-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   Stephen Longo          80-76-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   Evan MacLean           81-75-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   Max Dragon             76-80-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   Garrett Atkinson       78-78-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   Jordy Denomme          77-79-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   John Burghardt         75-81-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   Adam Karpuk            74-82-0-0--156 +14   
 MC   Tyler Cormier          79-78-0-0--157 +15   
 MC   Adam Migur             75-82-0-0--157 +15   
 MC   Marshall Graper        82-75-0-0--157 +15   
 MC   Logan Lammerant        80-77-0-0--157 +15   
 MC   Daniel George          79-78-0-0--157 +15   
 MC   Nick Hofland           82-77-0-0--159 +17   
 MC   Matt Munro             79-80-0-0--159 +17   
 MC   Nicholas Bubela        75-84-0-0--159 +17   
 MC   Brendan Dunphy         82-77-0-0--159 +17   
 MC   Brandon VanBilsen      78-82-0-0--160 +18   
 MC   Braydon White          81-80-0-0--161 +19   
 MC   Liam Hamlin            81-80-0-0--161 +19   
 MC   Jordan Guenette        82-79-0-0--161 +19   
 MC   Gregory Bubela         86-75-0-0--161 +19   
 MC   Nick Gribbons          81-80-0-0--161 +19   
 MC   Dean Weber             80-83-0-0--163 +21   
 MC   Maximilian Vaclav      83-81-0-0--164 +22   
 MC   Chris Campbell         83-84-0-0--167 +25   
 MC   Matthew Puzhitsky      83-86-0-0--169 +27   
 MC   Zachary Owen           94-86-0-0--180 +38   
 JWD  Myles Thiessen         87-0-0-0--87 +16     
 JWD  Arnold Johnson