Golf Ontario – UXBRIDGE/WATERLOO — The first 2016 Golf Ontario junior event came to a close on May 23, as the Investors Group Junior Boys’ and Girls’ Spring Classics wrapped up after three days of great golf. In the end, Peyton Callens and Ellie Szeryk outlasted the competition at Wooden Sticks Golf Club and Grey Silo Golf Course, respectively, to hoist the championship trophies.  

Investors Group Junior Boys’ Spring Classic

Entering the day, Langton’s Peyton Callens had a two-shot lead. The Delhi Golf & Country Club member had played some consistent golf throughout the weekend and the final round would be no different. Back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes helped him finish the front nine at one-under. That would be key for the Team Ontario member as he was one-over on the back nine. Still, the 16-year-old’s even-par (72) was good enough to hold off the field as he capped off the week at four-under (71-69-72-212) earning the championship. Callens also took home the Juvenile title.

The consistent play definitely turned out to be the key factor as one player, Elmvale’s Andrew Nagel, from Barrie Country Club, was on fire. Nagel carded a six-under (66) to put the pressure on Callens. While his run would fall just short, Nagel picked up the silver at two-under for the tournament (77-71-66-214).

After the round, Callens spoke about the pressure he faced from his challengers. “Coming into today I was up by two on John (Burghardt) and didn’t quite know how he would play. It turned out that he ran into some trouble, but meanwhile Andrew (Nagel) was just hitting everything. He was three-under at one point while I was two-under so I knew I just had to keep playing my best. My lead was only three shots at one point and in golf a three-shot lead is really nothing. I started to put some distance on the back nine and that’s when I started to feel good. I knew if I just stayed calm, played well, hit good shots, hit fairways and greens I would be able to pull it out.”

Rounding out medals was a four-way tie for third. Earning a share at one-over for the tournament were Guelph’s Anthony Occhiuto (74-72-71-217), from Cutten Fields Golf Club, Thornhill and Team Ontario’s Jason Chung (76-68-73-217), from Thornhill Golf & Country Club, Thornhill’s Kelvin Lim (71-73-73-217), from Station Creek Golf Club, and Richmond Hill’s Angelo Giantsopoulos (75-71-71-217), from York Downs Golf & Country Club.  

For full tournament information, including the final leaderboard see the tournament site at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao162/index.htm

Investors Group Junior Girls’ Spring Classic

The final round for the girls at Grey Silo looked like it would be anything but dramatic. Port Credit’s Chloe Currie entered the day at three-under and had a five-shot lead.  However, the Team Canada Development Squad and Mississaugua Golf & Country Club member got out to a rough start. She double bogeyed the first hole and bogeyed the second bringing her right back to the rest of the field. Her struggles continued on the back nine and she went on to finish the day five-over (76), brining her three-day total to two-over (68-71-76-215) good enough for a share of second.

Meanwhile, one of her playing partners was having a solid outing. Ellie Szeryk, a dual United States and Canadian citizen who plays out of London when in Ontario, began the day at one-over in a tie for second. After an even front nine, she finished one-under on the back for a final round of one-under (70). That was good enough to secure her the title as she ended the three rounds at even par (69-74-70-213).

“It feels amazing to win. It was a grind out there today, Chloe (Currie) and Monet (Chun) were really close, at one point I think there were about four players all pretty close to one another so I am so happy I could finish it off and pull out a win,” said Szeryk.

Szeryk credited her ball striking as the key element of her game that helped her capture the win. “My ball striking was really good, I put myself in good places. Of course I had some bad shots but I learned to recover and got over whatever happened.”

The win was the first provincial championship for the 14-year-old Szeryk.

The silver medal was also shared by three Team Ontario players who, in addition to Currie, all finished at two-over for the tournament. Hornby’s Alexandra Naumovski, from Brampton Golf Club, had the low round of the day finishing three-under (68). First-round leader London’s Isabella Portokalis, from West Haven Golf & Country Club finished one-over (72) as did Richmond Hill’s Monet Chun, from The Summit Golf & Country Club.      

Full information, including the final leaderboard can be found on the tournament site at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao1618/index.htm

Golf Ontario would like to thank both Wooden Sticks and Grey Silo along with their staffs for hosting the events. Thanks also to the Golf Ontario volunteers and to title sponsor Investors Group for their continued support of golf in Ontario.

About the Investors Group Spring Classic

The Investors Group Junior Spring Classic is a 54-hole stroke-play competition contested annually over the Victoria Day long weekend that features many of Ontario’s best male and female junior golfers. The field of competitors gained entry to the competition through a qualifying process earlier in the season.

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 100,000 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

 

 

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Results for contest Overall:

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 1   Peyton Callens           Juvenile Boys (U17)  71-69-72--212 -4  

 2   Andrew Nagel             Junior Boys (U19)    77-71-66--214 -2  

 T3  Anthony Occhiuto         Junior Boys (U19)    74-72-71--217 +1  

 T3  Jason (Chan Young) Chung Junior Boys (U19)    76-68-73--217 +1  

 T3  Kelvin Lim               Bantam Boys          71-73-73--217 +1  

 T3  Angelo Giantsopoulos     Juvenile Boys (U17)  75-71-71--217 +1  

 T7  Jake Bryson              Juvenile Boys (U17)  78-70-71--219 +3  

 T7  Thomas 'Jack' Simpson    Junior Boys (U19)    71-73-75--219 +3  

 9   Tyler Hull               Junior Boys (U19)    71-75-74--220 +4  

 T10 Zack Mason               Juvenile Boys (U17)  76-72-73--221 +5  

 T10 Sam Meek                 Junior Boys (U19)    76-71-74--221 +5  

 T12 Jacob Presutti           Juvenile Boys (U17)  73-78-72--223 +7  

 T12 Nicholas Oosterhof       Junior Boys (U19)    74-75-74--223 +7  

 T12 John Burghardt           Junior Boys (U19)    75-67-81--223 +7  

 T15 Justin Allen             Junior Boys (U19)    76-79-69--224 +8  

 T15 Ryan Neil                Junior Boys (U19)    75-78-71--224 +8  

 T17 Robbie Latter            Juvenile Boys (U17)  78-75-72--225 +9  

 T17 Ty Celone                Junior Boys (U19)    76-77-72--225 +9  

 T17 Kyle MacDonald           Junior Boys (U19)    76-74-75--225 +9  

 T20 Abe Holmes               Junior Boys (U19)    72-82-75--229 +13 

 T20 Jackson Bowery           Junior Boys (U19)    73-80-76--229 +13 

 T20 Sudarshan Yellamaraju    Juvenile Boys (U17)  76-76-77--229 +13 

 T23 Nick Hofland             Junior Boys (U19)    74-82-74--230 +14 

 T23 Michael von Schalburg    Juvenile Boys (U17)  76-79-75--230 +14 

 T23 Eric Shea                Junior Boys (U19)    76-75-79--230 +14 

 T23 Eric (Joohyung) Byun     Juvenile Boys (U17)  75-74-81--230 +14 

 27  Thomas Hunt              Junior Boys (U19)    82-72-77--231 +15 

 T28 Connor Rochon            Juvenile Boys (U17)  73-84-76--233 +17 

 T28 Adam Park                Junior Boys (U19)    71-83-79--233 +17 

 T30 Tyler Harvey             Junior Boys (U19)    80-79-76--235 +19 

 T30 Trevor Corner            Junior Boys (U19)    75-78-82--235 +19 

 T32 Nick Valiquette          Junior Boys (U19)    80-79-77--236 +20 

 T32 Marcus Khaw              Juvenile Boys (U17)  74-82-80--236 +20 

 T34 Luke Szent-Ivany         Junior Boys (U19)    79-80-79--238 +22 

 T34 Sean Trapp               Junior Boys (U19)    76-82-80--238 +22 

 T34 Thomas Giroux            Junior Boys (U19)    74-83-81--238 +22 

 T34 Brendan Kuffner          Junior Boys (U19)    76-79-83--238 +22 

 38  Luke Gavin               Junior Boys (U19)    83-75-81--239 +23 

 39  Benjamin Kim             Juvenile Boys (U17)  76-82-82--240 +24 

 40  Shawn Sehra              Bantam Boys          81-76-84--241 +25 

 41  Paul (wonkyung) Sung     Junior Boys (U19)    79-80-84--243 +27 

 42  Daniel Li                Bantam Boys          84-74-87--245 +29 

DID NOT FINISH

 MC  Vincent Dicosimo         Junior Boys (U19)    79-81-0--160 +16  

 MC  Tyler White              Juvenile Boys (U17)  82-78-0--160 +16  

 MC  Nicklaus Naumovski       Juvenile Boys (U17)  82-78-0--160 +16  

 MC  Mathew Stevens           Junior Boys (U19)    76-85-0--161 +17  

 MC  Davis Legree             Junior Boys (U19)    79-82-0--161 +17  

 MC  Aidan Gavey              Junior Boys (U19)    81-81-0--162 +18  

 MC  Joseph MacNeil           Juvenile Boys (U17)  83-79-0--162 +18  

 MC  Jason Williams           Junior Boys (U19)    83-81-0--164 +20  

 MC  Nicholas Freeman         Junior Boys (U19)    78-86-0--164 +20  

 MC  Lachlan O'Hara           Juvenile Boys (U17)  81-85-0--166 +22  

 MC  Aj MacRae                Junior Boys (U19)    83-84-0--167 +23  

 MC  Brady Futterer           Junior Boys (U19)    83-85-0--168 +24  

 MC  Cole Friyia              Junior Boys (U19)    83-87-0--170 +26  

 MC  Blake Mackey             Junior Boys (U19)    83-87-0--170 +26  

 MC  Dylan Henderson          Juvenile Boys (U17)  86-85-0--171 +27  

 MC  Sam Orr                  Junior Boys (U19)    94-80-0--174 +30  

 MC  Liam Fisk                Junior Boys (U19)    81-99-0--180 +36  

 MC  Michael Silvestri        Junior Boys (U19)    93-94-0--187 +43