Young golfers from across this province put on show of close finishes and tight battles for their friends and family at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT)/Golf Saskatchewan Order of Merit Series (OOM) event at TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club this past weekend.
On the 18th hole and down by one stroke to Carson Harcourt in the second and final round of the junior boys (17-19 years old) competition, Estevan’s Ryan Stovin nailed a drive 240 yards onto the fairway before hitting a clutch shot 30 feet from the hole setting himself up for a putt for eagle that would give him the win. However, the putt went wide giving the two golfers equal scores of 149 (5-over) after two rounds and forcing a playoff.
Both golfers crushed their drive in the extra game to a near-identical line 50 yards from the first hole. Stovin then hit his approach to around 10 feet in front, while Harcourt put his eight feet behind the flag. In the end, Stovin’s putt went wide and Harcourt’s dropped.
“The adrenalin was pumping,” said Harcourt, 18. “I just ripped a drive and I had a bunch of those shots from 50 yards today and didn’t hit any of them, but it was a new round so I hit it and still didn’t hit it very well. But I still managed to make the putt at the end, the only one all day.”
“I just missed the putt,” added Stovin, 18. “I had a putt that didn’t break. It usually does, but I might have pulled it a little. Like Carson said, the adrenalin was going.”
The juvenile boys (ages 15-16) competition came to a close shortly before the junior boys playoff with Steven Duchscher capturing first place with a total score of 151 (7-over). Connor Tate followed him by shooting 156 (12-over) over the two rounds with Brody Istace coming in third thanks to a score of 162 (18-over). Estevan's Reegan Robinson finished in fourth place with a score of 166 (22-over).
The peewee boys (ages 12 and under) event immediately followed the junior boys competition and featured a come-from-behind win by Jackson Wingert where he shot a 34 (2-under) on the back nine to finish one stroke ahead of Cort Tunall at 161 (17-over). Raylyn Schmidt won the 14-and-under girls competition shortly afterwards with a score of 188 (44-over), which was followed by Carey McLean at 192 (48-over).
Chloe Sies ran away with the girls’ ages 15-19 event with a score of 170 (26-over), which was 21 strokes ahead of Rocanville's Hallie Burke. Sies said her drive was a bit of struggle during the tournament, but her short game carried her through.
“Eighteen was actually my best hole,” said Sies, 17. “I parred it. I missed my birdie putt, but nice drive (and) nice approach shot. My chip was a couple feet from the pin. I just missed the putt.”
A usual MJT final-round play down took place in the bantam boys (ages 13-14) competition with Estevan’s Jayden Dudas and Chase Gedak battling Saskatoon’s Cole and Josh Nagy for the title. After entering the Sunday competition with Josh ahead by two strokes, Cole nailed three birdies on the front nine to jump ahead. Dudas charged back on the final nine holes draining two birdies to get to one stroke behind of Cole who notched a winning score of 148 (4-over).
“The first day wasn’t great, but today was one of the best rounds I’ve ever shot,” said Cole, 14. “I drove it really well today. I was always in good spots. It made it a lot easier for me.”
Jeff Chambers, MJT tournament director for Saskatchewan, said 61 kids golfed at the tour stop in Estevan, which is one of five events they’ll stage in the province over the summer months. He said there were a few challenges considering the event fell on the Canada Day weekend, meaning they were down about 30 kids compared to a usual tour stop, and the windy conditions made for a hard day of golf on the opening Saturday, but everything worked out in the end.
“It was much easier (conditions on Sunday), which was good on day two, (so) a lot more smiling faces and the pace of play was a lot better,” said Chambers, noting the MJT is the top played junior tour in Canada. “It’s a challenging golf course and the kids are going to get to see a lot of it because this is more a competitive practice towards the (2016 Saskatchewan Junior Golf Championships), which is next week. So, they’re all gearing up for that and hopefully we can see some good scoring next week.”
