GEORGETOWN, Ont. — It was a spectacular final round for Kitchener, Ont.’s Chris Hemmerich at the Investors Group Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship being contested at the Club at North Halton. Hemmerich entered the day 5-under, two-shots behind leaders and Team Canada teammates Corey Conners of Listowell, Ont. and Richmond Hill, Ont.’s Taylor Pendrith. However, Hemmerich shot an 8-under 63 in the final round and held on for a one-shot win over both Conners and Pendrith.
Hemmerich, 21, lit up the course from the beginning of the final round. He opened the day with birdies on the first two holes to grab a share of the lead. After birdies on holes 5, 7 and 9, Hemmerich sat 5-under for the day when he made the turn. He didn’t let up on the back nine as he drained birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 13 to drop to 13-under for the tournament. From there he parred the final five holes to enter the clubhouse with the lead, at a tournament total of 271 (-8).
“This really feels awesome,” said Hemmerich after the round. “I had a great support staff with me here this week, from the National Team staff to family and friends, who all came out to watch. It really couldn’t have been drawn up any better.”
One of the things Hemmerich was able to do well during his final round was rebound from sub-par shots. He talked about how he approached those situations.
“In years past I have hit a lot of very bad shots, so I know they are going to happen and when they do you just need to laugh about it,” he explained. “That is really how I approach golf.”
Hemmerich gave full credit to the other members of Team Canada who will join him in representing the province at the inter-provincial event at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship being held August 4-7 at Elmhurst Golf & Country Club and Southwood Golf & Country Club in Winnipeg.
“Every tournament we have entered as a team, at least one of us has been up near the top of the leaderboard,” he added. “It is kind of weird when you are 7-under for the day and still not leading. That just shows how good those boys are.”
For full scoring and other information, click here.
BRAMPTON, Ont. — There is only one way to describe Smith Falls, Ont. resident Brooke Henderson’s performance at the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Investors Group Women’s Amateur Championship at the Brampton Golf Club – clutch. The 16-year-old went wire-to-wire leading thru all four rounds to capture the 2014 title with a combined score of 12-under (272).
Henderson, a Team Canada member, came into the final round with a two-shot lead over fellow Team Canada member, Bath, Ont.’s Augusta James and seven ahead of a third Team Canada representative, Orangeville, Ont.’s Brittany Marchand.
The day began with a birdie for the 21-year-old James on the first hole and a bogey for Henderson on the third. That brought the two back to a share of the lead at 7-under. However, that would be the sole blemish on Henderson’s day. She completed the front nine with birdies on holes 4, 7 and 9. She then hit back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 to finish the round at four-under (67).
As for James, she hit another birdie on the 5th hole, but a bogey on 6 brought her back to 7-under. She began the back nine with a birdie and a bogey, on 10 and 11, before closing out her round with birdies on 14 and 17. She finished the day three-under (68) and the tournament at 9-under.
Marchand, 22, looked to jump into the race for the title with a 3-under front nine. She would bogey 12, but added birdies on 13 and 15 to finish the day four-under (67) and six-under for the tournament.
After the round, Henderson spoke about what it meant to win the championship.
“It was such a great event,” she said Friday. “I had a good opening round and was able to finish it off today. Coming into the tournament, I wanted to get my name on that trophy. There are so many great names on it and I am so happy I was able to do it.”
The three Team Canada members spent most of the week playing together, Henderson talked about how that impacted her game.
“I played with Britt (Marchand) right from the get go and then with Gus (James) for the last two rounds,” she added. “I had a couple of middle rounds that weren’t that great but playing with them was a lot of fun. They are a couple of great players. With them knowing how to win and being on the national team with them, I knew I needed to have four solid rounds to finish it off.”
The win is just the latest in a series of strong finishes for Henderson, but is sure to help keep her momentum going.
“I’ve been on a bit of a roll as of late with winning the Porter Cup, then I finished tenth at the U.S. Open, then won the Canadian Women’s Tour event in Niagara Falls and now the Ontario Amateur,” she said with a smile. “It really has been a great last couple of weeks and I have enjoyed it.”
With their top three finishes, the trio of Henderson, James and Marchand will go on to represent Ontario in the inter-provincial competition at the Canadian Women’s Amateur, July 22-25 at Craigowan Golf & Country Club in Woodstock.
For full results from the 2014 Investors Group Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship, click here.
Oakville, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada is proud to announce the names of the athletes set to represent Canada in the Youth Olympic Games, taking place in Nanjing, China from August 16 – 28, 2014.
Representing Canadian golf will be Team Canada Development Squad member Tony Gil, 16, of Vaughan, Ont. and Maddie Szeryk, 17, of Allen, Tex.
Gil and Szeryk will be accompanied to Nanjing by Robert Ratcliffe, lead coach with Team Canada’s Development Squad. Ratcliffe has international playing and coaching experience and has worked with Golf Canada’s National Team program since 2007.
“It is very exciting to announce Tony Gil and Maddie Szeryk as the first Canadians ever selected to represent Canadian golf at the Youth Olympic Games,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer. “Both of these talented competitors are eager to succeed in representing Canada on the international stage as we prepare for golf’s inclusion in major international multi-sport events such as the Youth Olympics, 2015 Pan Am Games and the 2016 Olympic Games.”
The inclusion of golf in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games marks the first time the sport has been included in this particular event, and the first time golf has been included in an Olympic event since 1904 when George Lyon brought the gold medal home to Canada. Golf will return to the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Tony Gil
2014 marks Gil’s first year representing Team Canada as a member of Golf Canada’s Development Squad. Prior to joining the National Team, Gil was a member of the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Under-17 Provincial Squad He finished tied for 12th at the 2013 Ontario Amateur Championship and 5th at the 2013 Ontario Junior Boys Championship. Since joining Team Canada, Gil continues to post strong results, including wins at the CJGA International Junior Challenge and the GAO Investors Group Junior Spring Classic. He also recorded a 6th place finish at the prestigious South American Amateur and is coming off of a memorable experience at the Toyota World Junior where he finished tied for 37th.
Maddie Szeryk
Szeryk, a GAO public player, made her mark in 2013 with three junior championship victories. Most notably, Szeryk won the 2013 Canadian Junior Girls Championship by an impressive 14 strokes. She also claimed victory at the 2013 CN Future Links Ontario Championship and the CJGA/AJGA Junior Championship. Szeryk, a dual-citizen with family ties to Ontario and Texas, recently secured her Canadian citizenship. Her 2014 results include appearances in both the USGA Junior Girls Championship and the North Texas LPGA Shootout. In addition, she won the 2014 AJGA Thunderbird International Junior in a playoff and finished third at the AJGA Under Armour/Hunter Mahan Championship.
Calgary – Jaclyn Lee, a member of Team Canada’s Development Squad, capped off the Alberta Junior Girls Championship with a final round 73 to defend her title at Bearspaw Country Club, winning by 4 shots over Development Squad teammate Sabrine Garrison.
The 17-year-old Calgary native also captured the Sun Life Financial Ladies Amateur Championship one week earlier with a win at Whitetail Crossing in Mundare, Alta.
“It hasn’t really settled in yet,” said Lee. “I never thought this would happen. I’m really excited to win these past two weeks.”
Despite bogeys on holes 1, 2, and 4, Lee was able to overcome her erratic start with birdies on 5, 8, and 9 before cruising through the back nine to cap off the championship in convincing fashion.
Lee, joined by Calgary’s Sabrine Garrison and Bria Jansen of Cochrane, Alta. will form the Alberta Junior Girls Interprovincial team that will compete at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship in a few weeks. She will also represent Alberta on the Ladies Amateur Interprovincial team as her busy schedule continues.
Calgary’s Kenna Hughes, 16, won the Juvenile Girls Championship after a 74, her low round for the championship. The round was even better than it sounded, but a triple bogey on the 16th hole negated 3 birdies on 7, 8, and 12. Still, she’ll take the positive of her good score and overall success in the championship and look to build on it at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship.
At 17-years-old, Lee is still eligible to play in 2015 and will attempt to defend her title once more, hoping to become the fourth player to win three or more Alberta Junior titles.
Click here for full results.
VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, North Carolina – National Amateur Team player Corey Conners fell in the final match play round at the North & South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst to American Michael Cromie, 4 & 3.
Conners made it seem easy advancing to the final, defeating his previous opponents 6&5, 4&3 and 7&6. The Kent State Golden Flash seemed to have met his match in the finale, however, losing to Cromie, a Georgia Bulldog, in 15 holes.
The Listowel, Ont., native currently sits No. 39 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and hopes to improve that number after this week’s impressive performance in the strong field at Pinehurst.
Click here for the full leaderboard.
VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, North Carolina – Team Canada’s Corey Conners has advanced to the match play finals at the 114th playing of the North & South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Resort.
The Listowel, Ont. native and Kent State Golden Flash won his semi-final match up 6&5 Saturday morning over Harley Abrams of Boca Raton, Fla.
Conners, the No. 7-ranked amateur in the world, made quick work of Abrams, who plays collegiality for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Conners was 6-up thru 9 holes in the semi-final before winning holes No. 12 and 13 to secure his spot in the final.
There’s no hiding the fact that Conners has taken a liking to Pinhurst’s layout and is enthused at the opportunity that lies ahead.
“I played well last year, but it didn’t work out, and I just wanted to come back,” said Conners, who won the prestigious Jones Cup in February and set a slew of records while at Kent State. “I love Pinehurst, and I love the courses here. The names on that (North & South Amateur Championship) trophy are legends of the game, so to have my name there would be pretty special. It’d be a great honor and pretty proud moment.”
There was nearly an all Canadian match up in the finale, which is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Blair Hamilton, a Team Canada Development Squad member in 2012, suffered a slim defeat in the other semi-final match up. Hamilton, from Burlington, Ont., was topped 1-up by Michael Cromie of Cary, N.C.
Cromie, a Georgia Bulldog, now faces Conners in the finals which are scheduled for 1pm. Click here to follow scoring online.
RICHMOND, British Columbia – Naomi Ko won the 2014 British Columbia Golf Junior Girls’ Championship title at The Dunes at Kamloops on Friday with a 6-under par 286 after four days of competitive play.
The Team Canada member shot even par on the par 73, 5886-yard course on the final day of the championship on her way to winning the title.
“I felt pretty good going into the round, I started off with a bogey so I knew I had to make a couple birdies to get where I needed to,” said Ko. “Plus Kathy and Alix are really good players so I knew I couldn’t get behind, I knew I needed to make birdies.”
Ko, 16, made four birdies on Friday to counterbalance her four bogeys it would be enough to keep her in first. After shooting a 69 on the first day of competition she co-led the championship with Alix Kong and Hannah Lee, but slipped into a tie for fourth halfway through the competition.
“I knew it was a four-day tournament so I knew I had 36 holes to recover, which I did yesterday when I shot 3-under,” added Ko. “I didn’t let myself get down, I just tried to stay as positive as I could on the course and it worked.”
Ko adds the 2014 Junior Girls’ title to a long existing list of achievements as a junior golfer, including a second place finish at the 2013 BC Juvenile Girls’ Championship, third at the 2013 BC Junior Girls’ Championship and a tie for 11th at the 2013 BC Women’s Amateur Championship, just to name a few.
Kathy Lim, of Langley, finished two strokes back of Ko as the BC Junior Girls’ runner-up with a 4-under 288 after playing incredibly consistently throughout the week with scores of 71-71-71-75. The 16-year-old was never out of contention for the title and was even tied for first after the second round.
Rounding out the top three is the championship’s leader thru the first three days of competition. Kong, who was celebrating her 18th birthday, recorded her highest score of the week on the final day (77) posting a final score of 289 (-3) only one stroke behind Lim.
The Capilano Golf and Country Club member struggled early on, double bogeying back-to-back on holes 5 and 6, and would not be able to recover on the back half shooting 1-under. Her efforts would, however, be enough to earn her the final spot on the team named to Nationals.
Ko, Lim, and Kong will represent British Columbia Golf at the Canadian Junior Girl’s Championship being held at Thornhill Golf & Country Club in Thornhill, Ont. July 28 – August 1.
Seventeen-year-old Jaclyn Lee of Calgary maintained her two day lead through the final round at Whitetail Crossing Golf Club to claim the 2014 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur crown.
The Calgary native and Team Canada Development Team member had a great day in Mundare, shooting a 73 on the final day to close out the 54-hole tournament at 4-under. Her seven stroke lead at the turn made her nearly untouchable through the back nine as her partners and fellow Calgarians Jennifer Ha and Grace Howie finished the tournament at -1 and +15 respectively.
The final round presented competitors with a challenging 25 kilometer wind, but gifted them with blue skies and warm temperatures.
Lee will join Ha and Becky Martin of Medicine Hat on Team Alberta at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship in Woodstock, Ontario from July 22nd-25th at Craigowan Golf & Country Club.
In preparation for next week’s Alberta Junior Girls Championship at Bearspaw Country Club, Lee is happy with how her game is shaping up after three rounds in Mundare.
“My last three rounds definitely gave me confidence to know that I can play well next week,” said Lee. “I will take this confidence with me to Bearspaw and hopefully be able to play consistently throughout the week.”
Lee didn’t let the pressure of the final round get to her and was able to remained focused through the last 18.
“I thought of today as the start of the tournament and just wanted to play my best,” added Lee. “I wasn’t concerned with what Jen (Ha) was doing because I knew that things could change quickly if she got on a roll.”
Crediting the support of her team for her championship win, Lee was thankful to have such a great group behind her on and off the course.
“It’s the people like my caddy Landon Goselwitz, my coach Paul Horton, my Team Canada coach Ann Carroll and my mom that motivate me to continue playing the sport I love,” she said.
Jessica Luciuk of Barrhead, Alta. finished at 7-over thru 54 holes and claimed the Mid-Amateur title. This is Luciuk’s victory in the category. But, that wasn’t on her mind going into today’s round.
“I’m honestly not even thinking about the Mid Amateur category when I come out to this tournament,” Luciuk said. “I’m just happy to be playing with some talented young players who challenge me to compete.”
The 2014 Mid Master Championship trophy belongs to Kim Carrington of Calgary as her final round of 78 secured her the title with a +15 tally over three days.
Click here for full results.
Follow the story of Team Canada’s National Amateur Team at golfcanada.ca/teamcanada
Support Team Canada in their quest for greatness by donating through the Golf Canada Foundation
Follow the story of Team Canada’s National Amateur Team at golfcanada.ca/teamcanada
Support Team Canada in their quest for greatness by donating through the Golf Canada Foundation
