Whitecourt GCC ::

Whitecourt GCC

Date:	06/28/2007
Course:	Whitecourt
Location:	Whitecourt
Pro:	Cory Mercer
Phone:	(780) 778-3531
Email:
Website:	http://www.whitecourtgolf.com

Despite somewhat threatening skies all day, the Mark Byer Memorial Junior Open was held today at the beautifully conditioned Whitecourt Golf and Country Club. An excellent turnout of 78 juniors from as far away as Grande Prairie, Bonnyville, Jasper and Edmonton showed up to test their games at the difficult Whitecourt layout.

Three players tied for first at the conclusion of the regulation 18 holes. Justin Sluchinski of Drayton Valley was looking for his second Tour win of the season after capturing his hometown event to kick off the 2007 Tour season three weeks ago, and was joined in the playoff by Jason Rain of Ironhead and Cody Roberts of Sturgeon Valley GCC in St. Albert. Their rounds of 5-over 77 were two shots clear of Taylor Van Tighem of Jasper Park,Chris Acorn of Edson, and Rain's older brother Tilden, who tied for 4th with 79s.

It appeared that Sluchinski had the upper hand on the 2nd hole of the playoff after all three players parred the par-4 first hole. They then proceeded to the par-5 9th hole to continue the playoff and with Rain lying 4 about 10 feet from the flag, and Roberts having had tree problems, it seemed Sluchinski would capture the event if he could 2-putt from about 40 feet. He lagged his first putt to about 4 feet past the cup, and when Rain missed his 10-footer for par, Justin's 4-footer was now for the win.

But golf is a strange game at times, and when Sluchinski slid his par effort past the hole about a foot and a half, it appeared we were headed for a 3rd extra hole. But he lipped out the bogey putt and all of a sudden, Jason Rain was the champion and no doubt had bragging rights in the car on the way home!

With the top four spots from the 2007 Junior Girls Order of Merit earning spots in one of the Pro-Am's at the CN Canadian Women's Open coming up later this summer at Edmonton's Royal Mayfair, it was a bit surprising to see only three junior girls on hand today. Kylie Barros of the Petroleum Club, who has already been selected to represent her home club in the CN Women's Open Pro-Am, fired a nifty 79 to capture her first Tour title of the year and qualify for the Tour Championship at Wolf Creek on August 27th. Two events on the 2007 Tour schedule remain available for Junior Girls to earn Order of Merit ranking points towards qualifying for this once in a lifetime opportunity to play alongside one of the LPGA professionals that will be at the Royal Mayfair in mid-August.

* = Won tournament on 2nd hold of sudden-victory playoff.

Q = Qualified for Tour Championship at Wolf Creek on August 27th.

WC = Wild Card qualifier for Tour Championship

PQ = Player had Previously Qualified for Tour Championship

Overall Top Ten:

	NAME	HOME CLUB	SCORE
1.	Jason RAIN	Ironhead	77 *
T2.	Justin SLUCHINSKI	Drayton Valley	77
T2.	Cody ROBERTS	Sturgeon Valley	77
T4.	Taylor Van TIGHEM	Jasper Park	79
T4.	Tilden RAIN	Ironhead	79
T4.	Chris ACORN	Edson	79
T7.	Jake BEHIELS	Cougar Creek	80
T7.	Nolan TRUDEAU	Grande Prairie	80

JUNIOR BOYS BORN 1988, 1989 AND 1990

	NAME	HOME CLUB	SCORE
1.	Justin SLUCHINSKI	Drayton Valley	77 PQ
T2.	Taylor Van TIGHEM	Jasper Park	79 Q
T2	Tilden RAIN	Ironhead	79 PQ
4	Jake BEHIELS	Cougar Creek	80
5.	Brendan HUBBARD	Grande Prairie GCC	82
6	Tyson COTE	Whitecourt	83

JUNIOR BOYS BORN 1991 AND 1992

	NAME	HOME CLUB	SCORE
1	Jason RAIN	Ironhead	77*Q
2.	Cody ROBERTS	Sturgeon Valley	77 WC
3.	Chris ACORN	Edson	79 WC
4.	Nolan TRUDEAU	Grande Prairie GCC	80
5.	Steven DAVIS	Belvedere	82
T6	Jun Whi KIM	Toronto	83
T6	Demetres GIANNITSOS	Edson	83

JUNIOR BOYS BORN 1993 AND LATER

	NAME	HOME CLUB	SCORE
1.	Taylor YAREMCHUK	Broadmoor	82 Q
2.	Ryan TRUDEAU	Grande Prairie GCC	83
3.	Connor MOORE	Bonnyville	85
4.	Mikkel HOLT	Athabasca	87
5.	Shawn STREITMEYER	Broadmoor	89
6.	Brandon ZIMMERMAN		90