The McLennan Ross Sun Junior Tour

Country Hills GCC

At the 2008 Canmore Junior Open, Adrienne Hill, the Junior Chairperson for Country Hills GCC, approached us about the possibility of their club hosting a Tour event in 2009.  Naturally , we were very excited about the prospect of adding a prestigious private club in Calgary to the Tour schedule, and the results of the past year's planning and organization by Hill and her committee were on display today.

What a display it was!  Despite intermittent morning drizzle, 73 juniors made the most of the opportunity to test their game on the Ridge Course at Country Hills.  Excellent organization was the order of the day, from the four registration tables to numerous on-course spotters and volunteers, to the delicious pasta buffet for the competitors and parents after the round.  The course was in excellent condition in spite of the deluges over recent days in Calgary, and full marks to the course grounds staff that were working overtime to prepare the course for the players.

Jesse Teron of Red Deer followed up his T7 performance yesterday at Pinebrook with his first Tour win of the season, firing a steady 2-over par 73 in difficult conditions. (Player of the Week contender?).  Teron edged Scott Secord of Country Hills by a single shot, with Bearspaw clubmates Kevin Wong and Chris Bonli tied for third at 75.  As many of the top finishers today had previoulsy qualified for the upcoming Tour Championship at Wolf Creek, we had to go further down the list today to identify the fresh qualifiers for the August 31 windup.

Alex Gowda (78) of Willow Park, Brandon Tkachuk (78) of Fox Hollow, and Sturgeon Valley's AJ Armstrong (80) qualified out of  their respective age groups today, and will be joined in the field at Wolf Creek by Wild Card qualifiers Kyle Kline (79)  and Cam Hill (80), both of Country Hills, and Silver Springs' Heath Irvine (80).

A strong field of ten junior girls was on hand today, and the host club's Mandy Wong made good use of her home course knowledge, firing an 81 for her first Tour win. Wong finished two shots ahead of her clubmate Casara Hong with the Derrick's Abby Gill another shot back in third with an 84.  Hong and fourth-place finisher Sabrine Garrison (85) of Country Hills earned the two girls' qualifying spots up for grabs today.

We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the Board of Directors and management of Country Hills, who made their course available for this tournament today.  Not many private clubs would be as forward-thinking and junior-friendly to do so. 

Next events on Tour will be at two more junior-friendly Tour sites; Stony Plain on Sunday and Innisfail on Monday. More details about those two events will be on the website tomorrow morning.

OVERALL TOP TEN

1. Jesse TERON                                              Red Deer GCC                     73

2. Scott SECORD                                           Country Hills                       74

T3. Chris BONLI                                           Bearspaw                              75

T3. Kevin WONG                                           Bearspaw                              75

T5. Ryan KERR                                             Calgary Elks                         77

T5. John MacKINNON                                  Willow Park                          77

T5. Jack WOOD                                            Banff Springs                        77

T8. Alex GOWDA                                          Willow Park                          78

T8. Brandon TKACHUK                               Fox Hollow                            78

T8. Matt WILLIAMS                                    Pinebrook                              78

JUNIOR BOYS BORN IN 1990/91/92

T1. Chris BONLI                                        Bearspaw                                75 PQ

T1. Kevin WONG                                        Bearspaw                                75 PQ

3. Ryan KERR                                            Calgary Elks                           77 PQ

4. Alex GOWDA                                         Willow Park                            78 Q

5. Brett NIAWCHUK                                 Pine Hills                                 82

6. Braden OEHLERKING                         Wolf Creek                                84

JUNIOR BOYS BORN IN 1993/94

1. Jesse TERON                                          Red Deer GCC                        73 PQ

2. Scott SECORD                                       Country Hills                           74 PQ

3. John MacKINNON                                Willow Park                              77 PQ

4. Brandon TKACHUK                             Fox Hollow                                78 Q

T5. Alex CARTWRIGHT                             Canmore                                 79 PQ

T5. Kyle KLINE                                         Country Hills                            79 WC

T7. Cam HILL                                           Country Hills                             80 WC

T7. Heath IRVINE                                     Silver Springs                             80 WC

JUNIOR BOYS BORN IN 1995 and LATER

1. Jack WOOD                                         Banff Springs                              77 PQ

2. Matt WILLIAMS                                 Pinebrook                                   78 PQ

3. AJ ARMSTR                                       Sturgeon Valley                           80 Q

4. Theo OLVER                                       Three Hills                                   81

5. Brendan BROWN                                Hamptons                                    83

6. Eric FIELD                                          Silver Springs                               84

JUNIOR GIRLS

1. Mandy WONG                                   Country Hills                                81 PQ

2. Casara HONG                                    Country Hills                                83 Q

3. Abby GILL                                         Derrick                                         84 PQ

4. Sabrine GARRISON                           Country Hills                               85 WC

5. Madison KRUGER                            Country Hills                                86

6. Jais DeJONG-DYCK                         Grande Prairie GCC                     93

Q = Qualified for Tour Championship at Wolf Creek GR on August 31

WC = Wild Card qualifier for Tour Championship

PQ = Player had previously qualified for Tour Championship