Yamba Junior Open - Sunday 4th September
On a fine and sunny day in the Clarence, the Yamba Junior Open Day attracted a field of almost 40 participants from Ballina, Byron Bay, Coraki, Coolangatta-Tweed Heads, Kyogle, Lismore, Ocean Shores, Maclean, Murwillumbah, Grafton, Kew and the host club.
The Junior Boys event was an exciting contest with over half the field having single figure handicaps. A solid round of 1 over par 73 by Jay Mackenzie (Ballina) was good enough to take out the gross event. Jay has had a very “full program” of golf this year but he still finds the time to participate in the NRDGA events when he is at home. Jay’s score was just good enough to hold off Alex Hunt (Murwillumbah), Jack Harlen-Robertson (Lismore) and Ben Morgan (Kew). The Junior Boys nett event saw local knowledge come to the fore with Reilly Wunderlich (Yamba) having a good score of 71.
The Junior Girls event attracted only a single entry and Courtney Fuller (Grafton) probably had HSC commitments on her mind rather than trying for a PB at Yamba.
The Cadet Boys competition is always an exciting event with “the next wave” of golfers crafting around 9 holes on a tough golf course. Ben Adams (CTH) followed up his second placing at Lismore recently with a close win at Yamba. And who was the runner-up on this occasion?.........his brother Sam who also had a great score of 41 and was unfortunate to lose on a count-back. Ethan Walker (Coraki) and Kane Whitelock (Byron Bay) also played well and all of these boys look likely candidates for a full GA handicap by the end of the year. The Cadet Boys Nett prize went to Danny Mackenzie (Ballina) with a great score of 24. Danny looks like he might be able to give his older brother Jay a few lessons in years to come.
The Cadet Girls division again attracted a competitive field with Eli Petterson (CTH) taking out the gross prize with a fantastic score of 46. Maddy McKee (Grafton) took out the nett trophy with a sub-par score of 29.
The Yamba Junior Day also hosted a large number of young Tyros playing 5 holes and all players and parents/grandparents had a great day. Most of these players were locals from Yamba and this augurs well for the ongoing development of Junior Golf in the Yamba Region.
The next event on the NRDGA Order of Merit schedule is at Mullumbimby Golf Club on Sunday September 18th. I look forward to seeing you all there.
For more information on Northern Rivers Junior Golf contact Gerard Wilkinson on (mobile) 0419 708 676 (gerard@jnjg.com.au).
