Day 2 welcomed players back to Bathurst GC and thankfully there was no fog blanketing the course for the start of play in the final day of competition.
Bathurst GC looked spectacular in the early morning and throughout the day and it was a testament to the greens staff and all involved who assisted in the running of the event.
Thanks once again must go out to Bathurst GC and all the staff and volunteers involved in the event. Without them this event wouldn’t be able to go ahead, thanks again to Brad Constable, Matt Barrett and his proshop staff, Norm Matheson, Immanuel Pro, the catering staff for the wonderful food over the weekend and JNJG stalwarts John and Margaret Gow.
In addition a major thankyou to our sponsors, Titleist who provided our major prizes for the event, Srixon, one of JNJG’s major sponsors and long-time supporter of JNJG and Junior Golf and Subaru who continue to provide services to JNJG.
The early field set off in near perfect conditions and got the best of the weather on day 2. Bathurst GC continued to put its best foot forward and offered all golfers a wonderful challenge. The scores coming in from the field continued to show the quality of the layout and the challenge that it presented to all players.
The Boys overall division saw the lead for the event continue to change throughout the course of the day, as did the weather. The leading players had to contend with strong winds that whipped up midway through their round. Overnight leader Jac Delany, struggled on day 2 and could only manage a 7 over final round to close with a score of 149 and leave him in 3rd place. Kevin Yuan had a 40 foot uphill putt to birdie the 36th hole that fell agonizingly short of going in. That missed putt would ultimately decide the championship as Zac Stolz would finish with a solid 2 putt par and claim the title by one. With only 3 shots separating the top 7 players, the boys overall division showed the fantastic state that NSW Boys Junior golf is in.
The Girls overall was even more nail biting then the boys. With both players making regulation pars at the 18th, we saw Celina Yuan and Shelly Shin tied for the lead on 151. Forcing a playoff, both girls headed back to the 1st hole. Both players squared the 1st and headed again back down the 9th hole. Shelly blew her birdie putt 6 feet past the hole and had to watch as Celina knocked her birdie putt inside a few inches to give herself a regulation tap in par. With nerves of steel Shelly sunk her par putt to force a 3rd hole. Players again headed back to the first and with daylight fading fast, a wayward drive off the 1st by Shelly ultimately cost her as Celina knocked in a par to win the event.
Many of the leaders from Day 1 continued to have to toil hard to be able to hold on to the leads that they had.
The boys stableford was a reduced 27 hole event due to the heavy fog on day 1, but congratulations goes to Max Pilon from Wagga Country Club who shot 59 points to win the event by 1 point over Terry Yoon on 58 points from Strathfield GC.
The boys 13 & under scratch was won by Charlie Pilon from Wagga Country Club (154). Charlie turned around a 2 shot deficit from Round 1 to beat Ben Eadie (157) by 3 shots.
In the boys 14 & 15yrs, Blake Smylie who shot the standout round of the day from Day 1, from Pacific Dunes, backed up his exception first round of 1 under 70, to shoot a 7 over 78 to win by a whopping 12 shots. Blakes total of 148 would have placed him tied 2nd in the overall division. Runner up in the division was Daniel Reale from the NSW GC, who shot a combined score of 160 for the tournament.
The boys 16 and over, Brad Fairclough recovered from a disappointing day 1 to shoot a 3 over 74 on day 2 (159 total) to overtake day 1 leader Zac Leech (161) and won the division by 2 shots.
The girls stableford was also reduced to 27 holes due to heavy fog on day 1, but congratulations goes to Stephanie Baltzois, from Castle Hill country club who shot a combined 58 points, to edge out Kara Williams from Gordon GC on 55 points.
The girls 14 and under was won by Antonia Gonzalez from Concord GC, who had solid back to back rounds and shot a combined total of 169 and squeezed out a win over Amy Chu from Liverpool GC on a total of 170.
In the girls 15 & over division, Jessica Windarma from the NSW GC blitzed the field and shot a combined score of 172, 14 shots ahead of her nearest rival, Alyxandra Kemp from Castle Hil CC. Tough conditions in the afternoon of day 2 pushed the competitors all the way and made for tough scoring conditions.
In the nett divisions, the winners and runners up were:
Boys 13 & Under: Bryce Roach from Cumberland GC (145 C/B)
Boys 13 & Under Runner up: Joshua Gadd from Penrith GC (145 C/B)
Boys 14 & 15: Dylan Thompson from Bathurst GC (145)
Boys 14 & 15 Runner up: Kristopher Cole from Queanbeyan (147)
Boys 16 & Over: Anthony Rath from Goulburn GC (150)
Boys 16 & Over Runner up: Nick Fitzpatrick from Young GC (152)
Girls 14 & Under: Caitlin Davidson Ashlar GC (143 C/B)
Girls 14 & Under Runner up: Olivia Molind from Oatlands (143 (C/B)
Girls 15 & Over: Amy Davis Ashlar GC (149)
