Byron Bay Junior Open Golf Day
On a typically clear and glorious Northern Rivers day, 59 young golfers enjoyed the Byron Bay Golf Course in the final Junior Open Day in the Northern Rivers Order of Merit Series. Golfers from Ballina, Coolangatta-Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah, Lismore, Kyogle, Ocean Shores, Iluka, Yamba, Maclean, Hetherington Range and the host club competed in a festive spirit for the prizes on offer.
The Junior Boys section was played off the “black tees” (Course Rating: 74) and was won by Lucas Higgins (Murwillumbah) with a great round of 76. Other good scores on the tough layout included Riley King (Murwillumbah) with a 78 and Ethan Mitchell (Murwillumbah) with a 79. The Junior Boys nett event was won by Ethan with a fantastic nett score of 69. Ethan was able to beat Josh Williams (Murwillumbah) on a count-back. Ethan’s efforts on the day were additionally rewarded by an invitation from the Byron Bay Golf Club to participate in the PGA Legends event just before Christmas. The final scores in the season long Order of Merit competition are listed below.
The Junior Girls section again attracted a small but competitive field. The gross event was won by Eleka Moore (Ballina and Byron Bay). Eleka is currently the ladies club champion at both Ballina and Byron Bay Golf Clubs so her local knowledge would have been handy. In the OOM competition, Maddie Trew (Murwillumbah) was successful in winning the Gross competition.
A good field of 28 young golfers participated in the 9 hole Cadet event with many of the most valuable OOM prizes still up for grabs. Nick Sneesby (Murwillumbah) performed best at Byron with a great score of 44 shots. This effort was good enough to hold off the fast finishing Isaac Outridge (Coolangatta-Tweed Heads) in the OOM competition (see below for full results). Other good scores included Eli Cambell (Ballina) who shot 49 and Jayme Walters (Kyogle) with 50. The Cadet Girls saw another consistent performance by Emily Martin (Murwillumbah) with a great score of 58.
A good number of 12 Tyros also participated in the 5 hole event at Byron Bay. These little ones deserve much credit for attacking the challenging Byron Bay layout and we hope to see many of them back as competitors in the OOM series in 2015. Congratulations also to the Byron Bay Golf Club for hosting a fabulous “end-of-season” event and for their generous hospitality on the day.
NRDGA – Order of Merit 2014 Winners
Junior Boys
Gross Winner ($500) Riley Taylor (Casino)
Gross R/Up ($200) Lucas Higgins (Murwillumbah)
Nett Winner ($400) Josh Williams (Murwillumbah)
Nett R/Up ($100) Jack Harlen-Robertson (Lismore)
Most Improved ($100) Cameron Larkin (Murwillumbah)
Cadet Boys
Gross Winner ($200) Nick Sneesby (M’bah)
Gross 1st R/Up ($150) Isaac Outridge (CTH)
Gross 2nd R/UP ($50) Chad Broadbeck (CTH)
Nett Winner ($100) Callum Howell (Ballina)
Most Improved ($50) Nicholas Magarry (Lis.)
For more information on Northern Rivers Junior Golf contact Gerard Wilkinson on (mobile) 0419 708 676 (gerard@jnjg.com.au) or Andrea Glavocih on (02) 6686-5411 (ricsavservices@bigpond.com).
