Twelve Young Golfers Qualify for International Tourney in Florida Next Summer
Story by Pat Payton | St. Marys Independent Newspaper
Early last week, 12 young golfers qualified for spots in the 2022 Optimist International Junior Golf Championships next year.
A total of 52 golfers competed in the annual Midwestern Ontario Junior Optimists golf championships last Tuesday, Aug. 3 at St. Marys G&CC. Three of the Junior golfers were from St. Marys. Simon Greig, Chase McDougall and Nathan Wolfkamp all competed in the boys 12-13 age division. There were three girls, who all competed in the 15-18 division.
All golfers were trying to shoot a qualifying score, enabling them to punch their ticket to the 2022 Optimist International Junior Golf Championships at the Doral Resort and Spa in Miami, Florida. There were a total of 17 spots available in St. Marys last week, but a qualifying score had to be posted.
The 12 who qualified
The 12 golfers who qualified for the 2022 event in Florida are as follows. (Their scores are in brackets).
John Van Bilson (70), of Glencoe; and Simon Moir (72), of London, qualified in the boys 16-18 division.
Luciana Garavito (83), of London, qualified in the girls 15-18 grouping.
In the boys 14-15 division, there were six qualifiers: Kohen Adams (76), of Egmondville; Jayce Durand (77), of Exeter; Logan Merritt (79), of Komoka; Tyson Roth (80), of Elmira; Max Gavric (80), of La Salle; and William McEachern (83), of Melbourne.
The two qualifiers in the boys 12-13 division were: Evan Hall (83), of Elmira; and Ryan Boone (87), of Kitchener. The first alternate is Nathan Wolfkamp (87), of St. Marys.
“If the two boys ahead of him choose not to go (to Florida), Nathan gets first shot to go to the International event next year,” explained Bob Ranick, Midwestern District Golf Chair. “There are only two spots available in that age division.”
Andrew Sudicky (83), of Dutton, qualified in the boys 10-11 division.
Altogether, there were seven qualifiers from the Midwestern Ontario District, and five from the Southwestern Ontario District. The Southwest District didn’t host a tournament this summer, so those (16) golfers were allowed to compete for spots in last week’s Midwestern tournament.
‘Wonderful weather day’
Ranick was thrilled with the near-perfect weather conditions last Tuesday.
“It was a wonderful weather day for the championships and we thank all Junior golfers for participating and hope you had an enjoyable and positive experience,” he said. “It was a good tournament.
“The tournament cannot run without volunteers and a big thank you to championship committee members and other Optimists and non-Optimist members for their assistance. In the meantime, the 2022 Midwestern District Championships will be held the day after the August long weekend (in St. Marys),” Ranick noted.
