Edmonton Petroleum Club Junior Open
BY DUNC MILLS
At any of the events on the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Golf Tour, some aspects of the tournament might stand out more than others. Maybe the course was in superb condition. Perhaps the meal for the players merited special mention. Some events have been better organized by the host committee than others. But when all the facets of running a successful junior golf tournament come together, you get what 72 juniors from Calgary to Edmonton experienced this morning at the Edmonton Petroleum GCC.
The Mark McCumber-designed layout in the southwest corner of the city has always had that ‘major’ feel associated with the tournament. Once again this year, the course itself was in immaculate condition with many of the fairways and tee decks being smoother than some of the greens at other courses.
Head Professional Kyle Boyd and his staff had everything ready to go when we arrived at 6 a.m., including colour-coded scorecards to identify the players’ flights and a specially-printed menu for the players’ post-round lunches. We had one of the largest and deepest fields of junior girls on Tour in at least a decade, and the kids responded very well to their surroundings with some excellent play and even better behavior.
Cole Ruelling of Windermere continued his great recent form with his fourth Tour win in the 2020 season. Ruelling, 18, sprinkled five birdies on his scorecard offset with six bogies for a 1-over par 73, two shots clear of Westlock’s Reid Casavant.
Four players tied for third overall on 78 as the slick greens and tree-lined fairways at the Pete Club exacted their toll. With the Tour Championship coming up two weeks from tomorrow at Wolf Creek Golf Resort, this was the last opportunity for players in the Edmonton area to qualify for Wolf Creek at an event near their home. New qualifiers today on the boys’ side included Braden O’Grady (78) of Windermere in the flight for boys born in 2001-03, Ryan Gillis (83) of Pinebrook GCC in Calgary in the flight for boys born in 2004-05 and Windermere’s Cole Serdachny (78) from the flight for boys born in 2006 and later. Wild Card qualifying spots went to Parker Evans of the Royal Mayfair and the host club’s Quinn Brown, both who fired scores of 85.
NOTE – Parker and Quinn,,,you both got away early today before I had identified who had won the Wild Card qualifying spots. Please contact me so that I can get you your information you would need for the Tour Championship.
The Junior Girls’ flight today featured 22 competitors including several players who had competed last month in the Alberta Golf U-19 Championships. Pre-event favorites Jenna Bruggeman of the Derrick and Brooke Brezovski of the Glendale seemed most likely to be battling it out for the overall title and the results bore out those predictions. Brezovski fired a sparkling 1-under par 71 to nip Bruggeman by three strokes as a few late bogies by Jenna let Brooke pull away. The two players had been within a shot of each other virtually the entire round. The quinella paid $2.10.
Girls overall Low Net winner Nicole Rohr (L) of Camrose. Girls Low Gross Champion Brooke Brezovski (R) of Glendale
Alexa Wingnean, Monday’s winner at Stony Plain, finished third with an 81. In addition to Bruggeman, other girls Wild Card qualifiers today included Brooke’s younger sister Belle (86) of Glendale and Camrose’s Nicole Rohr, who fired a lifetime best score of 89 to earn her way into the field at Wolf Creek.
Today’s event wraps up the Tour schedule for this year for competitions in the immediate Edmonton area, but four other tournaments remain on the 2020 slate. We are in Wainwright on Monday for the Tour’s initial event in the east central Alberta town. Entries for Wainwright close at Noon this Saturday. We then follow up with another ‘first time’ event on Saturday, August 22 at Woodside GC in Airdrie. The final two Tour events leading up to Wolf Creek are at Desert Blume in Medicine Hat (Aug. 24) and the “Last Chance Saloon” at Nanton on Tuesday, August 25. Spots are still open at all of these events for any juniors looking for good competition before heading back to school.
OVERALL TOP TEN:
1. Cole Ruelling Windermere 73
2. Reid Casavant Westlock 75
T3. Cayden Clark Glendale 78
T3. Braden O’Grady Windermere 78
T3. Cole Serdachny Windermere 78
T3. Scott Levey Belvedere 78
7.Connor Kurysh Glendale 79
8. Azeem Manzour Heron Pointe 80
9. Ryan Badger RedTail Landing 81
10. Spencer Florchuk Ft. Saskatchewan 82
The following players were the Top Six and ties in each age group, thereby earning Titleist Order of Merit ranking points.
BOYS BORN IN 2001-03
1. Cole Ruelling Windermere 73 PQ
T2. Cayden Clark Glendale 78 PQ
T2. Braden O’Grady Windermere 78 Q
4. Connor Kurysh Glendale 79
5. Spencer Florchuk Ft. Saskatchewan 82
6. Kennedy Bailey – Borges Windermere 83
BOYS BORN IN 2004-05
1. Reid Casavant Westlock 75 PQ
2. Azeem Manzour Heron Pointe 80 PQ
3. Ryan Gillis Pinebrook 83 Q
T4. Parker Evans Royal Mayfair 85 WC
T4. Quinn Brown Edmonton Pete Club 85 WC
T6. Nathan Piers Riverside 86
T6. Brandon Gratton Edmonton Pete Club 86
BOYS BORN IN 2006 & LATER
T1. Cole Serdachny Windermere 78 Q
T1 Scott Levey Belvedere 78 PQ
3. Ryan Badger RedTail Landing 81 PQ
4. Ryan Zhang Windermere 85 PQ
5. Ryan Garbutt Windermere 86
6. Payton Benneweis Edmonton CC 87
JUNIOR GIRLS
1. Brooke Brezovski Glendale 71 Q
2. Jenna Bruggeman Derrick 74 WC
3. Alexa Wingnean Derrick 81 PQ
T4. Ellis Johnson Derrick 86 PQ
T4. Belle Brezovski Glendale 86 WC
6. Nicole Rohr Camrose 89 WC
