Kucy and Haydamack win McLennan Ross Junior Tour Championship
BY DUNC MILLS
Yesterday was the Silver Anniversary Tour Championship for the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour, but when 124 juniors from across the province had completed play at Wolf Creek Golf Resort, the day and the entire 2020 season felt like a golden moment.
Six months ago, who could have predicted how the golf industry as a whole and junior golf in particular would have experienced such a resurgence? From days back in March and April when we weren’t even sure we would HAVE a golf season in Alberta this year, the industry has enjoyed its best season in a decade or more. Families and kids have been flocking to golf courses everywhere, and the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour rolled out a series of 22 tournaments all over Alberta so that young players could help sharpen their games with excellent competition on outstanding golf courses.
VIEW PHOTO ALBUM FROM TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Facilities had to adjust how they presented themselves to players, and Alberta Golf as tournament organizers had to adjust how we could help run successful events while doing our utmost to keep participants safe. After a very busy summer, with sold out fields the order of the day tournament after tournament, I would like to think that things turned out pretty well.
Wolf Creek Golf Resort has been the host site for the Tour Championship since the Tour’s inception in 1996.
Owner Ryan Vold was a co-founder of the Tour, and even though Alberta Golf now operates the Tour, Ryan’s dedication and support of junior golf in Alberta remains unchanged. Thousands of junior golfers have earned their right to compete at the season-ending event over the last 25 years, and the Tour Championship trophy has many very well known names engraved on its face. Jaclyn Lee, Tyler Saunders, Jennifer Ha, Ryan Swelin, and many more. We have two more names to add to the trophy today, but only one new one.
Jayla Kucy of Camrose became the first three-time winner of the Tour Championship, as she completed her three-in-a-row streak of championships in very exciting style.
Locked in a battle with Jenna Burggeman of the Derrick Golf & Winter Club, Kucy was in fact a shot behind Jenna as the players arrived on the 17th tee. Fairly calm early morning conditions had given way to more typical Wolf Creek weather with sunny skies, but very gusty conditions as all the players did a great job of battling through the winds. Jayla’s par on 17 pulled the players even heading to the final hole, and when Kucy rolled in a 20-footer for birdie and Bruggeman made bogey, the three-peat was complete. What an exciting finish!
WATCH VIDEO: 1 ON 1 INTERVIEW WITH JAYLA KUCY
Brooke Brezovski of Glendale completed the podium with an 80 for her 3rd-place finish and rising star Eileen Park of Red Deer finished another shot back on 81. Park is certainly going to be a player to watch in Alberta junior golf as she has already had a sensational year at the tender age of eleven!
While the junior boys’ division didn’t have quite the drama of the girls’ flight, the play was no less outstanding. Zach Haydamack of Mickelson National GC in Calgary has really elevated his game this summer at age 15. Haydamack finished T20 in the Alberta Open Championship in July on Wolf Creek’s Links Course competing against Alberta’s best professionals and adult amateurs, and he finished T4 last week at the Alberta Golf U-17 championship at Alberta Springs Golf Resort in Red Deer. On Friday, Zach toured the Old Course at Wolf Creek in an outstanding even-par 70, three shots clear of clubmates Braden O’Grady and Cole Ruelling of Windermere. Considering the strong winds that most of the older junior boys played through during most of the day, that’s some great golf!
WATCH VIDEO: 1 ON 1 INTERVIEW WITH ZACH HAYDAMACK
Connor Czirjak of The Winston and Alberta Golf U-15 Champion Jon Vinge of Pinebrook finished T4 and both will be names to watch over the next few years.
The Titleist Order of Merit battles came down to the wire in all three boys’ divisions. Jayla Kucy had clinched the girls’ OOM title prior to yesterday, but with points doubling at the Tour Championship, several players entered the day in contention for the boys’ age group titles. Form held in the flight for boys born in 2001-2003 as leader Cole Ruelling widened his margin of victory by finishing tied for 1st in his age group on the day. In the flight for boys born in 2004-05, Josiah Tong of Heritage Pointe held a narrow 40-point lead over Sirocco’s Jeremy Hart to start play, and when Tong finished out of the top six, and Hart ended up solo 5th, the 40 points he earned left the two players in a dead heat from their summer’s efforts. In the flight for boys born in 2006 & later, on-site yesterday in the heat of the moment, I had mistakenly announced that Ryan Garbutt had edged Scott Levey for the OOM title by a razor-thin 5 points. Ryan DID win the OOM, but while Scott was awarded 1st-place prize money on the day by virtue of a comparison of scorecards ( he had a better back 9, 41 to 42), to decide the OOM ties, unless there is an on-course playoff, as in for overall first place for a tournament, the OOM points are split equally for any ties in the top six placings. I will do up the final OOM standings over the weekend, but I wanted to explain this here in the write-up to alleviate any confusion over the matter for the players. The correct player did win, but the margin was the 75 points that Ryan held to start the day, not 5 points as announced at the event. Sorry about the mix-up, everyone!
Throughout the year, we generally have listed only the top six and ties in each age division, mostly due to time constraints to get the results up on the Alberta Golf website as quickly as possible after the tournaments. Today, we are going to list the scores of every player who competed yesterday, not because we are trying to embarass any youngster who maybe had a bad day on a very difficult golf course, but to recognize and celebrate their achievements of qualifying for the Tour Championship in the first place. There were hundreds of juniors all over Alberta who gave it their best efforts in tournaments all summer who didn’t make it to Wolf Creek, but their participation and efforts deserve our applause as well as those players who made the trip to Wolf Creek on Friday.
We will do a full Year in Review report in due course as we chart what might be ahead for the Tour and junior golf in general in Alberta, but for now, here are yesterday’s results.
OVERALL TOP TWENTY
1. Zach Haydamack Mickelson National 70
T2. Cole Ruelling Windermere 73
T2. Braden O’Grady Windermere 73
T4. Connor Czirjak The Winston 74
T4. Jon Vinge Pinebrook 74
T6. Aidan Fong Country Hills 75
T6. Greg Gurba The Quarry 75
T6. Jeremy Hart Sirocco 75
T9. Nate Kasowski PPC 76
T9. Daniel Humbke Lacombe 76
T9. Rory Wutzke Camrose 76
T9. Christian Hansen River’s Edge 76
T9. Colin Pasitney St. Paul 76
14. Mason Kucy Camrose 77
T15. Blake Reimer Windermere 78
T15. Spencer Florchuk Ft. Saskatchewan 78
T17. Kennedy Bailey-Borges Windermere 79
T17. Sebastian Berube Priddis Greens 79
T17. Braeden Van Dusen Lethbridge CC 79
T17. Aneesh Kaura Pinebrook 79
T17. Scott Levey Belvedere 79
T17. Ryan Garbutt Windermere 79
BOYS BORN IN 2001-2003
T1. Cole Ruelling Windermere 73
T1. Braden O’Grady Windermere 73
3. Greg Gurba The Quarry 75
T4. Nate Kasowski PPC 76
T4. Rory Wutzke Camrose 76
6. Mason Kucy Camrose 77
T7. Blake Reimer Windermere 78
T7. Spencer Florchuk Ft. Saskatchewan 78
9. Kennedy Bailey-Borges Windermere 79
T10. Tai Robichaud The Hamptons 80
T10. Erik Bouck Camrose 80
T10. Ethan Couch Glendale 80
T13. Quinn Laidlaw The Winston 81
T13. Devin Kucy Camrose 81
T15. Ben Lovrod Grande Prairie 83
T15. Nolan Edwards River’s Edge 83
T17. Jacob Dorton Desert Blume 84
T17. Spencer Drummond Canyon Meadows 84
T19 Brennan Tailfeathers Paradise Canyon 86
T19. Owen Lai RedTail Landing 86
21. Bailey Butz Ft. Saskatchewan 87
T22. Connor MacLeod Sylvan Lake 89
T22. Braeden Petro Lethbridge CC 89
24. Hayden Prins Goose Hummock 90
24. Thijs van Lankvelt Wintergreen 91
24. Blake Hammel Ft. Saskatchewan 92
T27. Nathan Mochulski The Quarry 93
T27. Tyler Lau Derrick 93
29. Brody Theophile Stony Plain 102
BOYS BORN IN 2004-2005
1. Zach Haydamack Mickelson National 70
T2. Connor Czirjak The Winston 74
T2. Jon Vinge Pinebrook 74
T4. Aidan Fong Country Hills 75
T4. Jeremy Hart Sirocco 75
T6. Christian Hansen River’s Edge 76
T6. Colin Pasitney St. Paul 76
T8. Braeden Van Dusen Lethbridge CC 79
T8. Sebastian Berube Priddis Greens 79
T8. Aneesh Kaura PInebrook 79
11. Ethan Howes Ft. Saskatchewan 80
11. Reid Casavant Westlock 81
T13. Kylin Fraser The Winston 82
T13. Brandon Lailey The Winston 82
T15. Matthew Mayowski Drayton Valley 83
T15. Josiah Tong Heritage Pointe 83
17. Brady Bruns Lacombe 84
T18. Quinn Brown Edm. Petroleum Club 85
T18. Jace Shannon Forestburg 85
T18. Jaden Patel Inglewood 85
T18. Cooper Chalcroft Country Hills 85
T18. Wyatt Bishop Desert Blume 85
T22. Kye Fisher Leduc 87
T22. Nathan Piers Riverside 87
24. Carson Conger Inglewood 91
T25. Kole Keenas Strathmore 92
T25. Sahaj Klair RedTail Landing 92
T27. Ryker Flikinger Pine Hills 93
T27. Ben Lehmann Willow Park 93
29. Aiden McGilvery Two Hills 94
29. Evan Williams Silver Creek 97
29. Cooper Joy Wainwright 99
BOYS BORN IN 2006 & LATER
T1. Scott Levey Belvedere 79
T1. Ryan Garbutt Windermere 79
3. Christan Flick Carnmoney 81
T4. Shay Anderson Pheasantback 82
T4. Cole Phillips Willow Park 82
T6. Zach Lehmann Willow Park 83
T6. Mateo Kern Canyon Meadows 83
T6. Ryan Badger RedTail Landing 83
T6. Jalen Apedoe Serenity 83
T6. Kohen Yeske Valley Ridge 83
T11. Jace McFaul RedTail Landing 86
T11. Jake Brooks Innisfail 86
T13. Owen Bruins Desert Blume 87
T13. Lyndon Kurvial Lethbridge CC 87
T13. Chris Colberg Valley Ridge 87
16. Patrick McLarty Carnmoney 89
T17. Jared van Hecke Ft. Saskatchewan 92
T17. Payton Benneweis Edmonton CC 92
T17. Saahir Sharma Edmonton CC 92
20. Ryan Zhang Windermere 93
T21. Brae Rogalczyk Olds 94
T21. Chase Lassman Stony Plain 94
T21. Harley Mohr Ft. Saskatchewan 94
T24. Chase Strang Woodside 95
T24. Russell Quinn Wainwright 95
26. Parker Evans Royal Mayfair 96
T27. Brady Weiss Links at Spruce Grove 97
T27. Cole Serdachny Windermere 97
29. Peter Hlushak Windermere 99
JUNIOR GIRLS
1. Jayla Kucy Camrose 74
2. Jenna Bruggeman Derrick 76
3. Brooke Brezovski Glendale 80
4. Eileen Park Red Deer 81
T5. Emily Cornwall Springbank Links 83
T5. Kaitlyn Wingnean Derrick 83
7. Brynne Davies Earl Grey 85
T8. Belle Brezovski Glendale 86
T8. Jade Carter Pinebrook 86
T10. Kalee Seto Royal Mayfair 88
T10. Tessa Ion Pinebrook 88
T10. Zoe Banack Edson 88
T13. Tasha Wallace PPC 89
T13., Kali Yeske Valley Ridge 89
T13. Kristine Dixon Lynx Ridge 89
16. Carla van Remmen Pinebrook 90
17. Saylar May Pine Hills 91
18. Serin Girard River Bend 92
T19. Ella Gifford Coloniale 93
T19. Nicole Rohr Camrose 93
21. Justine Leon Lakeside 94
T22. Brooklyn Campbell Didsbury 95
T22. Taylor Foord Woodside 95
24. Ellie Johnson Derrick 98
25. Cici Zhang Lynx Ridge 99
T26. Sarah York Belvedere 103
T26. Olivia Leung The Winston 103
28. Sydney Chuong The Winston 104
29. Aliyah Hull Lakeside 106
30 Neige Dunn The Hamptons 116
31. Samantha Lin Jagare Ridge 119
