By Dunc Mills:

Sometimes, a Tour event the week after a major championship seems like a bit of a letdown, but those tournaments are still very important to the participants, the Tour itself and for the game.  Today’s Carstairs Junior Open perhaps seemed like a bit of a downer at first after the spectacular success yesterday in Canmore, but we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that 46 juniors were on hand from across Calgary and southern Alberta, and this was the most important tournament on these players’ agendas today.  Carstairs has been a mainstay on the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour for over two decades, and there were many youngsters on hand today getting some of their very first exposure to tournament competition.  That’s certainly a major objective of the Tour, and these young players were out there doing their best.

Best of the bunch today was Mateo Kern of Canyon Meadows GCC in Calgary, who earned his second Tour win of the season, firing a steady 2-under par 70, good for a two-shot win over Gavin Wrathall of Lakeside GC in Chestermere and 14-year-old Grady Sewell of Pine Hills GC in Rocky Mountain House.  Sewell’s effort topped the boys’ U15 age group, while Kern was top dog in the U17 flight.  Ryder Holte of Hughenden and Casey Sliva of the Red Deer GCC finished T4 overall with matching 75s.

Mateo Kern

Boys U13 co-champions today were clubmates and good friends Carter Woods and Greyson Ernst, playing out of Gleniffer Lake Resort GC near Innisfail. Matthew Workun (76) of the Sylvan Lake GC took home top money in the boys’ U19 age group.

We had nine junior girls on hand this afternoon out of the total of 46 competitors.  What was especially pleasing was that the threesome of young girls who led the afternoon shotgun from the #1 tee box breezed around the Carstairs layout in a brisk three hours and 35 minutes!  Congratulations to those youngsters for leading the pace of play today.

Jadyn Gracie of Priddis Greens backed up her win yesterday in Canmore with a steady round of 80  to capture low gross overall honours and the title in the girls’ U19/U17 flight in the process. Cherry Wang of The Hamptons, one of the first tee pacesetters, took home top money in the girls U15 flight with a score of 88 , while Madisynn McCauley of Bearspaw was top point getter in the girls U13 division.

Jaydn Gracie U19 Low Gross. Taryn Sanderson U19 Low Net

One more event remains this week on the Tour, a 9 a.m.shotgun start on Thursday in Nanton.  Please visit the Tour website at www.albertagolfjuniors.org for more information about the remaining Tour events coming up in August.