ACT Monaro District Golf Association

Junior Week of Golf—October 2008

Although the field was smaller than normal (around 30 players compared to the normal 45) the competition was still intense for the various prizes on offer. Three days of glorious weather at three courses in good condition saw some impressive scoring on all days; in two separate handicap divisions (Div h/c 4 to 17; Div 2 h/c 18 to 34).

Day 1 at RMC.
Local aussie star Peter Schroder (Gun Lakes) took out Division 1 honours with a score of 40 points, two ahead of his closest rival Phillip Ferreira from Gold Creek. Division 2 was also closely contested with one point again separating first and second places - James Day (Yowani) on 41 points just pipping Miles Sweeney from Royal Canberra on 40 points. Both winners also collected NTP prizes – Schroder on the 2nd hole and Day on the 11th. RMC Club President Cyril Mitchell proved a popular person with his great sausage sandwiches at the halfway point.

Day 2 at Murrumbidgee.
Thursday was another beautiful day and the course was in good condition ready for the up-coming club championships. Although preferred lies were available most players commented that they were seldom necessary. Division 1 was taken by one of the Tully Park juniors, Patrick Smith, with a score of 39 points, who played in the last group of the day. As this event was run in conjunction with the MCC Junior Open, Patrick also took the MCC Junior Open crown. The only girl in the competition Alisia Garcia from Queanbeyan played a strong round to record 38 points, closely followed by MCC low marker Conner Deck and Queanbeyan’s Michael Elliot on 37 points. Royal Canberra Juniors Miles Sweeney (25 h/c) and Akira Kinefuchi (27 h/c) took the honours in Division 2 with 42 and 41 points respectively.

Day 3 at Goulburn.
Warm and calm conditions together with preferred lies again saw some low scoring at Goulburn Golf Club. Local junior Patrick Smith (Tully Park, h/c 11) blitzed the Division 1 field with 43 points. Dylan Wallace (Yowani) came second, after a count back, with 41 points, which was greatly aided by an eagle 3 (for 4 Stableford points) on the par 5 2nd hole. Lewis Schenk (Federals only junior playing) came third also on 41 points. Division 2 was also dominated by a Goulburn resident -- Tully Park’s Ryan Mortimer -- with 45 points, in front of Charlie Cameron on 43 points and Theo Theodosiou on 40 points (both from Royal Canberra). There were many compliments about the size and quality of the lunch from the Club Restaurant. Following the presentation of prizes for the day competition and 54-hole competition the players enjoyed a leisurely coach trip back to Canberra.

Three-day overall results
Like the day competitions, the results of this were also very close. Little known Queanbeyan 15-year old Junior Michael Elliot took out the first prize (and the Butch Brown Memorial Trophy) with a total score of 109 points (scores of 37, 37 and 35). Patrick Smith was second on 108 points and Alisia Garcia beat two others (Lewis Schenk and Phillip Ferreira), all on 107 points for third place, on a count-back.

Division 2 (with a wider range of handicaps) was not as close. Miles Sweeney (h/c 23) from Royal Canberra had a comfortable win on 116 points (scores of 40, 42, and 34) from fast improving Josh Armstrong from Gold Creek and James Day (Yowani).
The full 3-day results are shown in the table below

NAME	CLUB	*H/C*	day 1	day 2	day 3	54 hole
DIVISION 1
ELLIOT, Michael	QBYN	14	37	37	35	109
SMITH, Patrick	TULLY	11	26	39	43	108
GARCIA, Alisia (F)	QBYN	17	31	38	38	107
SCHENK, Lewis	FED	16	33	33	41	107
FERREIRA, Phillip	GOLD CK	11	38	31	38	107
REES, Nathan	GOLD CK	10	29	36	40	105
SCHRODER, Peter	GUN	12	40	34	30	104
WALLACE, Dylan	YOW	10	29	32	41	102
WILKIE, Ben	QBYN	11	34	30	37	101
MITCHELL, Jake	GOUL	13	31	28	39	98
HAINES, Cameron	FED	4	36	36	0	72
AYRE, Jordan	RCGC	8	29	32	0	61
DECK, Conner	MCC	5	0	37	0	37
DUNSTONE, Chris	GUN	8	0	0	36	36

DIVISION2
SWEENEY, Miles	RCGC	23	40	42	34	116
ARMSTRONG, Joshua	GOLD CK	20	34	39	37	110
DAY, James	Yow	25	41	33	34	108
MORTIMER, Ryan	TULLY	19	31	29	45	105
CAMERON, Charlie	RCGC	33	27	30	43	100
THEODOSIOU, Theo	RCGC	34	30	29	40	99
KINEFUCHI, Akira	RCGC	25	32	41	26	99
TOY, Billy	MCC	21	28	30	39	97
GRAHAM, Brad	TULLY	24	38	23	27	88
KIBUKAMUSOKE, Jordan	GOLD CK	28	28	28	23	79
FLOROS, Matthew	QBYN	21	38	36	0	74
FLOROS, Timmy	QBYN	23	28	35	0	63
BLAKE, John	MCC	21	0	39	0	39
DRAPER, Tom	MCC	22	0	33	0	33
FLOROS, Benjamin	QBYN	32	14	17	0	31
FOSTER, Andrew	MCC	21	0	30	0	30

Based partially on these performances, several juniors have played themselves into new State and District Coaching Squads; letters of invite will be sent out by the Manager of these Squads, Jim Jackson in late October.

Some of the photographs taken by Jim Jackson during the round at Goulburn are attached.


Most of the group of juniors that played in day 3 of the 2008 Oct Junior Week of Golf near the first tee at Goulburn Golf Club.	A selection of the Goulburn day comp and 54-hole comp winners L to R—Michael Elliot (Quean), Patrick Smith (TP), Josh Armstrong (kneeling, GC), Ryan Mortimer (TP), Dylan Wallce (Yow), James Day (Yow)	Michael Elliot (Queanbeyan Golf Club)—overall 54 hole Competition Winner

Up-coming events around the District of possible interest to juniors include the
• Brett Ogle Junior Masters at Goulburn (25th 26th Oct),
• Fairbarn Open (15th 16th November)
• RMC Open (23rd November).
Approach the respective clubs directly for entry details

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ACT Monaro Juniors do well at Cessnock

Three of the better, low handicap juniors, from the ACT-Monaro District went up to Cessnock last week to play in the Jack Newton International Junior Golf Classic at the Oaks Golf Club. This is a prestigious State Event run in age divisions and usually attracts in the order of 180 juniors. All 3 played good golf, they all finished within the top 10 of their respective Divisions and they all finished within 1 shot of each other.

Luke Humphries (Goulburn and Pymble, h/c 1) played in the 17 year-old age Division, which had a total of 34 players, off handicaps between 0 and 5. Luke managed =9th place in the Gross Competition with rounds of 75, 69, 79 and 72, for a total of 295. Luke was a little disappointed with this result, but that disappointment must have been offset by his win in the NSW Junior Championship the week before.

Mark Buick (Royal Canberra, h/c 2) competed in the 16 year-old Division which had a total of 45 boys playing off handicaps between 0 and 6. Mark secured =8th place with rounds of 76,74,72,73, also for a total 295.

Kacper Gancarz (Yowani, h/c 4) played in the 14 year-old Division against 30 other boys off handicaps between 3 and 12. Kacper recorded our best result with an equal 4th place in the Gross Competition with rounds of 76, 73, 71,76 (total 296).
Kacper’s younger brother Jacub also played in the event in the 12-year old category off a handicap of 18. He recorded a credible 11th place in the Nett Competition.

Unfortunately, ACT-Monaro did not have any representatives playing in the equivalent girls’ competition.

Brett Drewitt and Jessica Noh were crowned the 2008 Jack Newton International Junior Classic Champions. Brett Drewitt from the Long Reef Golf Club held off the fast finishing Jordan Zunic to claim the boys’ title. Brett finished the tournament at 8 under par after carding a final round 70. Jessica Noh from the Ryde Parramatta Golf Club held on the take the Girls division for the second consecutive year. Jessica finished the tournament at 5 under par three clear of her nearest rival, Whitney Hillier from the Joondalup Golf Course in Western Australia.

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Luke Humphries Captain of NSW Boy's Team

Luke Humphries (Goulburn GC and Pymble h/c +1)
In January Luke was selected as the Captain of the NSW Boy's Team and justified his selection by recording great performances in stroke play and match play events in Victoria in April. He finished 10th in the Australian Boys Amateur at Spring Valley Golf Club with rounds of 73, 77, 74, 72. He was also the best NSW player in the Boys' Interstate Series (at Peninsula Golf Club) where he won 5 out of his 6 matches. In addition, Luke has had a fantastic season in Sydney's Major Metropolitan Pennants Competition where his team, Pymble, made the final and he was undefeated for the season.

NSW Junior Champion 2008
Luke Humphies from Goulburn exceeded all of his previous achievements to take out the NSW Junior Championship at Wakehurst Golf Club in the last week of September 2008. Previous winner of this prestigious event include Brett Ogle and Steve Elkington. Luke shot rounds of 74, 72, 71 and 76 for a 4 round score of 293. Luke won with a comfortable lead of 4 shots over his nearest rival David Randall and Daniel Yu (on 297). Luke is currently playing in his home club (Pymble) championships and is contesting the semi-final this w/e (25th/26th Oct). Due to his junior title win Luke gains entry into the NSW Open in November. The District wishes him well in this event.

Junior Week of Golf 2008

Results for Junior Week of Golf—Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | 54 hole Results

Junior Golf Week—Photographs (click on pictures for larger versions)


Winner of Division 1 (54-hole competition) Ben Hogan (Belconnen Golf Club) for the second year running.	Five tired but happy golfers from the Goulburn.	Thirty of the 36 players after presentation on final day at Belconnen Magpies Golf Club.

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Current ACT-Monaro Junior Golf Stars

There have been several of recent events at which ACT-Monaro Junior Golfers have recorded excellent performances -- these players are hereby nominated by ACT-Monaro DGA Junior Promotions Officer, Jim Jackson, as current junior "GOLF STARS".

Kacper Gancarz (Yowani CC, h/c ~3)
Although still only 14 years old, Kacper is stamping his name on junior trophies around the district. He won the Gold Creek Junior Classic on 27th April with a 2 under score of 70 and followed that up, a week later, with a 75 at the 30th Annual Queanbeyan City Golf Championships to win the Junior Boys Gross Division. Another good round of 73 (1 over par) in the Gungahlin Lakes Junior Classic (Sunday 25th May) gained him runner-up place, just one shot behind the winner, Mark Buick (Royal Canberra). Kacper is largely a self-taught golfer who has not had the benefit of much professional golf coaching so watch out once he starts regular coaching in the State Squad in the near future.

Luke Humphries (Goulburn GC and Mona Vale GC h/c ~1)
In January Luke was selected as the Captain of the NSW Boy's Team and justified his selection by recording great performances in stroke play and match play events in Victoria in April. He finished 10th in the Australian Boys Amateur at Spring Valley Golf Club with rounds of 73, 77, 74, 72. He was also the best NSW player in the Boys' Interstate Series (at Peninsula Golf Club) where he won 5 out of his 6 matches. In addition, Luke has had a fantastic season in Sydney's Major Metropolitan Pennants Competition where his team, Mona Vale, made the final and he was undefeated for the season.

Jackson Stuckey (Royal Canberra GC, Mona Vale GC, h/c ~1)
Jackson recorded a magnificent score of 4 under par for the four rounds of the major amateur event, the Keperra Bowl, in Queensland in early May. He recorded rounds of 73, 68, 72, and 71 and finished in equal 17th place. He was the best placed and youngest of the five ACT players that entered. Six weeks earlier Jackson had finished = 24th in the Australian Boys Amateur Championships at Spring Valley Golf Club in Victoria with scores of 79, 76, 73 and 76; Jackson and Luke were the only ACT-Monaro juniors to play in the full four rounds of this prestigious event. Locally, Jackson also finished runner up in the Gold Creek Junior Classic that was played on Sunday 27th April with a par round score of 72. Unfortunately for ACT Junior Golf Jackson turns 18 in June, but obviously the DGA Colts Squad will gain a strong player.

ACT Junior Golf Team ‘Giant Killers’ again in the interstate series at Peninsula Country Golf Club—April 2008

The ACT Junior Golf Team Captain Will Hogan lead from the front last week at Peninsula Golf Club, where the team finished in 5^th Place in the Annual Interstate Series after beating more fancied opponents. ACT achieved 3 wins and 1 halved match, out of a total of 7 contests. Will Hogan (Gungahlin Lakes) was the star performer of the series with 5 wins out of 7 matches, but new player in the team Mark Buick (Royal Canberra) also performed above expectations with 3 wins. A summary of individual performances is shown in the following table.

table2

The most surprising (but gratifying) individual result was the 2 up victory by Cameron Haines (Federal) at number 1 in the team over Aiden Bae in the round 3 match against Western Australia. Aiden Bae had finished in runner-up position in the Australian Junior Open a week earlier and, therefore, had been rewarded with a spot in the Australian Junior Team. Cameron’s result, when combined with close wins by Will Hogan and Jackson Stuckey, gave ACT victory over WA, a much fancied team. A similar performance at number 1 by Will Hogan in the very first round against South Australia helped the team to a squared contest, which really indicated that ACT would not be pushovers again this year. A summary of the results is shown below.

table

Although the scores of 4.5 to 0.5 in the contest against NSW and 4 to 1 in the contest against Victoria look a little one-sided, in both matches the ACT players were matching it with stronger opponents until almost the end of the contests; a couple of late crucial missed putts was generally all that the made the difference.

Victoria made the best of their home advantage and finished on top of the Table. After 4^th place last year and 5^th place this year, the ACT is now see as a strong contender in this annual event.

Three of this year’s team – Stuckey, Hogan and Boden - turn 18 before next year’s event, which is to be held in Alice Springs. A new State Training Squad will be formed in June from the remains of this team and the most promising juniors from the current Development Squad.

In the Australian Boys’ Amateur Championships (Stroke Play event) held at Spring Valley Golf Course, before the Interstate Series, only Jackson Stuckey out of the team qualified for the four rounds. Jackson finished in =24^th place on 20 over par. The winner was Daniel Nisbet from Queensland at 3 under par.

Another district junior Luke Humphries from Goulburn came 10^th in this event on a score of 12 over par. Luke also had a great Interstate Series with 5 wins from 6 matches and fully justified his selection as Captain of the NSW Team. It is a pity that members of the Monaro part of the ACT-Monaro District are not eligible to play for ACT; with Luke in this side we would have been almost unstoppable.

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ACT 2008 Junior team for National Championships

The following players comprise the 2008 ACT Junior Golf Team that will contest the annual Interstate Junior Golf Series at The Peninsula Country Golf Club (Victoria) in early April -- Steven Boden (Gungahlin Lakes), Mark Buick (RCGC), Kacper Gancarz (Yowani), Cameron Haines (Federal), Will Hogan (Gungahlin Lakes) Captain, and Jackson Stuckey (RCGC). Three of the team (Cameron, Will and Jackson) are backing up from last year where ACT finished fourth, its best ever performance. With all players holding handicaps of 3 or less, the ACT is fielding a strong team that the Manager, Jim Jackson, feels will again be competitive.

As members of the ACT team all of the players are also automatically entered into the 2008 Australian Junior Golf Championships which are being staged at Spring Valley Golf Club (close to Frankston) during the week before the Interstate Series. Both Jackson Stuckey and Cameron Haines, who qualified for the full 4 rounds last year, are hoping to improve on last years placings; Jackson eventually finishing in 16th place. Stephen Tieck (Golf Professional at Federal Golf Club) is currently running weekly coaching sessions with the boys, concentrating on their short games and putting. Both Stephen and Jim believe that ACT players can punch above their weight again this year.

In addition to major financial support from the ACT-Monaro DGA, the team is benefiting from significant support from sponsors – Sporte-Leisure, Wilson Sporting Goods and Titleist. The team and management fly out on Easter Monday (24th March) and return on Thursday 3rd April.

ACT JUNIOR GOLF TEAM: (L to R) Cameron Haines, Mark Buick,
Will Hogan, Kacper Gancarz, Steve Boden, Jackson Stuckey

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2008 JUNIOR DISTRICT PROGRAM

View program (52kb.pdf)

ACT ‘STATE’ SQUAD

Based on a review of performance at previous training sessions and recent golf events, the following eight boys have been selected for the ACT ‘State’ Training Squad:

Steve BODEN (Gungahlin Lakes), Mark BUICK (Royal Canberra), Lucas D’AMBROSIO (Royal Canberra), Kacper GANCARZ (Yowani), Cameron HAINES (Capital), Will HOGAN (Gungahlin Lakes), Jack LEA (Federal) and Jackson STUCKEY (Royal Canberra).

Group coaching sessions will be held at Federal Golf Club between 8.30 and 9.30am on Saturday 10th November and Saturday 24th November and between 8.30 and 10.00am on Saturday 8th December 2007.

ACT DEVELOPMENT SQUAD

Based on a review of performance at previous training sessions and recent golf events, the following 8 boys have been selected for the ACT Development Training Squad:

Daniel BUSH (Yass), Connor DECK (MCC), Chris DUNSTONE (Gold Creek), Phil FERREIRA (Gold Creek), Ben HOGAN (Magpies), Nathan REES (Gold Creek), Haydn TURNER (Gungahlin Lakes), and Ben WILKIE (Queanbeyan).

Group coaching sessions will be held at Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club between 2.00pm and 4.00pm on the third Saturday of each month (the next three sessions are, therefore, 17th November 2007, 15th December 2007 and 19th January 2008).

In addition to these group sessions members of the squads are eligible for one private half hour session per month with the respective Squad Coach (or an alternative approved by Jim Jackson). The costs of these individual lessons will be covered by the DGA, but individuals are responsible for booking lessons.

R.C.G.C Junior Open 2007

Final results (2 page 60kb.pdf)

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JUNIOR WEEK OF GOLF—3rd, 4th, 5th OCTOBER 2007

WEDNESDAY 3RD TULLY PARK GOLF CLUB (tee off 10.00 - 11.30)
THURSDAY 4TH YASS GOLF CLUB (10.00 – 11.30)
FRIDAY 5TH GOULBURN GOLF CLUB (10.00 - 11.30)

Final results (44kb.pdf)

Newsletters

Photographs

Junior Golf Week 4th-6th October 2006—Photographs (click on pictures for larger versions)


Top 3 in 54 Hole GROSS competition L-R: Michael Doherty (MCC) 2nd; Will Hogan (Gun Lakes) 1st; Nick George (Gold Ck) 3rd	Top 3 in 54 hole nett competition -- L-R: Peter Schroder (Gun Lakes) 2nd place; Micah Hobbs (Tully Park) 1st; Sam Oliver (Gun Lakes).	Most of the players in the JWG event at Gungahlin Lakes after final presentation.