Maiden Wins for Comerford and Yip at Bathurst
(Sunday 19th March, 2017)
Jones Comerford (Bonnie Doon / Dubbo) and Sophie Yip (Concord) may be at opposite ends of their junior golfing careers but they have one thing in common. They both claimed their Maiden JNJG Junior Masters titles on Sunday with convincing wins at the 2017 Peter O'Malley Junior Masters. For 12 Year Old Yip it was the first of many victories whilst Comerford deservedly got his name on a JNJG trophy just weeks before he turns 18 and leaves the junior ranks.
With many of the older Girls away on Major Pennant duty, the Concord youngster took full advantage, playing super consistent golf all weekend to record a six shot victory. The youngest ever JNJG Masters Winner finished with rounds of 77-76 to defeat Annika Boyd (Toukley). Boyd claimed the 14/15 Years Title with an impressive 76 of her own in the second round, whilst Gabbi Beohm (NSW GC) defeated Kelsey Bennett (Mollymook) in a playoff to record her first JNJG Junior Masters victory in the Girls 16/17 Years Division. Alyssa Wikana (Concord) and Olivia Kerr (Pennant Hills) were both outstanding in winning their Nett Divisions whilst two JNJG Rookies fired unbelievable scores in the Stableford Division to take home the prizes. Mirabelle Naaman (Liverpool) had rounds of 40 points and 47 points to defeat Sahara Hillman-Varma who recorded 40 points on both days.
Whilst it was a youngster getting the job done in the Girls Division, 17 Year Old Comerford won his first major JNJG Title as he cruised to a six shot win in the Boys Division. Overnight leader Tom Gill (Tamworth) fell away on day two and Comerford took full advantage, opening up a huge lead with birdies on the 4th, 9th, and 11th holes. A couple of late bogies didn't matter, as he closed out the title from Luka Brucic (Federal). The ever-improving Joshua Robards (Newcastle) fired a 74 on the final day to claim the Boys 14/15 Years Division and his first JNJG title, whilst Josh Todd (Randwick) defeated Ali Rachid (Bardwell Valley) in a three hole playoff to win the Boys 13 Years and Under Division. Wagga Wagga Country Club pair Hugo Currie and William Burkinshaw played fantastically well to win their Nett Divisions, whilst Bathurst local Cooper Starkey proved local knowledge does make a difference, running away with an 8 point win in the Stableford Division.
The Academy Challenge once again proved successful with 8 acadamies and 13 teams represented, with the Hunter Academy of Sport defeating the Northern Inland Academy of Sport in a very close finish!
Full Results - Click Here
Boys Championship (Par 142)
145 - J Comerford (Bonnie Doon)
151 - L Brucic (Federal)
152 - J Robards (Newcastle) T Gill (Tamworth)
Girls Championship (Par 144)
153 - S Yip (Concord)
159 - A Boyd (Toukley)
161 - K Bennett (Mollymook) I Hawes (Royal Canberra) C Shin (Bankstown) A Wikana (Concord) G Beohm (NSW GC)
Age Division Results
Boys 16 Years & Over Scratch - Jones Comerford (Bonnie Doon) 145
Boys 16 Years & Over Nett - Arthur Barakat (Cumberland 7) 143
Boys 14/15 Years Scratch - Josh Robards (Newcastle) 152
Boys 14/15 Years Nett - Will Burkinshaw (Wagga Wagga 22) 135
Boys 13 Years & Under Scratch - Josh Todd (Randwick) 158* *defeated Ali Rachid on the 3rd playoff hole.
Boys 13 Years & Under Nett - Hugo Currie (Wagga Wagga 23) 132
Boys Stableford - Cooper Starkey (Bathurst 33) 94 points
Girls 16 Years & Over Scratch - Gabbi Beohm (NSW GC) 161* *defeated Kelsey Bennett on the 1st playoff hole.
Girls 16 Years & Over Nett - Makensie Toole (Belmont 5) 152
Girls 14/15 Years Scratch - Annika Boyd (Toukley) 159
Girls 14/15 Years Nett - Olivia Kerr (Pennant Hills 19) 137
Girls 13 Years & Under Scratch - Sophie Yip (Concord) 153
Girls 13 Years & Under Nett - Alyssa Wikana (Concord 15) 131
Girls Stableford - Mirabelle Naaman (Liverpool 34) 87 points
Academy Challenge Results
Winners - 446 - HAS 1 (M Toole, H Cleare, J Fuller, J Robards)
Runners Up - 453 - NIAS 1 (T Maher, T Cooper, T Gill, J McPherson)
464 - SERAS 1 (I Hawes, A Thorp, R Harrison)
466 - IAS 2 (K Bennett, L Taylor, D Granger, E Ward)
467 - CCAS 1 (A Boyd, D Grogan, D Pedzikiewicz, R Millers)
469 - HAS 3 (J Vesper, R Ballinger, J Riley, L Howells)
471 - WRAS 1 (C Thompson, B Davis, K Smith, C Jackson)
474 - IAS 3 (S Bosevski, J Halls, B Halls, E Harvey)
476 - HAS 2 (P Hollis, H Atkinson, B Ingrey, L Charnock)
477 - SWSAS (R Minns, B Vella, J Battle)
481 - WRAS 2 (B Mackey, L Buesnell, M Bourne)
490 - WSAS (M Hagerty, J Elbadawi, M Rebulado, H Zhao)
502 - IAS 1 (L Barr, W Jenkins, J Jenkins)
Entries are currently open for the Ballina Junior Masters and the Illawarra Junior Masters. Click the tournament name to send an entry in for both of these tournaments.
Tough Conditions at Bathurst as the Wind Blows
(Saturday 18th March, 2017)
Cool, overcast and gusty winds greeted players to the Central West for the opening round of the Peter O'Malley Junior Masters at the Bathurst Golf Club. On a tough day for scoring, only one player in the entire field broke par, with Tamworth junior Tom Gill (Long Reef GC) firing a one under par 70 to take the lead.
Gill flew out of the blocks, picking up birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th holes to make the turn in only 32 strokes. The back nine proved tougher as the wind starting to blow, and three dropped shots left the 17 year old with a three shot lead at minus one. A trio of players will join him in the final group tomorrow, with Jones Comerford (Bonnie Doon), Kaine Andres (Moore Park) and Lewis Howells (The Vintage) all firing matching rounds of 73. Andres round was good enough to grab the lead in the 14/15 Years Division, as he plays in the final group at a Junior Masters for the second event in a row.
12 Year Old Sophie Yip (Concord) and JNJG Regular Gabbi Beohm (NSW GC) have taken a share of the lead in the Girls Division, with both girls firing matching rounds of 77. Beohm started slowly on the 10th hole, dropping six shots in her opening eight holes before reeling off birdies on the 18th, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. She then took a triple bogey on the 6th, before bouncing back with another birdie on the 7th. Yip was more consistent throughout, making seven bogies and two birdies in her five over par round. The youngsters dominated, with Alyssa Wikana (Concord) and Claire Shin (Bankstown) also playing their way into the final group on Sunday.
The tough conditions didn't affect the stableford players, with some amazing scores recorded. Max Jenkins (Wagga Wagga) played amazing on his way to 46 points in the Boys Division, whilst Sahara Hillman-Varma (Concord) and Mirabelle Naaman (Liverpool) both scored 40 points in the Girls Division.
The shot of the day belonged to Arthur Barakat, with the junior from Cumberland spinning a gap wedge back into the hole for an eagle two on the Par 4 11th!!
Round One Scores - Click Here
Round Two Draw - Click Here (Final Draw available online at 6:30pm tonight)
Boys Championship
70 - T Gill (Long Reef)
73 - J Comerford (Bonnie Doon) K Andres (Moore Park) L Howells (The Vintage)
74 - C Mackey (Morisset) A Coull (Bankstown)
Girls Championship
77 - S Yip (Concord) G Beohm (NSW GC)
80 - A Wikana (Concord)
82 - C Shin (Bankstown)
Age Division Results
Boys 16 Years & Over Scratch - Tom Gill (Long Reef) 70
Boys 16 Years & Over Nett - Arthur Barakat (Cumberland 7) 69cb
Boys 14/15 Years Scratch - Kaine Andres (Moore Park) 73
Boys 14/15 Years Nett - Will Burkinshaw (Wagga Wagga 22) 68
Boys 13 Years & Under Scratch - J Todd (Randwick) 80
Boys 13 Years & Under Nett - H Currie (Wagga Wagga 23) 69cb
Boys Stableford - M Jenkins (Wagga Wagga 25) 46 points
Girls 16 Years & Over Scratch - G Beohm (NSW GC) 77
Girls 16 Years & Over Nett - S Lee (Bankstown 8) 77cb
Girls 14/15 Years Scratch - A Boyd (Toukley) 83
Girls 14/15 Years Nett - C Thompson (Bathurst 20) 67
Girls 13 Years & Under Scratch - S Yip (Concord) 77
Girls 13 Years & Under Nett - A Wikana (Concord 15) 65
Girls Stableford - S Hillman-Varma (Concord 33) 40 points cb.
Academy Challenge Results
Off the back of Tom Gill's fantastic round of 70, the Northern Inland Academy of Sport has taken a slender lead in the Academy Challenge. With the two best scratch scores and the best nett score from each team counted, Toby Cooper also contributed with his Nett 70. The Hunter Academy of Sport team is in close pursuit, with Josh Fuller and Josh Robards scoring 77 and 78 respectively.
223 - NIAS 1 (T Maher, T Cooper, T Gill, J McPherson)
226 - HAS 1 (M Toole, H Cleare, J Fuller, J Robards)
230 - HAS 3 (J Vesper, R Ballinger, J Riley, L Howells)
231 - SERAS 1 (I Hawes, A Thorp, R Harrison)
232 - WRAS 1 (C Thompson, B Davis, K Smith, C Jackson)
234 - CCAS 1 (A Boyd, D Grogan, D Pedzikiewicz, R Millers)
239 - IAS 2 (K Bennett, L Taylor, D Granger, E Ward)
242 - IAS 3 (S Bosevski, J Halls, B Halls, E Harvey)
243 - WRAS 2 (B Mackey, L Buesnell, M Bourne)
245 - SWSAS (R Minns, B Vella, J Battle)
247 - HAS 2 (P Hollis, H Atkinson, B Ingrey, L Charnock)
249 - IAS 1 (L Barr, W Jenkins, J Jenkins)
250 - WSAS (M Hagerty, J Elbadawi, M Rebulado, H Zhao)
Bathurst Ready for Peter O’Malley Junior Masters
(Wednesday 15th March, 2017)
The biggest Junior Masters event on the JNJG Calendar takes place this weekend, with up to 180 of the best junior golfers from across the state taking part in the 2017 Peter O'Malley Junior Masters at the Bathurst Golf Club. Despite plenty of rain falling over parts of NSW in the last 48 hours, and plenty more expected as we lead up to the weekend, hard and fast conditions promise to meet us at Bathurst at a course that is in fantastic condition.
With the 2017 NSW Seniors Amateur Championships taking place at the same venue next week, the huge field of junior golfers will get to take part on a course prepared at it’s very best.
We’ll have two new champions this year also, with 2016 Boys Champion Jay Mackenzie having left the junior ranks, and 2016 Girls Champion Steph Kyriacou currently involved in the NSW Major Pennant Season. The final round of Pennant Matches for the year has seen a number of regular players unable to make the trip to the Central West, but with more than 180 entries received, it shows that Junior Golf in NSW is in good hands.
And it could well be a local victory this weekend, with Jones Comerford looking to claim his first JNJG Junior Masters Title. The Dubbo and Bonnie Doon GC Junior heads into the event as one of the favourites for the Boys Championship but faces stiff opposition from Lachlan Chamberlain (Federal), Tom Gill (Tamworth / Long Reef), Ethan Keane (Bonnie Doon), Corey Lamb (Branxton) and Brandon Shong (Castle Hill). In total, more than 130 boys are taking part, with 15 of these players playing in the Stableford Division, a division strongly represented by local Bathurst GC Juniors.
The Girls Division promises to be an even contest with a strong contingent of players heading to Bathurst looking to claim their first major titles. 12 Year old Sophie Yip may just be the girl to beat, with the impressive Concord youngster on the lowest handicap at an amazing 0.7! The Far South Coast’s Kelsey Bennett (Mollymook) will be looking to claim victory at one of her final JNJG events before turning 18, whilst Teresa Nurdi (St Michaels) is making her return to JNJG competition after impressing in the Major Pennant Competition.
Run in conjunction with the Peter O'Malley Junior Masters is the JNJG Regional Academy of Sport Academy Challenge, with academies from all over NSW bringing teams of golfers in preperation for the Regional Academy Games that take place later in April. The local Western Region Academy of Sport will be well represented and looking to take out the Challenge on one of their home venue's.
The event is a fantastic opportunity for local residents to watch the best junior golfers in the state take part. Play gets underway at the Bathurst Golf Club at 7:15am on both Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th March, with presentations on Sunday to be at approximately 2:00pm and 6:00pm.
To view the Round 1 Draw - Click Here.
To view the Tournament Results - Click Here.
