CAMBRIDGE— It was a pair of wire-to-wire wins at the 2016 Ontario Peewee Championship, July 26 at Puslinch Lake Golf Course, as both opening-round leaders saw their advantage through to the final hole. Little Britain’s Justin Matthews and Markham’s Victoria Zheng each raised their respective trophies, as they were crowned champions.
Matthews, 12-years-old and a member at the Lindsay Golf & Country Club, entered the day with a one-shot advantage, in the Boys’ Championship, after an opening round of one-under (69). He quickly separated himself from his competitors thanks to birdies on the fifth and seventh holes to get to the turn at two-under. On the back nine, he did settle for a pair of bogeys and a double, but also knocked down two more birdies to complete the round at even par (70) and finish with a tournament total of one-under (69-70-139).
“This is probably the biggest tournament I have ever won,” said Matthews. “I had a lot of fun the past two days. My putting was probably the strongest part of my game, along with my shots off the tee and wedge play. All of that really helped me this week.”
Matthews admitted that playing with the lead was a new experience for him. “I had never had a lead heading into the final round of a tournament. I have always had to comeback from a couple strokes.”
Playing with the lead didn’t seem to affect Matthews, as he becomes just the second champion in the tournament’s young history. Behind Matthews there was a tie for the silver medal between Mississauga’s Thomas Latter and Toronto’s Alex Long at four-over (144). Latter, from Credit Valley Golf & Country Club, was three-over (73) in his opening round and followed it up with a one-over (71) in the second round. Long, from The Country Club, was even (70) after the first day and finished round two four-over (74).
In the Girls’ Championship, Zheng, 12-years-old from Station Creek Golf Club, began the round with a two-shot lead after her two-over (72) in the first round. A birdie on hole five helped her get to the turn at one-over. She went on to play the back nine three-over to end the day four-over (74) and finished the tournament at six-over (72-74-146).
“It feels good to win the Ontario Peewee Championship. I had a lot of fun playing in this event,” said Zheng. “Entering the day with the lead, I just wanted to work on keeping it and not be too greedy out there. I worked on getting in the fairways and onto the greens. Form there, my putting and chipping really helped me.”
Finishing three-shots back of Zheng and capturing the silver medal was Brampton’s Brooke Rivers. The Brampton Golf Club member began the round two-back of Zheng after an opening round of four-over (74). While she attempted to chase down the leader, it was not to be. Rivers finished the day five-over (75) to end the tournament at nine-over (74-75-149).
Rounding out the podium with the bronze medal was Oshawa’s Madelin Boyd. Boyd, from Lakeridge Links Golf Club, shot an eight-over (78) during round one and followed it up with a four-over (74) during round two to finish the tournament 12-over (78-74-152).
Golf Ontario would like to thank Puslinch Lake Golf Course, along with their staff and volunteers for hosting the event. Thanks also to the Golf Ontario volunteers for their continued support of golf in the province.
For complete tournament information, including the final leaderboards, see the tournament sites at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao1611/index.htm for the Boys’ Championship and https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao16118/index.htm for the Girls’ Championship.
About the Ontario Peewee Championship
The Ontario Peewee Championship made its debut in 2015. The championship is hosted by the Puslinch Lake Golf Course, which has a history with Golf Ontario, hosting the Ontario Bantam Championship from 1999 to 2012. The tournament is open to males and females who are younger than 13 years of age as of Aug. 1.
