At the end of the day Windsor’s Alek Mauro and Maple’s Alyssa DiMarcantonio finished at the top of their leaderboards to capture the 2016 titles.
Beginning the day, Mauro sat in a four-way tie for fourth after a one-over (72) opening round. The 14-year-old quickly began to make his way up the leaderboard thanks to a trio of birdies on the third, fourth and sixth holes. He settled for a bogey on the ninth but made up for it with a three-under back nine to finish the day at five-under (66). That proved to be enough as he captured the championship at four-under (72-66-138).
“It is great to win this title,” said Mauro. “The first day wasn’t as good as I had hoped. The par fives weren’t very good for me, as I played them one-over. Today I took advantage of the par fives and played them four-under. I had an idea of what I needed to shoot coming into the day. I just played my own game and managed to hits some putts.”
The round of the day belonged to Courtice’s Ethan Cardwell. The Oshawa Golf & Curling Club member started par, birdie, birdie, eagle and was six-under at the turn. He moved to seven-under after a birdie on the 10th, but finished his round with a bogey on 18. He still ended the day six-under (65). That, combined with his four-over (75) during round one, helped get him to two-under for the tournament and capture the silver medal.
Rounding out the top three was a three-way tie for the bronze at two-over (144). The players sharing the medal were: Kanata’s Zachary Wylie (76-68), Iroquois Falls’ Connor Danis (68-76) and Newmarket’s Jeffery Fang (70-74).
In the girls’ championship, DiMarcantonio, a Team Ontario and Station Creek Golf Club member, began the round with a five-shot lead after a three-under (68) during the opening round. The 13-year-old started the final round well with a birdie on the first hole to drop to four-under. She would add two bogeys on front and was one-over at the turn. She went on to par every hole on the back nine to complete the round at one-over (72). That was good enough to secure her the title as she finished the tournament two-under (68-72-140).
“I played pretty well this week and I feel pretty good about the win,” said DiMarcantonio. “I set this championship as a goal for myself before the season. I came close last year, so I am happy and proud to have won it. Today, I tried my best and didn’t worry about my score or anyone else’s. I just focused on my game.”
Finishing second was Markham ‘s Victoria Zheng. Zheng, from Station Creek Golf Club, won the Ontario Peewee Championship just last week and entered the day in a tie for second after finishing round one at two-over (73). Zheng was two-over at the turn but rebounded nicely with a two-under on the back nine to end the day even par (71). That kept her at two-over (73-71-144) for the tournament, earning her the silver.
Rounding out the podium was Brampton’s Vaijayanti Bharkhada. Bharkhada, from Caledon Woods Golf Club, was four-over (75) after the first round. She followed it up with and even par (71) during round two to finish the tournament four-over (75-71-146) and win the bronze.
For full tournament information, including the final leaderboards, see the tournament sites at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao1622/index.htm for the boys’ championship and
https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao1623/index.htm for the girls’ championship.
About the Investors Group Ontario Bantam Championship
The Investors Group Ontario Bantam Boys’ Championship was first contested in 1923 at the Summit Golf & Country Club. The first Ontario Bantam Girls’ Championship was held in 2003. The event is open to players 14-years-old and younger as of Aug. 1. Participants on the boys’ side qualified through one of four qualifiers held earlier this summer. Notable past boys champions include: Tony Gil, Matt LeMay, Bill Hutcheson, Kelly Roberts and Tim McCutcheon. As for past girls champions, the list includes: Jennifer Kirby, Augusta James and Christina Foster.
