UXBRIDGE – The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) is pleased to announce the 2015 team for the annual Can-Am Matches, March 21-22, against South Carolina at the Wachesaw Plantation Club in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, just south of Myrtle Beach.
The 2015 matches will mark the 17th playing of the event. The matches feature 16 of the top ranked junior golfers from Ontario taking on 16 of the top junior players from the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation.
Representing Ontario at the matches will be all of the current Team Ontario members. Joining them will be Golf Canada National Development Team members, and former Team Ontario players, Trevor Ranton and Grace St-Germain. Rounding out the girls’ side will be Eunice Hong, who finished the 2014 season 10th on both the Golf Canada and GAO Junior Girls Orders of Merit.
The Team
– Trevor Ranton, 17, Waterloo and Whistle Bear Golf Club
– Max Sear, 17, Markham and York Downs Golf and Country Club
– Jason Chung, 15, Thornhill and Pheasant Run Golf Club
– Brendan Seys, 16, Port Lambton and Maple City Country Club
– Jackson Bowery, 17, London and Greenhills Golf Club
– Kyle MacDonald, 17, Burlington and Rattlesnake Pointe Golf Club
– Jake Bryson, 15, Dunrobin and Eagle Creek Golf Club
– Kelvin Lim, 13, Thornhill and Station Creek Golf Club
– Grace St- Germain, 16, Orleans and Hylands Golf Club
– Alyssa Getty, 17, Ruthven and Kingsville Golf and Country Club
– Monet Chun, 14, Richmond Hill and The Summit Golf and Country Club
– Madeline Marck-Sherk, 17, Ridgeway and Bridgewater Country Club
– Diana McDonald, 17, Kingston and Loyalist Country Club
– Isabella Portokalis, 13, London and the London Hunt and Country Club
– Chloe Currie, 15, Mississauga and Mississaugua Golf and Country Club
– Eunice Hong, 17, Thornhill and the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto
This year’s team is filled with players who will make their Can-Am Matches debut. Only six of the 16 team members have taken part in the Can-Am Matches before with Ranton, St. Germain, Sear, Seys, Getty and Chun playing in the past.
Joining the team will be the coaching staff of Reggie Millage, Head Provincial Coach; Andrew Hoermann, Athletic Therapist; Mike Kelly, GAO Director of Sport Development; Mary Ann Hayward, GAO Manager of Sport Performance; Liz Hoffman, GAO Sport Committee Chair; and Judy Goss, Mental Performance Consultant.
The opening day features team best-ball matches followed by singles matches on day two. The scoring format for the matches is slightly different than a traditional match play event. In each match, there are 18 points available, one for each hole, ensuring that all 18 holes are played. If a hole is halved, each player or team receives half a point. The format stresses the importance of each player focusing on one hole at a time.
Reggie Millage, GAO Head Provincial Coach, is looking forward to the matches, “This event is always a highlight on our schedule. It is traditionally the first competition for our 2014/15 Team Ontario athletes. It is great to be able to compete as a team and to be joined by Trevor, Grace and Eunice.”
Prior to the start of the matches, the team will have an opportunity to train in the Myrtle Beach area at courses arranged with the help of the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation.
