Coral Springs, Florida— The Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Team Ontario was in Coral Springs, Florida, Feb. 4-8, for their second winter training camp of 2016. The team took part in on course, physical and psychological training at the Heron Bay Golf Club before participating in the Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT) Junior Golf Open (Feb. 6-7) also at Heron Bay.
The event turned out to be a good one for Team Ontario as they took four out of the six medals including a clean sweep of the podium on the girls’ side. Richmond Hill’s Monet Chun walked away with the gold, London’s Isabella Portokalis took the silver and Halton Hill’s Alexandra Naumovski earned the bronze. On the boys’ side it was Langton’s Peyton Callens who picked up the bronze medal.
“We were pleased with the approach Team Ontario athletes took in this FCWT event, given the time of the year, and the challenging weather conditions on day two,” said GAO Director of High Performance Andrew Moss. “Seeing where our athletes are at in the middle of winter provides great feedback to the players, and their personal coaches. The strength of our girls’ team was very evident, and sends a great message to young female athletes across Canada. With the strength of our golf development programs, there are great opportunities for young female athletes to access great sport experiences and education opportunities, through golf.”
Chun, 15 from the Summit Golf & Country Club, got out to an early lead during the opening round and never looked back. She finished round one at four-under (68) notching five birdies on the day. She took a one-shot lead into the second round and finished the day at even-par (72) to win the tournament by six strokes at four-under (140).
Portokalis, 14 from West Haven Golf & Country Club, also had a strong opening round finishing at three-under (69). She did fall back on the second day with a four-over (77) but her first round had given her enough of a cushion that she was able to hang on for second at two-over (146).
As for Naumovski, 18 from the Brampton Golf Club, she had a consistent tournament finishing the opening round one-over (73), which included a hole in one at the par 3 11th, and a second round of two-over (74) to finish third with a total of three-over (147).
For Callens, 16 from the Delhi Golf & Country Club, he posted two steady rounds of 72 to card an even par (144) over the two-round event. Callens was the only player to break par in round two, with unusually cold, wet, and windy conditions.
“A big thanks to our Head Coach Reggie Millage, and our support team of Nick Martichenko and Judy Goss, for the work they did with our team members throughout the training sessions and competitive rounds,” added Moss.
Team Ontario will now prepare for the Can-Am Junior Team Matches (March 13-20), an annual competition with the South Carolina Junior Golf Association, in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
