Junior breaks Yallourn course record at recent championships

GOLF

BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

TEEING off for the second annual Gippsland Junior Golf Championship, the region saw some of the best young talent arrive last week for the now world recognised event.

Once again hosted by Morwell Golf Club and Yallourn Golf Club, year two saw participation bolster greatly, up from 65 junior players to 103 touring the local golf courses.

While the inaugural tournament last year counted towards the Geoff Ogilvy Trophy and the Future Champions Trophy (coming from Victorian Junior Averages), the most recent edition garnered further prestige by introducing World Amateur Golf Ranking for entrants.

Increasing to 54 holes for championship players, that meant 27 holes needed to be completed at each course across the two days.

Chairman of the Gippsland Junior Golf Championship, Paul Buchanan credited that international status as the core reason for the player pool’s growth.

“We have attracted some of the top junior players in Australia here,” Buchanan told the Express.

“Some of them have come as far as Ballarat, the other side of Geelong, way past the other side of Sale – it’s pretty exciting.”

That was evident from the Boys’ Stroke Champion, James Murto of Yarra Yarra Golf Club, who completed a monster hole-in-one on the Hole 11 – Par 3 to leapfrog into pole position on the final day and ultimately claim victory at Morwell.

The tournament also saw records broken, with the Girls’ Stroke Champion, Southern Golf Club’s Jaehee Yun becoming the new ladies’ record holder on Yallourn’s course during day one.

Not only were visiting players competing, but it also gave the chance for local talent to test their ability against some of the best across the state and even the country.

Each of the Boys’ and Girls’ Nett championships were won by Gippslanders, with Yallourn Golf Club’s Rebecca Boers repeating from last year’s heroics, while Lenny Batalha from Maffra Golf Club was also deemed the best in his division.

The Boers siblings of Rebecca, Ben and Kaitlyn all competed across the two days, with the latter sister winning the longest drive in the girls’ grade.

The 18-hole Stableford competition was won by Aiden Oaten of Beaconhills Golf Club, defeating Jonathan Yang of Kew Golf Club in a sudden-death play-off, while Drouin Golf Club’s Cooper Amey finished a close third.

What was showcased with these results is that young locals are rising in estimation and performance, putting Gippsland on the golfing map.

“We’ve brought the attention to Gippsland and there’s more kids now playing in Gippsland, so I look forward to the other clubs jumping on board and creating other events,” Buchanan said.

The tournament was run just as any top-level junior tournament would be, with a mass of volunteers from both clubs providing range facilities, ball spotters, and rules officials every step of the way.

That starts from the top, as a subcommittee was formed two years ago made up of Yallourn and Morwell members headed by Buchanan, a golf coach with strong connections in the local area and outer, to see this initiative forge ahead.

“It’s just been fantastic … there’s no way it would have happened if we didn’t have that (support),” Buchanan said.

The main host switches year-on-year, with Morwell holding the final day of play as well as presentations.

While the Gippsland Junior Golf Championship has experienced phenomenal growth over just 12 months, plans are already underway to expand the tournament to a three-day event with the return of a PeeWee competition among other potential mainstays.