JUNIORS ARE EXCELLING AT KOOINDAH WATERS
Posted on: 1 August
Nice to be able to post a good news story with all this crap weather at the moment. I pinched this from the JNJGF website.
Written by Ethan Keane – July 27.
Central Coast duo Ava Prince and Levi Park proved too strong at Shelly Beach this weekend at the Greg Chalmers Junior Masters. The home town favourites both finished with a one shot victory in a nail biting finish.
It was a two horse race in the Girls Division. Coming into the final round four shots behind the lead was never going to be an easy task. However, Toukley’ s Ava Prince showed grit and determination to win by one shot over Jia You (Ryde Parramatta). Prince started the round with two birdies in a row which kick started her day, firing a sensational four under par on the front nine. She birdied the 15th hole which gave her the lead for the first time. The momentum was enough to finish one shot in front and a three under par 72. This was Ava’s maiden Ford Junior Masters Series win!
“I had a really good day today. It was really fun out there. I had a good group and I played well” Prince said.
“I got pretty lucky on the back nine. My chip on 15 hit the pin and stopped right next to the hole which kick started me for the rest of the round.” She said.
“I was thinking go for it all day. I was trying to get as many birdies as possible.”
“It feels amazing. I’m really glad I won this one. It’s kind of like a home win.”
The Boys Division went down to the wire, with over five different players holding the lead at different points of the day. Levi Park fired up when it counted. The Kooindah Waters star came into the final round three shots back and was never in the lead until a chip in eagle on the par five 15th hole nudged him in front by one. Park finished strong making clutch up and downs on his 17th and 18th holes of the day to edge out fellow Coastie Shaylan Bennet by one shot. This is Park’s second Ford Junior Masters Series title after winning in Wagga earlier this year.
“It feels pretty good.” Park said.
“I chipped in from the side of the green for eagle on the 15th hole. That got me going.” He said.
“I didn’t check the leaderboard, I just played my own game. I knew the scores weren’t going to be great because of how strong the wind was.”
“My mindset didn’t change after that. I just played smart and attacked the pins when I needed to.”
Mackenzie Tiscareno from Bayview Golf Club took out the Girls 13 Years & Under Division by five strokes. This was Tiscareno’s second age group win of the year. She has proven to be a top contender in the Ford Junior Masters Series.
Royal Queensland’s Janie Carroll made the nine hour drive all worth it by winning the Girls 14 & 15 Years Division. Carroll shot a great round of one under par in the first round and finished at six over par for the tournament and a four shot victory. She has won this age group two years in a row at this event!
Overnight leader, 13 year old Sky Tse wasn’t able to hold the overall lead, but he managed to pick up a win by one stroke in the Boys 13 Years & Under Division. This was the Manly Golf Club young guns best performance at a JNJG event. The win was well deserved after a fantastic first round of one under par 70.
A playoff was needed to decide the Boys 16 Years & Over Division with Jaidon Kyriacou (Port Kembla) & Ryan Hooke (Wyong) going head to head. After both finishing on four over par, the boys headed to the par three ninth hole to see who would come out on top. After two playoff holes Kyriacou was able to get the W.
The next stop on the road for the Ford Junior Masters Series is the South Coast Junior Masters on the 30th-31st of August at Catalina Club.




