Heavily favoured to walk away with the SDSSAA Girls Golf title for a third straight year, Lea Lemieux (Lockerby) did that and more, blitzing her way to a round of 75 at the Lively Golf Club last Thursday, good for a 22 shot victory over Elliot Boyes of Marymount.
Even more impressive is the fact that the score looks to be a new record for the event, bettering by one stroke the 76 that was carded by Christie Sitko of Lively back in 2008 at Cedar Green.
With a supremely impressive crew of young lads now having moved on to the post-secondary ranks – coach Vince Palladino and company are most certainly the beneficiaries of an L.U. men’s team loaded with local talent – the 2023 SDSSAA boys tournament was about as wide-open a competition as convenor Kent Rendell could recall.
In the end, it was St Charles junior Carter Baron posting a two shot victory (76 vs 78), just ahead of Josh Diplock of St Benedict, with Logan West (SCC) and Ryder Coe (LCS) both in at 79 and Austin Dollar (CFD) and Mackinly Sobush (LOE) another stroke back at 80.
With Baron and West leading the way, the Cardinals also took the team event as the pair, along with teammates Peyton Goudreau, Roch Renaud and Colton Nowoselsky recorded a combined four person score of 322, five shots better than the Lo-Ellen Park Knights. The Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes troika of Chanelle Thanasse, Breeana Sullivan and Hannah Sullivan finished first in the girls team bracket.
The truth is that most of the new wave of boys’ talent are just starting to make a name on the scene, with Baron first introduced to the sport while on a European family trip in 2019 which included stops in Ireland and Scotland – not bad places at all to gain an initial indoctrination to the game.
“I got back home after that and started to play golf – and here we are,” said Baron, a 14 year old grade 10 student at St Charles. “I started taking it more seriously two years ago.”
By the time this fall rolled around, Baron figured to be in the mix despite working his way around a course (Lively) that stands in stark contrast to his more familiar home at Timberwolf Golf Club.
“That was definitely a good score – but I do feel that I could shoot better,” said Baron. “I was two under through five holes but had a triple (bogey) which kind of set me back. But I was definitely happy with 76.”
“My chipping was pretty good and my putting could use some work, but my ball striking and driving was good,” he added. “I was feeling confident with my driver all day which helped put myself in good positions.”
Baron, Lemieux and most of the remaining golfers are right back at the same setting this Thursday as the Lively Golf Club plays host to the NOSSA Championships, with OFSAA set for Windsor (boys) and Collingwood (girls) on October 11th and 12th.
