LISTOWEL— Make it a junior stoke-play championship sweep for Langton’s Peyton Callens. Callens, who won the Investors Group Junior Boys’ Spring Classic earlier this year, capped off the feat on July 22 as he added the 2016 Investors Group Ontario Junior Boys’ Championship to his resume.

Callens, 16-years-old and from the Delhi Golf & Country Club, entered the final round, at Listowel Golf Club, in a three-way tie for fourth place at four-under. Playing in the second last group, Callens, a Team Ontario member, birdied the opening hole. He added a second on the par-four sixth hole but bogeyed the eighth to make the turn at one-under. On the back nine he made back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 to get into a share of the lead. While he did bogey the 16^th, he made par on the 18^th, which was good enough to earn him the championship at two-under (70) for the day and six-under (71-67-74-70-282) for the tournament.

Afterwards, Callens spoke about what winning the championship meant to him. “Winning this event feels pretty good, it is one of the bigger events I have won. Winning both this and the Spring Classic means a lot to me, it has been a good Golf Ontario season, now I have to continue this play at the Canadian Junior.”

Callens admitted he wasn’t sure where he stood coming into the final few holes. “I hadn’t looked at the leaderboard. I thought I probably needed to get to eight-under to win. I was seven-under coming into 16 but I bogeyed so I thought I needed to birdie one of the last two holes. I got in with two pars and it turned out to be enough to win.”

For Callens, the strength of his game this week was his iron play. He talked about how it set him up on the greens. “I probably had at least 20 birdie putts inside 10 feet this week and that was all thanks to my iron play and ball striking.”

Now Callens will turn his attention to the Canadian Junior Championship. “My goal is always to win but this is the first time that I have played this event. I know it will be hard in Newfoundland, so I’m just looking to post good scores each day.”

Joining Callens on the tournament podium were Ancaster’s Ryan Murphy and Mono’s Isaac Maxwell who shared the silver medal at five-under for the tournament. Maxwell, from the Shelburne Golf and Country Club, began the day in sole possession of top spot and looked to be in good shape on the front nine. He birdied the first and fifth holes before a bogey on the seventh. He got that right back with a birdie on the eighth and was two-under at the turn. However, it was the back nine where he faltered. A bogey on 11, followed by a double on 12 and another bogey on 14 created a swing that saw him give up the lead. Still, he managed to limit any further damage, finishing the day two-over (74) capping off the tournament at five-under (75-66-68-74-283).

As for Murphy, he entered the day in a tie for second at five-under. He found himself two-under early in the round thanks to birdies on holes one, three, and five, with a bogey on four. After making the turn at two-under, Murphy would bogey the 14^th and 18^th to finish the round at even par (72). That kept his tournament total at five-under (75-66-70-72-283).

In addition to playing for the title, the top 34 golfers received a quota spot to play in the Canadian Junior Boys’ Championship, Aug. 1-4 at Clovelly Golf Course in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Team Ontario was also named for the team competition at the Canadian Junior Boys’ Championship. Representing Ontario will be Callens, Murphy and Sudbury’s Tristan Renaud who earned the spot thanks to a playoff win.

For complete tournament information, including the final leaderboard, see the tournament site at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao169/index.htm

Golf Ontario would like to thank Listowel Golf Club, along with their staff and volunteers for hosting the event. Thanks also to title sponsor Investors Group and the Golf Ontario volunteers for their continued support of golf in the province.

About the Investors Group Ontario Junior Boys’ Championship

The Investors Group Ontario Junior Boys’ Championship is open to male golfers 18 years of age and under, who have qualified through one of nine qualifiers held across the province in June and early July. The Ontario Junior Boys’ Championship was first contested in 1923 at the Summit Golf & Country Club. Past winners of the event include: Gerry Kesselring, Gary Cowan, Stu Hamilton, Mike Weir, Jon Mills and Albin Choi.

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 11^th, 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.