MINETT— Sudbury’s Tristan Renaud is the 2017 Investors Group Ontario Junior Boys’ Champion, that after a final round of two-under (68) on July 7 at The Rock Golf Club. Renaud, from Idylwylde Golf & Country Club, entered the final round with a four-shot lead and saw it through to the finish, capturing the title.
The 16-year-old Renaud wasted little time in extending his lead. He made back-to-back birdie putts on the third and fourth holes to drop to two-under on the day. Renaud went on to knock down another birdie on the eighth and made the turn at three-under. Renaud had one slip up on the back nine, a double bogey on the 15th, but he rebounded with birdies on the 16th and 18th to end the day with his 68. With that, Renaud completed the tournament one-over (68-75-70-68-281).
Afterwards, Renaud talked about what the win meant to him. “It means a lot that the work that I have put into my game, along with my determination, is starting to pay off. I feel like this is the first (win) of many!”
When asked about what he did well during the week, Renaud pointed to his ball striking. “For three out of the four days, I hit the ball fantastically, I did not miss a fairway. I hit great iron shots, great wedge shots, chipped well and today and the first day I putted really well.”
The Rock proved to be a big challenge for the field, but Renaud seemed to figure it out. “This course is interesting because it is not very long. I didn’t have to hit a driver, but you have to be accurate. You can’t get away with poor shots or missing to one side or the other.”
Sharing the silver medal were Richmond Hill’s Angelo Giantsopoulos and Burlington’s Marcus Khaw. Giantsopoulos, from York Downs Golf & Country Club, began the day in the second last group. He had a consistent round with two birdies and three bogeys, to end the day one-over (71). That brought him to 11-over (77-70-73-71-291) for the championship.
As for Khaw (72-76-69-74-291), from Blue Springs Golf Club, he had a tough front nine to begin the day and was four-over at the turn. While he did have a pair of double bogeys on the back nine, he erased that with four birdies to finish the day four-over (74).
Renaud, Giantsopoulos and Khaw all earned the right to represent Ontario in the inter-provincial competition at the Canadian Junior Boys’ Championship, July 31- Aug. 3 at Cataraqui Golf & Country Club in Kingston.
For more information, including pairings and the leaderboard, see the tournament site at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao17/event/gao174/index.htm
Golf Ontario would like to thank The Rock Golf Club, their staff and volunteers for hosting the event. Thanks also to the Golf Ontario volunteers and to title sponsor Investors Group 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 six qualifiers held across the province earlier this season. 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.