2016 SOUTH CENTRAL JUNIOR TOURNAMENTthe

Thanks to the support of several parents, we were able to secure a date in 2016 for a Junior Tournament sanctioned by the South Central PGA Section... and it was great! Forty seven juniors signed up, with several of them from out of town coming a day earlier to play the course and stay overnight for the next day's shotgun start of 9:00 a.m.

It's great too see these kids walk 9 or 18 holes carrying their bag and doing so well, especially those younger than 14 or 15! Wow My hat is off to them!

Unlike many other junior tournaments, in these PGA tournaments, the ball is played as it lies, which makes for players accustomed to improve their lie, get a little bit of a "reality check". And I am specially proud of those kids who call a penalty on themselves, as it happened this Thursday. All in all, these kids are learning the game the right way... but, it is still a game and we adults should always encourage kids to play and play... and play.

Because of early arrivals, we decided to host a "skills challenge" for the kids the night before the tournament, and we had ten participants, 9 boys and a girl which we divided into two groups. The competition was fun and not so easy, with some of the "favorites" losing to players who they usually beat on the course. In the younger group, Caden Stevens topped the following players in order of finish: Ryder Cowan, Brett Barnett, R.J. Roberts and Gage Tucker. In the older group, Seth Tucker came in first, then Tate Trotter, Tres Hill, Baylar Barnett and Travis Poole... who two days earlier had beaten me in a five hole match by shooting only one over par! Definitely the "most
improved" golfer in Elk City, I can only recall when he had a hard time breaking 115 just a year ago (way to go Travis!). The field was divided into 8 flights as follows:

Girls 9-11
1st, 52 - Josey Cavitt
2nd, 57 - Brett Barnett

Girls 12-13
1st, 45 - Sarah Sherrard

Girls 14-15
1st, 44 - Makenzie Merkley

Girls 16-17
1st, 75 - Kinsley Hall
2nd, 77 - Kelcee Millican
3rd - 83 - Rachel Campbell

Boys 9-11:
1st 37, Caden Stevens
2nd 38, Ryder Cowan
3rd 47, Oliver White

Boys 12-13
1st 73 - Tres Hill
2nd 79 - Seth Tucker
T3rd - 84 - Gage Tennyson & Travis Poole

Boys 14-15
1st 78 - Tate Trotter
2nd 79 - Baylar Barnett
3rd 85 - Cooper Sperle

Boys 16-17
1st 72 - Jake Bay
2nd 74 - Colin Dyson
3rd 77 - Conner Dewitt

I want to close by thanking all of those who helped with donations for the prizes: Ann Cowan, Bart Barnett, Barry Trotter, David Poole, David Dyson, Jeff Smith, Brett Nichols (who does not even live in Elk City), Brad Gilbert, Joe Wynn, Charlie Kauk, and Sean Cowan; those who helped with the scoring: Steve Baker, Bob Miller and Kaleb Keith; those who helped with the food: Sabine Kays, Ann Cowan and the snack bar staff girls, and last, but never least, Ramona, without whom none of what I can finish, would be possible!