(Golf Ontario) ELMIRA, Ontario – The week at the 2017 Investors Group Ontario Junior Girls’ Championship belonged to London’s Ellie Szeryk, as the 15-year-old capped it off by claiming the title on July 7 at Elmira Golf Club.
It was never really in doubt for Szeryk, who won her second provincial title, the other being the 2016 Investors Group Junior Girls’ Spring Classic. Szeryk began the day with a nine-shot lead and was even after nine, thanks to back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. Szeryk’s start to the back nine was a little rocky, with a bogey on 10 and a double on 11, but thanks to her cushion, Szeryk was never under any threat from the field. She went on to card a four-over (74) final round bringing her tournament total to five-over (73-70-68-74-285).
After the win, Szeryk spoke about what she did well during the week. “I think my approach shots were pretty good. I kind of struggled off the tee but I managed to get up and make par or bogey at worst. I am going to work on my driver and longer irons as I go into my next tournament.”
Szeryk, who had a course record during the third round, was unaware of the feat. “I didn’t know it was the course record. I was actually trying to go even lower because I had a lot more birdie chances and was frustrated being only two-under. I just tried to shoot around even to put myself in good position for the final round.”
Earning the silver medal was Toronto’s Sarah Beqaj. Beqaj, a member of Team Ontario and the Toronto Golf Club, sat in second after the third round but the gap was too large for her to overcome. She began well with a birdie on the first hole, but made the turn at three-over. She would go on to finish the round nine-over (79) bringing her tournament total to 19-over (76-75-69-79-299).
Taking the bronze medal was Richmond Hill’s Emily Zhu. Zhu, who had a share of the lead after the opening round, finished the day two-over (72). That moved her to 22-over (72-81-77-72-302) for the championship.
Szeryk, Beqaj and Zhu all earned the right to represent Ontario in the inter-provincial competition at the Canadian Junior Girls’ Championship, Aug. 1-4 at Camelot Golf & Country Club, in Cumberland, Ontario.
Final Leaderboard
| Pos | Player | Today | Thru | Total | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellie Szeryk Public Player | +4 | F | +5 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 74 | 285 | |
| 2 | Sarah Beqaj Toronto Golf Club | +9 | F | +19 | 76 | 75 | 69 | 79 | 299 | |
| 3 | Emily Zhu National Pines Golf Club | +2 | F | +22 | 72 | 81 | 77 | 72 | 302 | |
| 4 | Alyssa DiMarcantonio Station Creek GC | +8 | F | +25 | 74 | 73 | 80 | 78 | 305 | |
| T5 | Emily Ward Grand Niagara GC | +4 | F | +26 | 72 | 85 | 75 | 74 | 306 | |
| T5 | Hailey McLaughlin Cedar Brae GC | +9 | F | +26 | 77 | 74 | 76 | 79 | 306 | |
| T5 | Victoria Zheng Station Creek GC | +8 | F | +26 | 80 | 79 | 69 | 78 | 306 | |
| T8 | Sydney Naro Public Player | +6 | F | +27 | 78 | 74 | 79 | 76 | 307 | |
| T8 | Haley Yerxa Public Player | +5 | F | +27 | 83 | 75 | 74 | 75 | 307 | |
| T10 | Kiley Rodrigues Cataraqui Golf & Country | +7 | F | +32 | 80 | 79 | 76 | 77 | 312 | |
| T10 | Kristen Giles Cutten Fields | +5 | F | +32 | 78 | 81 | 78 | 75 | 312 | |
| 12 | Vanessa Chychrun Beacon Hall GC | +11 | F | +36 | 75 | 85 | 75 | 81 | 316 | |
| 13 | Lexie McKay King’s Riding GC | +6 | F | +39 | 76 | 86 | 81 | 76 | 319 | |
| 14 | Manuela Rincon Torres Whistle Bear Golf Club | +5 | F | +40 | 84 | 82 | 79 | 75 | 320 | |
| 15 | Hailey Katona Tilbury Golf Club | +10 | F | +41 | 85 | 78 | 78 | 80 | 321 | |
| 16 | Melany Chong Public Player | +9 | F | +42 | 81 | 81 | 81 | 79 | 322 | |
| T17 | Taylor Simoneau St. Catharines Golf & Cou | +4 | F | +43 | 86 | 83 | 80 | 74 | 323 | |
| T17 | Dylann Armstrong Public Player | +12 | F | +43 | 79 | 78 | 84 | 82 | 323 | |
| T17 | Sukriti Harjai St. Catharines Golf & Cou | +12 | F | +43 | 85 | 73 | 83 | 82 | 323 | |
| 20 | Raesa Sheikh Cedar Brae GC | +11 | F | +44 | 83 | 81 | 79 | 81 | 324 | |
| T21 | Catherine Zhang Station Creek GC | +6 | F | +47 | 89 | 80 | 82 | 76 | 327 | |
| T21 | Lauren Bevan Whitevale GC | +11 | F | +47 | 88 | 81 | 77 | 81 | 327 | |
| 23 | Kayla Burke Lookout Point Country Clu | +8 | F | +49 | 84 | 83 | 84 | 78 | 329 | |
| 24 | Amanda Kerr Brampton GC | +11 | F | +51 | 82 | 84 | 84 | 81 | 331 | |
| T25 | Mackenzie Morrison St. George’s Golf & Count | +9 | F | +53 | 86 | 84 | 84 | 79 | 333 | |
| T25 | Jue Wen Cedar Brae GC | +8 | F | +53 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 78 | 333 | |
| 27 | Adele Chun Station Creek GC | +20 | F | +55 | 83 | 84 | 78 | 90 | 335 | |
| 28 | Lauren Zaretsky Ladies GC of Toronto | +11 | F | +61 | 88 | 82 | 90 | 81 | 341 | |
| T29 | Ellis Harvie St. George’s Golf & Count | +16 | F | +62 | 81 | 86 | 89 | 86 | 342 | |
| T29 | Cynthia Huo Station Creek GC | +15 | F | +62 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 85 | 342 | |
| T29 | Kacey Walker Credit Valley Golf & Coun | +18 | F | +62 | 90 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 342 | |
| T32 | Maggie Jennings-Campbell Shelburne G & CC | +10 | F | +63 | 84 | 85 | 94 | 80 | 343 | |
| T32 | Sarah Gallagher Royal Ontario Golf Course | +16 | F | +63 | 91 | 84 | 82 | 86 | 343 | |
| T32 | Claire Hwang King’s Riding GC | +20 | F | +63 | 85 | 80 | 88 | 90 | 343 | |
| 35 | Alexis McMurray Glen Abbey GC | +17 | F | +64 | 86 | 79 | 92 | 87 | 344 | |
| 36 | Abby White Norfolk Golf & Country Cl | +16 | F | +65 | 82 | 92 | 85 | 86 | 345 | |
| 37 | Sasha Baker Dunnville Golf & Country | +16 | F | +66 | 88 | 83 | 89 | 86 | 346 | |
| 38 | Jiayin(Joy) Liu Whistle Bear Golf Club | +19 | F | +68 | 90 | 86 | 83 | 89 | 348 | |
| 39 | Hansika Tathgur Rattlesnake Point GC | +23 | F | +69 | 89 | 82 | 85 | 93 | 349 | |
| 40 | Carmen Chan Essex G & CC | +14 | F | +70 | 84 | 88 | 94 | 84 | 350 | |
| 41 | Payton Bennett Twenty Valley Golf & Coun | +13 | F | +73 | 93 | 86 | 91 | 83 | 353 | |
| 42 | Jillian A Friyia Highland Country Club | +18 | F | +81 | 83 | 91 | 99 | 88 | 361 |
