Making the most of home course
3-under-par round gives Grand Niagara’s R.J. Derhodge second tour win in a row
The putter continues to be the most-dependable club in R.J. Derhodge’s golf bag.
After success in his short game gave the 17-year-old Niagara
Falls native the victory in a Niagara District Junior Golf Tour stop at Rolling Meadows last week, he played five practice rounds hoping to further strengthen that part of his game.
That investment returned big dividends Monday when he once again topped the boys under-19 flight at a tour stop, this time at Grand Niagara, his home course in Port Robinson.
Derhodge shot a 3-under-par 69 victory for a two-stroke victory over Ethan Siebert.
“It went really well,” said Derhodge, who also won last year’s tour stop at Grand Niagara.
“The putting was, once again, great. I was just rolling a lot of nine-footers in to make birdie.
“My swing was really good, too.”
The St. Michael Catholic High School student made a point of making the most of home-course advantage. On Monday, Derhodge used the yardage book to set up a game plan for the round.
“Some holes I’ll just hit 3woods, I really didn’t need a driver today,” he explained. “I kept the ball in play as much as I could, and I knew that since this is my home course, I know what holes are birdieable.
“I actually birdied most of the holes that I knew I could birdie, and that’s what helped me today.”
He admitted that the expectation of doing well on his home course weighed him down a little.
“Everyone was saying, ‘Don’t let us down, we’re expecting you to shoot well and win the tournament,’” a relieved Derhodge said with a chuckle afterwards.
He made a conscious effort to treat the third stop on this year’s summer tour as just “another round of golf where I can just hit the shots that I need to.”
“I knew if I could come out here and if I shot a round of even par or below that, I would be gold.”
Scores add up
Susan Leone won’t be starting
Niagara University on an athletic scholarship until September, but she is already auditioning for a starting spot on the Purple Eagles golf team.
Leone, who topped the girls flight at Monday’s junior stop stop at Grand Niagara, isn’t just interested in winning bragging rights on this side of the border.
She said “putting up good scores” and improving the consistency of her game will help her make the cut when the time comes for Niagara University to choose its golf team.
“We have seven people on the team, five people play, and I want to be one of those people who play,” she said after carding a round of 4-over-par 78 that was good for a two-stroke victory over Sukriti Harjai, the defending girls champion.