MAURO, LY SWING INTO TITLES WITH HIGH SCHOOL VICTORIES
St. Anne takes the boys’ team crown, while Villanova repeats as girls’ team champs
One hole nearly unravelled what turned into a sizzling performance by St. Joseph Lasers junior Alek Mauro.
The 16-year-old Mauro was the lone male golfer to break par on Wednesday at the WECSSAA golf championships at Ambassador Golf Club.
Mauro finished with a oneunder 70 score, but it would have been far more impressive had he not taken an eight on the parfour 15th hole.
“It was actually a nine,” Mauro said. “I made nine, but the maximum rule for high school golf is eight for par-fours and nine for par-fives.”
He thought his title hopes might be in trouble, but closed strongly for a two-shot victory over Essex Red Raiders sophomore Tyler Hurtubise, who shot one-over 72. General Amherst’s Josh DiCarlo finished third at three-over 74.
“I just tried to grind and work it out to get back to a good score,” said Mauro, who won this year’s Essex-Kent Junior Golf Championship.
“Three-over (at that point) and I had to work to get it back to one-under for the rest of the round.”
The 15-year-old Hurtubise was in one the first groups to finish and his score looked good for a long time, but he knew Mauro was lurking.
“I knew he was going to be low,” Hurtubise said of Mauro. “He’s a good player. He was behind me and I was watching him coming in. I played well and he played well. I was very good, in the wind, 72 is a good score.” A year ago, Mauro missed the title by a single shot and while he was happy to win on Wednesday, he also wants to keep the momentum going. “Winning means a lot,” Mauro said. “I just have to keep playing well. I’ve been playing really well lately and have to bring that to next week (to SWOSAA) and hopefully OFSAA.”
St. Anne took the boys’ team title with Tyler Milne (78), Thomas Byrne (78), Robert McVinney (80) and Steven Hill (84) combining for a total of 320 and a 15-shot win over the Sandwich squad of Josh Chilcoat (80), Liam Lavin (80), Evan Parker (85) and Devon D’Alimonte (90).
Belle River was third and Hurtubise helped the Red Raiders to a fourth-place finish and the final team spot at SWOSAA, which is set for Tuesday at Willow Ridge Golf Club in Blenheim. “We’re in as a team,” Hurtubise said. “I think this is a team sport right now. Golf isn’t a team sport, but this is, so I like it as a team for high school.”
On the girls’ side, Holy Names Knights’ senior Jasmine Ly defended her title with a 36 over nine holes.
“It definitely was tough out there with the wind and it was just wet out,” the 17-year-old Ly said. “It felt so short, even though it was a three-hour round. With nine holes, one hole can have a bigger impact than 18 holes and I just try not to let it get to me.” Ly won a silver medal at OFSAA last year and the gold medal in 2016 and just wants to stay consistent.
“I just try to play my own game,” Ly said. “I just want to play my best and play my game. Honestly, as long as I play well, I don’t care where I finish. If someone beats that score, what can I do?”
Brennan’s Shannon Coffey finished four-shots back of Ly at 40 while Sandwich’s Emily Archambeault was third at 42.
The Villanova Wildcats team of Riley Purdie (41), Kyla Charlebois (43) and Kate Latella (47) repeated as team champs, but unlike a year ago, Ly and the Knights had a full team this year and finished second to advance to SWOSSAA.
“We had a team this year, which was nice,” said Ly, who is used to the grind of tournament play over the summer. “It’s fun and I get to see all my friends and have fun.”