Falls teen finishes 10th at golf nationals

Nolan Piazza came into Friday’s final day of the Mizuno Canadian National Junior Championship hoping to end the four-day tournament on a high note.

Twelve shots back of the leader after three runs, the 16-year-old from Niagara Falls conceded he had little chance of winning the boys under-19 championship. On his way to the clubhouse, he suggested even a near-perfect round on the par-72 Heron layout at Cardinal Lakes Golf Club in Welland wouldn’t be enough.

“Almost impossible, I would say,” the Grade 11 student at A.N. Myer Secondary School said. “I was just trying to play for second after coming into today.”

On Friday, he birdied the first hole and was 2-over after nine before having two double bogeys and two bogeys on the back nine.

“I started off strongly, but I couldn’t hold it together,” said Piazza, whose round of 80 included five bogeys, three of them doubles.

Piazza, who failed to make the cut at nationals last year in Alberta after topping the leaderboard at the Ontario championships, carded rounds of 77 and 75 to stay put and remain in contention after moving day Wednesday. He shot a 2-underpar 74 Thursday.

“A little bit of everything was off today, and it cost in some different spots,” he said. “I didn’t have any consistency this week.”

Piazza tried to stick to a game plan as best he could.

“I still had an overall fun week.”

His four-round total of 306 tied him for 10th overall, 20 shots back of leader Bavake Sihota of Caledon, 67-74-73-72=286.