The 2010 AMS&NW Optimist Junior Golf Championships in Redcliff were a huge success. The parents and kids had a good time and enjoyed the Family BBQ mixer put on by the All Nations Optimist Club on Monday night, as well as the Riverview Golf Club course. The highlight of the tournament was a hole-in-one by Tom Swanson, a 15-year old boy from Missoula, Montana.
We lucked out with the weather. It rained a lot on Monday, making a mess of the Practice Rounds. But it cleared up around five o'clock in time for the BBQ. And although Tuesday was cloudy, it never did rain; making it a comfortable day for golfing.
I want to thank both the All Nations and the Medicine Hat Optimist Clubs for their help in conducting the District Tournament. I want to again thank the Edmonton-Dinner Optimist Club for their financial support.
Colin Gunstream from Missoula won the Boys 16-18 division and was tournament low-score with a 69. Tom Swanson's hole-in-one won him the Boys 14-15 division by one stroke over Huner Anderson from Billings. Katelyn Frank, from Sydney won the Girls 16-18 division and Kortney McNeil won the Girls 10-14 division. The sole winner from outside of Montana was Nolan Mastel from Medicine Hat who won the Boys 12-13 division.
We experienced a lower than normal turnout this year. We had 25 young people registered and one of those didn't get his passport soon enough to cross the border and compete. Normally, we get 45-50 contestants from 5 or 6 qualifying tournaments around the District. But this year, both Great Falls and Davidson had to cancel their qualifying tournaments; and neither Saskatoon, Prince Albert, or Bozeman scheduled tournaments.
I'll be conducting a workshop about Junior Golf at the District Convention in Bozeman, MT. I hope you and/or someone from your club will be able to attend it. We'll talk about running local qualifying tournaments and ask for your opinions regarding rewarding the winners and runnerups at the District Championships.
See you in Bozeman!
Mike DeNicola
Chair, District Junior Golf
