With the second season of the Sarnia Minor Athletic Association (SMAA) Lambton Jr. Golf Tour now in the books, organizers aim to continue expanding the tour.
The championship was held on September 22 at Huron Oaks Golf Course.
Committee member Dr. Michael Rocca said despite the gloomy weather conditions, 30 competitors played 18 holes.
The final tournament was initially scheduled to take place on August 25 but the season was extended to make up for a rained out event in July at Kingswell Glen Golf Club. Typically, the event would have seen a few more players but Rocca said some had other commitments.
Full results from Sunday's event have been posted online.
Players who ranked first in the final season standings for the tour as a whole include Sydney Van Horne in the U13 girls division; Andrea Lai in U15, U17, and U19 girls; Noah Olver in U13 boys; Andrew Audicky in U15 boys; Logan Woodiwiss in U17 boys; and Gabriel Alexi-Turno in U19 boys.
"Our tour is very happy with the season that we had," Rocca said. "The players that we had this year, I think they had a great experience. They had the benefit of getting some really good experience at some courses that hosted the events. We're quite happy with the level of play and seeing how some of our younger players who were with us last year have matured and keep on getting better. The future looks really bright moving forward. We have a good young group of up-and-comers and it's going to be exciting to see how their golf careers evolve over the next few years."
After the tour's inaugural season, one goal was to attract more female players to the sport. Rocca said they were successful in doubling their numbers this year from five to 10.
He said one of the tour's "momentous moments" this season was when the girls' team won silver at the Ontario Games in August.
"For them to come second was quite incredible and given that this is an upstart, the fact that they competed and did so well, it makes everything so much more rewarding for us as organizers," he said. "Hopefully they will inspire the younger females who are part of our tour to aspire to achieve success like they did."
Rocca said organizers will have a post-season meeting to go over plans for next year. However, he said there have been discussions about possibly holding inter-tour competitions next season and introducing more senior levels.
He also said they may want to expand to include other venues.
Rocca said their partnership with SMAA has benefited the not-for-profit tour. He also thanked committee members, volunteers, players, community members, and sponsors for their support in making the tour a success.
"Basically without their support, we wouldn't be able to offer our participants the opportunity to play in this tour at a fee that's rather affordable when compared to other tours," he said. "We hope to grow this tour and make it one of the staple tours in Ontario and I think we're well on the way to achieving that goal."
