WHITBY, ONTARIO – JULY 12, 2018 – It took two days of stroke play competition and four rounds of match play in hot & breezy conditions but Michael Ikejiani (Minesing, ON), Megan Fitchett (Oshawa, ON), Caden Holmes (Napanee, ON) and Madelin Boyd (Oshawa, ON) were finally able to hoist the coveted PING Canadian Junior Match Play Championship trophy on Thursday afternoon at Lakeridge Links in Whitby with victories in each of their Finals Matches.

The Final Match in the Junior Boys division saw Michael Ikejiani the number 2 seeded player following the stroke play competition up against the number 5 seed in Logan Hawke (Oakville, ON).  The match remained all square after the first three holes before Ikejiani began to steadily climb in the match with wins on the 4^th, 5^th & 7^th hole to make the turn to the back nine with a 3 hole lead.

Ikejiani’s focus on keeping the ball in play seemed to work and forced Hawk to make some aggressive plays on the back 9 to try and challenge his opponent.  But after conceding the 10^th hole after his bunker shot went over the back of the green, Ikejiani’s lead became insurmountable.  Follow-up wins on the 11^th and 13^th ended the match early with Ikejiani winning 6 up.

In the Junior Girls division, the number 1 & 2 seed would meet in the final round with defending champion and number 2 seed Hunter Nugent (Oakville, ON) facing off against number 1 seed Megan Fitchett.  The match started out close with the players halving the first two holes before Nugent managed to squeeze out a win on the 3^rd hole to go 1up in the match.  Fitchett would bounce back though with wins on both the 4^th & 5^th hole to take her own lead in the match.

After losing the 6^th hole which once again squared the match, Fitchett who sees Lakeridge Links as sort of her second home put her course knowledge into full gear winning the 7^th, 8^th, 10^th & 11^th holes to take a commanding 4up lead in the match.  Nugent would get one back on the 13^th but Fitchett bounced back quick with a win on 14 to move into a dormie position going into 15.  The players would halve the 15^th hole and Fitchett would take the match 4up.

The final Bantam Boys match saw number 1 seed Caden Holmes face off against number 10 seed Michael Weber (Burlington, ON).  Despite the lopsided nature of the match the players proved to be well matched competitors.  Holmes held the lead in the match at 2up for the majority of the front 9 before losses on the 11^th & 12^th hole would bring it back to all square.  Weber would win the 16^th hole to take his own lead in the match but Holmes would bounce back winning the 17^th and finally on the 18^th hole to take match 1up.

The Bantam Girls match between number one seed Alissa Xu (Richmond Hill, ON) and number 3 seed and defending champion Madelin Boyd was also a close battle with neither player mounting much of a charge in the early stages of the match.  The players halved 14 of 18 holes, and in the end Boyd’s win on the 16^th hole proved to be enough for her to emerge with a 1up margin of victory after the 18^th hole.

Conditions at Lakeridge Links were tough but fair all week as the course was playing fast & firm. Temperatures were steady in the low thirties Celsius and a steady breeze blowing through most of the competition.  Despite the dry air and warm temperatures the greens at Lakeridge remained receptive to approach shots throughout the week due to the efforts of the grounds crew.

Match Play Results – Click Here

Brackets & Seeding – Click Here

Stroke Play Results – Click Here