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2022 Victorian Junior Country Regions

The Ballarat District Golf – Junior Team competed in the Golf Australia – 2022 Victorian Junior Country Regions, played on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th August in Bendigo.

The competition featured six super regions. Whilst most associations join with others to form the super regions, we play as a standalone association to maximise the number of opportunities we can offer to our most talented junior players.

Our Team

Players: Mo Haintz (Mt Xavier GC), Liam Howlett (Ballarat GC), Paddy Murphy (Ballarat GC), Luke Inglis (Buninyong GC), Manish Puvanendran (Ballarat GC), Millie Cassidy (Maryborough GC), Harry Cowan (Bacchus Marsh West GC), Xavier Gleeson (Ballarat GC), Dillon Benton (Bacchus Marsh West GC), Sydney Viktorie Bayerle (Ballarat GC), Anna Inglis (Buninyong GC)

Reserve Players: Tom Bosworth (Mt Xavier GC), Josh Nalder (Maryborough GC)

Officials: Andrew Milligan (Team Manager), Andrew Cartledge (Junior Coach), Jeanette Tocchet (Secretary), Ron Adams (Men’s Coordinator)

The competition was played over two rounds of stroke play with the lowest aggregate score winning the title in both the gross and handicap sections. A total of eight scores counted each day, with a minimum of two scores from boys and girls required.

Only three players remained from our team that was crowned Victorian Junior Country Champions when the competition was last played in 2020. Eight players represented Ballarat District Golf for the first time whilst a further two players travelled with the team to Bendigo for the experience and played in the individual events.

Round 1 was played in heavy conditions at Bendigo Golf Club with Mo Haintz (+3), Liam Howlett (+5), Manish Puvanendran (+9) and Padraic Murphy (+10) our best performers.

Round 2 was played at Neangar Park Golf Club with Liam Howlett (-1), Mo Haintz (+5), Luke Inglis (+9) and Xavier Gleeson (+10) leading the way.

At the conclusion of the competition Ballarat District Golf finished in third place in both the gross and net events.

Congratulations to Liam Howlett who played brilliantly, particularly in Round 2 to finish in a tie for third in the Boys Country Championship event, whilst Mo Haintz finished tenth.

Well done to Golf South West on winning the Championship and the North Western Super Region on claiming the Net Title.

We also wish to extend our congratulations to Bailey Goodall (Shepparton GC) and Jazy Roberts (Belvoir Park GC) on being crowned Victorian Junior Country Champions. Bailey and Jazy both defended the titles they won when the competition was last played in Ballarat in 2020. Jazy has been a regular competitor in our local tournaments over many years and everyone who saw her 6-under par round on the first day will tell you they witnessed something special.

Thanks to Georgia Fish and Lachlan Scott from Golf Australia for organising the 2022 Victorian Junior Country Regions, Bendigo Golf Club and Neangar Park Golf Club for hosting the two days and all the associations for supporting the competition, which is such an important element of Victorian junior country golf.

On behalf of our players many thanks to Andrew Cartledge, Jeanette Tocchet and Ron Adams for taking the team away to play in the competition and to the Executive Committee and our affiliated clubs for their fantastic support.

Andrew Milligan

Team Manager