Micheluzzi and Shin crowned NSW Junior Champions

Despite a tough final round in the 2014 Subaru State Championships, Victorian David Mucheluzzi held his nerve to take the highly-coveted Junior title.  Micheluzzi’s rounds of 68, 66, 67 and 77 saw him finish the tournament at 3-under par, just enough to hold off Queenslander Liam Andersen, who finished with a four-round total of even par 281.  Victorian’s Matias Sanchez and Konrad Ciupek rounded out the top four at +3 and +4 respectively.

JNJG star Shelly Shin flew the flag for NSW and comfortably strolled home to victory with rounds of 65, 74, 75 and 74 to finish at +4 and seven shots ahead of Stacey White from Queensland. The Queensland trio of Robyn Choi, Becky Kay and Eunice Kim rounded out the Girls top five on +14, +15 and +19.

Over 290 juniors participated in this year’s championship.  In addition to the JNJG members from across the state, players came from far and wide, including Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand. There was even a contingent of 8 players who made the journey from New Caledonia.  There were many other juniors who did not qualify for this year’s championship but are waiting in the wings ready to have a crack at next year’s event.
A testament to the calibre of junior golfers playing in the event is reflected in the fact that there were four hole-in-ones and two albatrosses recorded during the week, as well as 38 under-par rounds.

There were a number of other events held in conjunction with this year’s State Championship, including the NSW Boys and Girls Country Junior Championships, the NSW Boys and Girls Champion of Champions and the NSW Inter-District Teams event.  All three of these competitions were played over the first two rounds of the event.

Amelia Mehmet-Grohn (Coffs Harbour) took out the Country Girls Championship with a two-round total of 143 while Port Kembla’s Jack Kessell won the Boys Country Junior Championship with a total of two-under-par 139.   Jack also took out the NSW Boys Champion of Champions alongside Concord’s Shelly Shin.  Both recorded two round totals of 139.  The Newcastle District team of Chloe Pearce, Luke Ferrier, Blake Windred and Isaiah Melia were too good for the competition in the Inter-District Teams Events and won with a two round score of 442.

Jack Newton Junior Golf would like to thank the major sponsors for the event—Subaru, Titleist and Golf NSW—for their generous support of junior golf.  Also many thanks to the host courses for the week; Wollongong and The Links Shell Cove.  It is always a challenge to find courses willing to host a weeklong event and JNJG appreciate the help by General Managers Leigh Hingston and Robby Stephenson as well as all of their staff and volunteers.  The tournament would not be a success without the help of the volunteers.

Thanks also to regular rules officials; they are an integral part of all JNJG events and organisers appreciate them giving up their time to help.

Lastly thanks must go to all of the parents, grandparents, family and friends who brought the juniors to the Illawarra for the tournament.  Without their constant support, the tournaments would not be a success.

Jack Newton Junior Golf would like to thank all of the juniors for a great week of golf, and they would like to remind you to remember to get your entries in for the Srixon International in October.

More: www.jnjg.com.au.

  JNJG, juniors