In recent years, there has been much opportunity for the youth in our community to gain exposure to the game of golf with the assistance of an instructional program for those who wish to learn the game from professionals. Additionally, a competitive void has evolved to challenge the skill sets of already established junior players through tournament play.
Competitively speaking, families navigate through the GAO Junior Pathway system in the attempt to piecemeal summer tournament schedules together. Up until now, this could only be accomplished by registering with junior tours elsewhere beyond the borders of Lambton County. Parents of children committed to tournament golf essentially need to travel to Windsor-Essex, London-Middlesex or the GTA and Golden Horseshoe area to compete.
Recognizing this and to address these shortcomings, a group of local stakeholders have become keenly interested in revamping the Sarnia-Lambton junior golf landscape through the creation of the Lambton Junior Golf Tour.
A group of like minded people who wanted to change this scenario convened and we met for our first organizational meeting to promote the development of a local junior golf series. Present at that meeting were Dr. Michael Rocca, Head Golf Professional at Huron Oaks Cameron Rankin, Manager of the St.Clair Parkway Golf Course Karen Grant and CEO and GM of Indian Hills Golf Club Ken Hoare. A consensus was reached that we would strive to establish a local junior tour that would address the deficiencies of our local junior golf scene.
We had the great fortune of forging a partnership with the SMAA and in the process had the great pleasure of adding SMAA President Lynn LeFaive to our planning committee with the intention of reintroducing golf as an SMAA offering. The SMAA is no stranger to golf and has both an established and storied history locally with junior golf. We have corresponded and gained valuable insight from other established junior tours and look to incorporate their structure to ensure our events operate successfully and provide participants with fun and positive experiences.
We received the most welcome news from CFP, Christopher Rocca of IG Wealth Management confirming the Investor’s Group’s intention to support our initiative as a corporate sponsor. With consideration of their financial commitment towards this endeavour, we are proud to announce the genesis of the Lambton Junior Golf Tour (LJGT) presented by IG Wealth Management for the 2023 season!
May 28th
Huron Oaks Golf Course, 2587 Lakeshore Rd, Brights Grove
Sponsored by Huron Oaks Golf Course
Indian Hills Golf Club, 6991 Lakeshore Rd, Lambton Shores
Sponsored by LiUNA Local 1089
St. Clair Parkway Golf Course, 132 Moore Line, Mooretown
Sponsored by St. Clair Parkway Golf Course
Lasalle Auto Centre
St. Clair Parkway Golf Course, 132 Moore Line, Mooretown
Sponsored by In-Home Golf Studios and Simulators
Huron Oaks Golf Course, 2587 Lakeshore Rd, Brights Grove
Sponsored by Dentistry at the Point
and Eclypses
SMAA LJGT Tour Championship Tournament #4 sponsored by Dentistry at the Point was held on Sunday, September 10, 2023 at Huron Oaks Golf Course:
The TOURNAMENT winners were the following:
Senior Boys: Ben Grant (77) winner by retrogression over Caleb Laframboise also with a score of 77 {18 holes from white tees}
Intermediate Boys: Noah Olver (37) {9 holes from yellow tees}
Intermediate Girls: Sofia Rocca (47) {9 holes from yellow tees)
Junior Boys: Isaac Kennette (40) {9 holes from red tees}
Junior Girls: Vivian Callander (67) {9 holes from red tees}
2023 SMAA LJGT presented by IG Wealth Management season division champions and 2nd place division winners sponsored by Eclypses:
Senior Boys: 1st place: Tyler Coene with 63 pts (winner by 0.5 pts!!!)
2nd place: Adam Valiquette with 62.5 pts
Intermediate Boys: 1st place: Noah Olver with 140 pts
2nd place: Cole Grant with 134 pts
Intermediate Girls: 1st place: Sofia Rocca with 16 pts
2nd place: Ameleilia Yacks with 10 pts
Junior Boys: 1st place: Isaac Kennette with 38 pts
2nd place: Jackson Girling with 36 pts
Junior Girls: 1st place: Vivian Callander with 6 pts
2nd place: Claire Thomson with 5 pts
N.B. points were based on the number of participants in each division
A special thank-you to our host Huron Oaks Golf Course and tournament sponsor Dentistry at the Point for their tremendous support in making this event a successful one!
Congratulations to the following division winners from our August 27th event at St. Clair Parkway Golf Course:
Junior Girls: Vivian Callander
Junior Boys: Isaac Kennette
Intermediate Girls: Sofia Rocca
Intermediate Boys: Noah Olver
Senior Boys: Lucas Rogers
SMAA LJGT T#3 Leaderboard (St. Clair Parkway) (pdf)
DownloadA special thank-you to our host St. Clair Parkway Golf Course and tournament sponsor InHome Golf Studios and Simulators for their tremendous support in making this event a successful one!
Congratulations to the following division winners:
Junior Girls: Vivian Callander
Junior Boys: Jackson Girling
Intermediate Girls: Sofia Rocca
Intermediate Boys: Noah Olver
Senior Boys: Dracen Campbell
SMAA LJGT T#1 Leaderboard (St Clair Parkway) (pdf)
DownloadA special thank-you to our host and co-tournament sponsor St. Clair Parkway Golf Course, co-tournament sponsor Lasalle Auto Centre for their tremendous support in making this event a successful one!
Congratulations to the following division winners:
Junior Girls: Claire Thomson
Junior Boys: Isaac Kennette
Intermediate Girls: Sofia Rocca
Intermediate Boys: Noah Olver
Senior Boys: Lucas Rogers
SMAA LJGT T#1 Leaderboard (Indian Hills Golf Club) (pdf)
DownloadA speical thank-you to our host Indian Hills Golf Club and Tournament Sponsor LIUNA 1089 for their tremendous suppor in making this even a sucessful one!
S.M.A.A. LJGT SPRING COMBINE RESULTS
WINNERS
SENIOR BOYS: ADAM VALIQUETTE
INTERMEDIATE BOYS: NICHOLAS LADOUCEUR
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS: SOFIA ROCCA
JUNIOR BOYS: ISAAC KENNETTE
JUNIOR GIRLS: VIVIAN CALLANDER
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!
T #1 at Indian Hills News
Many participants and parents are probably wondering whether they or their child qualified for tournament play? The combine was a successful event; however, some questions remain about tournament readiness for some of the participants and as such further evaluation is required. Therefore, we are approaching the first tournament at Indian Hills in the following manner:
Seniors: 18-hole tournament format (*#$)
Intermediate and Juniors: 9-hole tournament format (*@%)
*A maximum score of double par on any hole (for example; if playing a par 4 a maximum score of 8 is allowed and if the hole is incomplete after the 8th shot the player is required to pick up their ball and proceed to the next hole)
# To qualify for T#2 at St. Clair Parkway G.C., an 18- hole score of 142 or better is required
@ To qualify for T#2 at St. Clair Parkway G.C., a 9-hole score of 72 or better is required
% If a player exhibits difficulty advancing the ball with consistency and would have had a score worse than 10 on any hole the organizers reserve the discretion to cease play for that player and direct them to the instructional area. This is to insure a positive experience for the player and a proper pace of play for all groups.
To be eligible to win the season ending overall division trophies players in the senior division must complete the season having competed in all of the 18-hole events and intermediates and juniors in all of the 9-hole events.
Depending on the outcome of T#1, intermediates may play 18-hole tournaments but only the front 9 will count against the remaining field.
Participants in the 18-hole format may be relegated to a 9-hole format and vice versa. This is not a permanent measure and players can return to an 18-hole status if in the future they post a 9-hole performance that was at a maximum score of double par or better.
SMAA LJGT Spring Combine Point Totals (xlsx)
DownloadSpecial thanks to the participating host sites Huron Oaks Golf Course, Indian Hills Golf Club, and St. Clair Parkway Golf Course that have generously subsidized the tour with greatly discounted tee times!
Thanks to the following organizing commitee members for their tremendous efforts and dedication to making the 2023 S.M.A.A .LJGT season such a success!
Christopher Rocca of IG Wealth Mangement
Lynn LeFaive of the S.M.A.A.
Cameron Rankin of Huron Oaks Golf Course
Karen Grant of St. Clair Parkway Golf Course
Ken Hoare of Indian Hills Golf Club
Andrew Dawson of Genuis IT Solutions
Special thanks to our volunteers and they know who they are! What an incredible effort on their part to make these events enjoyable for the participants and Joanie McKinley for furnishing all of the photos for our website!
On the behalf of all of the participants, we would like to thank the following CPGA Professionals for volunteering their personal free time to assist with the instructional component of our tour free of charge.
Cameron Rankin of Huron Oaks Golf Course
Craig Hottot of Huron Oaks Golf Course
Kyle Gibson of St. Clair Parkway Golf Course
Jamie Reitknecht of Indian Hills Golf Club
Also, thanks to our GAO on-site official Jason Rawson for assistance with rulings.
Sincerely,
The Commissioner Mike Rocca
Registration opportunities to juniors will be offered in keeping with the core values and mission statement of the SMAA.
Our intention from the onset is to identify the skill level of each registrant by conducting a season opening Spring LJGT Combine event. This event will give organizers the opportunity to examine each player’s competency in all areas of golf.
With the results of that combine, the outcome will be the establishment of 3 cohorts identified as those who are tournament ready, those who would benefit from an instructional component before initiating tournament play and those who will be exclusively offered an instructional component with the opportunity to qualify for the LJGT 2024 season at a season ending combine. Instruction sessions will be held in conjunction with each tournament event.
Players who qualify as tournament ready will participate in four 18 hole tournament events. On those same dates, those deemed eligible to participate in a shortened 9 hole tournament format will commence their outing with instruction first followed by 9 holes of golf . Volunteers will be on site officiating with knowledge of the rules governed by the R&A and Golf Canada.
REGISTRATION FOR THE 2023 SMAA LJGT SEASON IS NOW OFFICIALLY CLOSED.
Copyright © 2023 Lambton Junior Golf Tour - All Rights Reserved.
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