R.J. Derhodge, Sukriti Harjai wrap up junior tour as players of the year

Aug 22, 2018 by Bernd Franke - Niagara Falls Review

R.J. Derhodge's first Niagara District Junior Golf Tour championship this year was three years in the making.

Before getting two birdies and shooting par on 13 others for a three-stroke victory on the final stop on this year's tour, the Grand Niagara endured two winless seasons on the tour.

Not to mention, more bogeys and double bogeys than he cared to count.

However, between all of those strokes that added up on the scorecard were countless shots at practice, on the putting green especially.

In the end, those were the shots that counted most of all as parlayed all of that practice into five victories, two second-place finishes and one third on the 10-event tour this year.

"It's great, I'm still kind of taking it in," he said of winning the tour. "I didn't think it would ever.

"Last year I didn't at all."

The 17-year-old from Niagara Falls credited the remarkable turnaround to hours spent improving his game.

"I've come a long way working hard on my game," the Grade 12 student at Saint Michael Catholic High School said. "Last year, I worked hard as well, but I didn't see the results yet."

"Now I feel that this year the results started to come for me, all the practice was paying off."

Derhodge won the final stop on this year's tour by a 1-over-par 71 Monday at Beechwood. His three-stroke victory over Charlie Jeffries and Ethan Siebert was his second in a row.

"I was scrambling really well," he said. "I got up and down a lot, I was saving a lot of pars out there."

Derhodge drained birdie putts from nine feet, but the highlight of his round was managed to par a hole after his ball landed under a tree.

While he began the season with the goal of winning the overall boys under-19 championship, he didn't feel the weight of increased expectations approaching the first tee at Beechwood.

"I didn't feel any pressure at all," Derhodge said. "I felt confident enough."

He concentrated on every shot, "not really focusing on what was to come.

"I knew I could play well out here, it's a pretty easy course, it's short."

As was the case with his first two years on the tour, Derhodge plans to build on his accomplishments this year.

"I'm just going to keep building and working hard," he said. "This definitely will give me the right boost, and it will help me succeed later on."

Johnny Romak, who shot a 77, and Alexander McGee, 78, rounded out the top five in the boys under-19 flight at Monday's tour stop.

Player of the year Ben MacLean, 69, Matthew Martel, 74, Isaiah Ellis, 75, Bradyn Wark, 79, and Benjamin Hebert, 81, topped the boys under 15 leaderboard.

Michael Martel, 84, John Kingdon, 86, Nicklaus Mooradian, 98, and Levi Moyer, 106, competed in the boys under 13 division.

Martel and Mooradian were honoured as player of the year and rookie of the year, respectively, at the tour-ending banquet Monday night, also held at Beechwood.

Three-peat

As farewell presents go, it's tough to beat the Niagara District Junior Golf Tour championship that Sukriti Harjai will be taking with her to University of Victoria.

The Saint Michael graduate capped off her junior career Monday at Beechwood shooting her best round in a tournament to date to pace the girls under-19 flight.

Harjai's seven-stroke victory over Sasha Baker and Susan Leone was her third in a row and fourth on the tour.

She also placed second twice and third once on her way to winning player of the year honours for the third time.

"It feels great," she said. "I played well today, I made five birdies out there."

What the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club member will remember most about her junior career is the strong finish at her final tour stop.

"I'm glad that I finished off strong today," she said. "This was my best score, 2-under-par, that I have had."

Though she came into the final tour stop leading her division in points, Harjai, who intends to major in commerce at university in British Columbia, didn't feel any pressure competing on the tour for the last time.

"Honestly, I didn't feel pressure, I just wanted to play well for myself and to prove myself that I can, and will, win the tour.

"It felt good to play well for myself and to show people that I can do well."

She will competing in the Humber Cup next week in Windsor before leaving for university.

Rounding out the girls under 19 top five at Beechwood were Megan Miron, 79, and Payton Bennett, 81.

Fairway friends

Kids Golfing for Kids, the signature fundraiser for the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara, raised nearly $27,599 this year.

In addition to $7,744 golfers on the Niagara district junior tour raised in pledges, sponsors contributed $19,750 to the Sunday, Aug. 12, tour stop at St. Catharines Golf and Country Club.

Jan Handy, the centre's executive director and a guest of honour at the tour's season-ending banquet, said in-kind services, such as use of the golf course, amounted to $13,347.

Beechwood's Emily White, who is graduating from the tour this year, raised the most in pledges this year, raising $1,010.

Handy pointed out that thanks to continuing strong support from the junior tour, the centre has raised $270,000 over the past nine years.

Though the banquet celebrated the end to another season on the links, tour director John White reminded the golfers the game is about more than birdies and bogeys.

"It's about the people you become," he said. "You won't remember what you did on the seventh hole but the friends you made."

Every golfer on the tour received a price at Monday night's banquet at Beechwood, but White and tour organizer Rose DiLonardo also did not go home empty-handed. Each received gifts of framed photographs from the golfers.

White, who launched the tour 26 years ago, concluded the night by telling the golfers of how proud he is that they respect the game.

"The better you handle yourself on the golf course, the better you handle yourself in life," he said.

Other highlights of the night was the presentation of a Chuck Smith Memorial Scholarship worth $948 to Mike Athoe who is going on to study electrical engineering at Niagara College.

Blake Pingue received the award as the top lefthander of the tour and Mya Mackey was chosen top rookie in the girls division.

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