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Locals shut out at McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour championship

Familiarity may breed contempt, but not necessarily in the game of golf.Shaye Ledenius, for example, used her knowledge of her home course Monday to shoot an 81 and finish tied for third in the girls division of the McLennan Ross Junior Tour championship at Wolf Creek Golf Resort.
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff-Golf for Front Page ----Bryce Kopec of Red Deer who golfs out of Alberta Springs hits a drive off the 5th tee on the old course at Wolf Creek during McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour Championship play on Monday.

Familiarity may breed contempt, but not necessarily in the game of golf.

Shaye Ledenius, for example, used her knowledge of her home course Monday to shoot an 81 and finish tied for third in the girls division of the McLennan Ross Junior Tour championship at Wolf Creek Golf Resort.

Still, the Ponoka resident has had better days on the challenging track.

“Some holes were better than others . . . some were a little rough,” she said. “I didn’t play how I wanted to play a lot of the round, but I finished off strong.”

She was actually a vision of consistency with nine-hole scores of 41-40.

“It just came down to a couple of front-nine holes that weren’t very great,” she said.

Sharmaine Rapisura of Calgary Inglewood captured the girls title with a 75 and Edmonton Lewis Estates member Nicholas Vandermey took the boys title with a sizzling 69.

Ledenius competed in four McLennan Ross events during the summer with her twin sister, Daria, on another teebox.

“Every time I came second to my sister,” said Shaye, who was three strokes better than Daria (43-41—84) Monday.

Ledenius graduated from high school in June and will spend a year away from the books and hopefully land a U.S. college golf scholarship in the interim.

Rapisura struggled slightly on the back nine but was the lone female golfer to break 80 Monday.

“I just wanted to have a steady game . . . just play conservative,” said the 16-year-old, who also hopes to land an athletic scholarship south of the border.

Rapisura, who qualified for the McLennan Ross Tour championship despite competing in just one tournament this summer, used her scrambling ability to emerge victorious Monday.

“I hit my approach on 11 into the hazard, hit my fourth shot within six feet and made the putt to save par,” she said of her adventures on the par-five hole.

Vandermey was nothing but consistent while cruising to the boys title, putting together nine-hole tallies of 34-35.

“I drove the ball most of the time into the middle of the fairway and into the wind, too,” he said. “My putting was really good as well. I had a lot of one-putts and made a couple of big saves for pars.

“You have to hit the ball straight here and putting is a big thing, too. Actually, the greens are the biggest tests on this course. That was one of my best putting rounds of the year.”

The 19-year-old, who won the Edmonton Amateur Open two weeks ago by seven strokes over Wolf Creek’s Kolby Vold, couldn’t recall a single particularly key shot Monday.

“It was just fairways and greens and I made a lot of putts,” he stated. “The last month has been really good for me.”

Daria Ledenius recorded an 84 (43-41) while the other Central Alberta players in the girls division, Clare McMahon of Red Deer Balmoral and Courtney Dickson of Innisfail, turned in respective rounds of 87 (40-47) and 90 (44-46).

Cole Morrison of the Red Deer Golf and Country Club (RDG&CC) was the low Central Alberta male with a score of 75 that included a 33 on the front nine. Chase Broderson of Lacombe shot a 76 (40-36), Jace Ouelette of Innisfail (36-41) and Brandon Maxwell of Pine Hills (35-42) each carded a 77 and Jeremy Rietze of Lacombe (35-44—79) also broke 80.

Other Central Alberta boys results:

Carter Graf, RDG&CC (39-42—81); Sam Hamelin, Pheasantback (41-42—83); Jackson Squires, Pheasantback (43-41—84); Bryce Kopec, Alberta Springs (40-44—84); Logan Hill, RDG&CC (39-46—85); Jordan Williamson, Red Deer Balmoral (49-46—85); Taylor Dobbs, Innisfail (49-39—88); Jordan Cooke, RDG&CC (44-48—92); Brady McKinlay, Lacombe (46-46—92); Brendan Grabo, Lacombe (48-50—98); Cole Bergheim, RDG&CC (52-49—101).