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Qualifying event held for Greatest Junior Golfer of the Valley
Greatest Jr. Golfer
Video
The area’s best youth golfers hit the links Tuesday, trying to make a name for themselves and collect the scholarship that comes along with the success. It’s the kickoff to the first “Greatest Junior Golfer in the Valley” tournament, and the first ball will be launched off the tees of the Diamond Back Golf Course in Canfield. Throughout the month, golfers under the age of 18 as of Aug. 31 will attempt to qualify and be named the best.
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
Photo
Brandon Pluchinsky, 17, works his way out of a sand trap on the No. 10 hole of Diamond Back Golf Course in Canfi eld on Tuesday during the fi rst qualifying round for the inaugural Greatest Junior Golfer of the Valley golf tournament. Eight golfers — four boys and four girls — made the cut to advance to the championship round, which will be played July 31 at Trumbull Country Club. Pluchinsky, a student at South Range High School, led the boys with a two-over 74.
By Karl Henkel
CANFIELD
Brandon Pluchinsky walked off the 18th green at Diamond Back Golf Course on Tuesday afternoon with mixed emotion.
He shook his head following a double bogey on the 528-yard, par-5 final hole, self-admittedly his worst hole of the afternoon.
The 17-year-old who attends South Range also smiled, because he knew he had played well enough through the first 17 holes to secure one of four qualifying spots for the Greatest Junior Golfer of the Valley tournament on July 31.
“I just had one dumb hole,” he said. “If I just get rid of that, I was fine.”
Pluchinsky wasn’t the only golfer Tuesday flustered by the long, narrowing 18th, which had traps to the right and water to the left. The hole was also difficult for second-place finisher Max Pikunas.
Pikunas, 17, who attends Cardinal Mooney, was one-over heading to the 18th and knew he could match Pluchinsky’s score if he could at least bogey the hole.
He took the risk and went for the victory, but triple-bogeyed the hole.
He finished with a four-over 76.
“I struggled because I went after it and I paid the price,” said Pikunas, who added that had he not known Pluchinsky’s score, he would have played the hole more conservatively.
Pluchinsky, who played in Tuesday’s opening group, shot a 3-under 36 on the front nine and five-over 41 on the back nine. Without his double bogey, Pluchinsky noted, he would have finished at even-par.
“The front nine was really good,” he said. “The back nine was average.
“It could have been better, but it could have been worse.”
The only golfer who wrangled the 18th was third-place finisher Dominic Carano, 15, who attends Canfield.
He birdied the hole and finished with a four-over 76.
“It’s a very intimidating tee shot,” he said of the hole. “I just put my tee shot in a good place where I could get a good lay up shot and put it on the green.”
Joe Benson, 17, who attends Canfield, finished third, shooting a six-over 78.
Despite a cloudless, warm, breezy morning and afternoon, golfers said the course was challenging, and many, including Canfield’s Scott McMurray, said the greens were quick and challenging, despite a dousing of rain late Monday.
“They were pretty hard to read,” he said. “I putted better on the back than the front.”
That was the case in the girls division, where it was another Pikunas — not Max, but Jacinta, 12 — who shot a four-over 76.
Jacinta was a bit bummed when she saw the leaderboard in the clubhouse and saw that she scored precisely the same as her brother; last year she said she edged Max in the same tournament.
“We sometimes have contests about who can shoot lower,” she said. “He did good today.”
Jacinta held a 10-stroke advantage over three Canfield golfers: Christina Cooper, who shot an 86; Kelly Fleming, who shot an 87; and Annie McGlone, who shot an 89.
The eight golfers automatically qualify for the championship round on July 31 at Trumbull Country Club. Some, like McGlone, will choose to fine-tune their games at the next two qualifying rounds: Friday and Monday at Tamer Win & Golf Club and July 21 at Tam O’Shanter.
“The other ones I don’t have to worry about quite as much,” McGlone said. “It’s kind of a relief.”