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Greatest Junior tourney offers chance at title redemption
Joey Vitali had a very forgettable finals debut in last year’s Vindicator Greatest Golfer of the Valley junior championship.
He finished last in the boys 14-and-under division, 20 shots behind the winning score.
“I did not play well at all,” Vitali said of his round of 89 at Avalon Lakes Golf & Country Club. “I knew I left a ton of strokes out there, which was frustrating.
“I’m not sure if it was nerves or if I just picked a bad time to have a bad round, but it was not good.”
If his scores in this summer’s qualifying tournaments are any indication, Vitali’s rebounded well from a disappointing end to last year. He qualified at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course on June 19 with a score of 77. He’s also had rounds of 82, 73, 76, 78 and 79.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Vitali said heading into Sunday’s junior championship at Avalon Lakes.
“I know the competition in my age division is going to be amazing.”
Vitali, who will be a freshman at Howland High School in the fall, is playing in the final group in his age division along side Conner Stevens and Cole Christman. The three have combined to play eight of their nine rounds this summer in the 70s.
Christman, who will be a freshman at Boardman, and Stevens, a freshman at Brookfield, haven’t shot worse than 76 this year.
“I love playing with them,” Vitali said. “They’re great competition.”
Vitali won’t be the only player seeking redemption on Sunday.
Brian Terlesky has been golfing with expectations ever since he was the No. 1 ranked golfer in the country as a 12-year old. Now 15, Terlesky is coming off what he called “probably my worst year ever.”
After qualifying last week at Trumbull Country Club with a round of 74, the Boardman sophomore believes last year’s struggles are now behind him.
“I’m hoping to have a little bit of redemption from last year,” Terlesky said. “Last year was not my best year by any means, so we’ll see how it goes this year.
“I finally got stuff working and like where my game’s at right now.”
Terlesky won the Greatest Golfer junior championship in 2012 in the 14-and-under division. But last year’s final round of 75 placed him in a tie for third place.
TOUGH TICKET
Every year the Greatest Golfer junior tournament finds new ways to elevate its game.
The talent in this year’s junior final is as good as it’s ever been.
Of the 45 golfers playing in Sunday’s championship at Avalon Lakes, nine of them never shot a round in the 80s during the summer qualifying events. To illustrate just how difficult it was to qualify in the boys 17-and-under division, Nick Braydich played three sub-80 rounds, yet had to earn a finals berth through the points system.
However as is often with golf, past success doesn’t matter in a one-round, winner-take-all championship format. So just as it fails to benefit those who have played five or six really good rounds of golf this summer, it also provides a welcomed fresh slate for those who barely snuck in to the finals field.
The average score among automatic qualifiers in the boys 17-and-under division was less than 75. In the girls 17-and-under division, the average qualifying score was 81.
SUNDAY'S TEE TIMES
At Avalon Lakes Golf & Country Club, Howland
BOYS 17-and-under
1:00 — Cade Kreps, Anthony Graziano, Bobby Jonda
1:10 — Nicholas Braydich, Avery Andric, James Graham
1:20 — Brian Terlesky, Ethan Thomas, Zach Jacobson
1:30 — Keller Ken, Joey Shushok, Jacob Wilson
GIRLS 17-and-under
1:40 — Sarah Brindley, Sydney Heinbaugh, Tori Augustine
1:50 — Taylor Vassis, Kaci Carpenter, Nicolette Eddy
2:00 — Kaylee Neumeister, Jenna Vivo, Britney Jonda
2:10 — Alexa Tringhese, Nicole Gula, Emily Koehler
BOYS 14-and-under
2:20 — Zavier Bokan, Alex Rapp, Jacob Snyder
2:30 — RJ Pozzuto, Andy Murphy, Dean Austalosh
2:40 — Keegan Butler, Matthew Kinkela, Justin Atkinson
2:50 — Conner Stevens, Joey Vitali, Cole Christman
GIRLS 14-and-under
3:00 — Madyson Dailey, Kristin Shelley, Olivia Taylor
3:10 — Gillian Cerimele, Victoria Messuri, Jenna Jacobson
3:20 — Hannah Keffler, Hadley Spielvogel, Erika Hoover