Mooney junior-to-be among Greatest qualifiers

June 29, 2017 at 12:10a.m.

BOARDMAN

Keegan Butler carded a 74, two strokes better than Bobby Jonda while Hannah Keffler’s 75 was two strokes ahead of Gillian Cerimele as both captured 17-U top honors in the fourth Greatest Golfer of the Valley junior qualifying event Wednesday at Mill Creek MetroParks’ North Course.

In 14-U action, Caleb Domitrovich (40-46—86) defeated Michael Porter (44-42—86) on the first play-off hole to qualify in the boys division while McKenzie Gustas (52-51—103) advanced in the girls division.

This is the third consecutive year that Butler — he will be a junior at Cardinal Mooney this fall — has qualified for the championship round, having already done so as an eighth grader and last year as a freshman.

He said having Mill Creek as his home course definitely has its advantages.

“It is nice when you are playing on your home course and definitely helps just knowing the track when I’m not playing my best. Plus, it’s always good to be able to defend the home course,” Butler said.

Butler shot a 35 on the front nine and 39 on the back nine while Boardman’s Jonda went 38-38 for 76 on the day.

Dean Austalosh (42-35) carded a 77 to finish in third place, three shots behind Butler.

“I feel like I left some shots out there, missing a few putts and birdie opportunities but I couldn’t ask for a better qualifying round,” Butler said. “I’ll probably play a few Ohio tournaments now and just concentrate on getting my game ready for the championship. I’ve never won before, so I’m really excited for this opportunity. I’ll settle for today’s round.”

Keffler (37-38—75) wasn’t paired with Cerimele (39-38—77), but felt all along that her Canfield teammate would post a competitive round.

This year marks the fifth time that Keffler has qualified for championship play. She was third as a 12-year-old, won when she was 14, finished second at 13 and again at 15.

She admits to playing less golf this summer prior to the Greatest Golfer competition — she is studying and prepping for the ACT in the fall and hopes to major in pre-med or biomedical engineering — but felt as if she was hitting her irons a little longer than she normally would.

“I felt like I was on my game, but definitely hit my irons further than I am used to and actually over some of the greens,” Keffler said. “I had a few birdies and that helped, but suffered a double bogey on No. 12, which was a bit of a setback. Making some long par putts also helped.”

In 14-U boys action, Domitrovich shot par on the first playoff hole (No. 10) to advance to the championship round. Porter bogeyed the hole. Both are from McDonald.

“I bogeyed the hole earlier in the day, but still played it like I did the first time around,” Domitrovich said. “I hit my irons really well. To win and advance is really exciting.”

Porter wishes he could have a few drives to hit over again.

“I sliced a few drives and didn’t putt as well as I could have, but my chipping saved me,” Porter said. “Caleb and I are both from the same community and school, so it’s nice that it came down to a playoff for the two of us.”

Gustas, whose home course is Tam O’Shanter in Hermitage, Pa., joins Domitrovich as the other 14-U qualifier.

Opening round of the 17-U championship takes place July 21 at Squaw Creek (2 p.m.) with the finals scheduled for July 22 (12:30 p.m.) at Avalon Lakes.

The 14-U championship takes place July 22 (12:30 p.m.) at Avalon Lakes.

The next junior qualifying event is July 6 (11 a.m.) at Salem Hills Golf Course.

“What a great two weeks for junior golf in the Mahoning Valley,” said Brian Tolnar, PGA Director of Golf for Mill Creek MetroParks Golf Courses. “Last week’s AJGA [American Junior Golf Association] was a huge success and today’s Vindy Greatest Junior Golfer certainly didn’t disappoint.”