Team S.C. wins Can-Am Junior Team Matches

MURRELLS INLET - Team USA rode a dominant performance by its female golfers during Sunday’s singles match play to claim the Joseph T. Simons Can-Am championship trophy at the 13th Annual Can-Am Junior Team Matches at Wachesaw Plantation in Murrells Inlet, S.C. Team USA reclaimed the trophy after Team Canada won the event last year.
 
The female players from Team USA won seven of the eight singles matches against Team Canada, while the boys split their eight matches to claim the two-day competition, 233 ½ to 198 ½. During Sunday’s play, eighteen points were available per match – one each per hole. In the event of a tie, a half point was awarded to each team. Overall, on the second day of the Can-Am Junior Team Matches, the American team earned 157 ½ of 288 possible points to defeat the Canadian squad.
 
Sunday’s singles matches came down to the final two pairings featuring the two best players from South Carolina and Ontario, Canada. Stephen Behr of Florence, S.C. defeated Blair Hamilton, 10 ½ to 7 ½, and Cody Proveaux of Leesville, S.C. dominated Brandon Ng to earn a six point victory.
 
The competition featured the top eight ranked male and female juniors from South Carolina versus counterparts from the Golf Association of Ontario, Canada.
 
After Saturday’s first day of competition at the Can-Am Junior Team Matches, the American team led the Canadian juniors, 76-68. The format was four-ball and scoring consisted of 18 points per available match and awarded one point per hole. In the event of a tie, each team received a half point.
 
The men’s matches led off Saturday morning and boosted the American team to a nine point advantage thanks mostly to victories by the duos of Cody Proveaux (Leesville, Ontario) and Blake Kennedy (Moore) – four-up – Stephen Behr (Florence, S.C.) and Hayden Garrett (Easley, S.C.) – two up – and Matt Nesmith (N. Augusta, Ga.) and Caleb Sturgeon (Laurens, S.C.) who earned a three-up victory.  The matches contested by the young ladies were very close with the Canadians edging out a one-point advantage at the conclusion of play.  They halved one match, lost by a one-down margin in another and earned two one-up victories.  A total of 144 points were available with the Golf Association of Ontario (Canada) team only a narrow margin of eight points behind heading into Sunday.

The matches were contested over the 6,853 yard (boys), 5,940 yard (girls) par 72 Wachesaw Plantation Club in Murrells Inlet, S.C. Wachesaw Plantation has hosted the matches since 2002 and has agreed to host the event through 2013.  The South Carolina junior boys now lead the overall series, 10-3.  The team from South Carolina is selected by using the Heritage Classic Foundation Rankings System from the previous December’s point standings. The top eight ranked male and female players are invited.
 
Overall Results
USA – 233 ½, Canada – 198 ½
Day 2 Results
USA – 157 ½, Canada – 130 ½
Reona Hirai, USA – 12, Maya Parsons, Canada – 6
Louise Oxner, USA – 11 ½, Stephanie Tucker, Canada – 6 ½
Elizabeth Thompson, USA – 9 ½, Yoo Rim Kang, Canada – 8 ½  
Kaitlin Matheson, USA – 10, Jenna Hague, Canada – 8
Chelsey Couch, USA – 7 ½, Meghan McDougall, Canada – 10 ½
Katelyn Dambaugh, USA – 10, Katlyn Elliott, Canada – 8
Collins Bradshaw, USA – 10, Elizabeth Tong, Canada – 8
McKenzie Talbert, USA – 9 ½, Vivian Tsui, Canada – 8 ½
Matthew Nesmith, USA – 13, Taewon Kim, Canada – 5
Austin Langdale, USA – 10, Matt Lemay, Canada – 8
Caleb Sturgeon, USA – 8, Brett McIntosh, Canada – 10
Taylor Zoller, USA – 8, Turner Southey-Gordon, Canada – 10
Hayden Garrett, USA – 8, Michael Nedoszytko, Canada – 10
Blake Kennedy, USA – 8, Lucas Kim, Canada – 10
Stephen Behr, USA – 10 ½, Blair Hamilton, Canada– 7 ½
Cody Proveaux, USA – 12, Brandon Ng, Canada – 6
 
Day One Results
USA – 76, Canada – 68
Proveaux / Kennedy – 11, Ng / T. Kim – 7
Behr / Garrett – 10, L. Kim / Lemay – 8
Nesmith / Sturgeon – 10 ½, Gordon / Nagindas – 7 ½  
Langdale / Zoller – 9, Nedoszytko / McIntosh – 9
Talbert / Matheson – 9, Tsui / Kang – 9
Dambaugh / Bradshaw – 9 ½, McDougall / Hague – 8 ½  
Oxner / Couch – 8 ½, Tong / Parsons – 9 ½
Hirai / Thompson – 8 ½, Elliott / Tucker – 9 ½  
 
South Carolina Team
Cody Proveaux (Leesville, S.C.)                                              
McKenzie Talbert (North Augusta, S.C.)
Matthew Nesmith (North Augusta, S.C.)                               
Collins Bradshaw (Columbia, S.C.)
Austin Langdale (Townville, S.C.)                                          
Chelsey Couch (Ware Shoals, S.C.)
Caleb Sturgeon (Laurens, S.C.)                                              
Kaitlin Matheson (Easley, S.C.)
Hayden Garrett (Easley, S.C.)                                     
Elizabeth Thompson (Charleston, S.C.)
Blake Kennedy (Moore, S.C.)                                      
Katelyn Dambaugh (Goose Creek, S.C.)
Taylor Zoller (North Charleston, S.C.)                         
Reona Hirai (Summerville, S.C.)
Stephen Behr (Florence, S.C.)                                      
Louise Oxner (Greenville, S.C.)
Coaches: Joe Quick, Justin Fleming & Lorraine Ballerano
 
Canadian Team
Brandon Ng (Toronto, Ontario)                                            
Vivian Tsui (Markham, Ontario)
Lucas Kim (Toronto, Ontario)                                                
Elizabeth Tong (Thornhill, Ontario)
Mike Nedoszytko (Scarborough, Ontario)                             
Katlyn Elliott (Peterborough, Ontario)
Turner Southey-Gordon (Toronto, Ontario)                           
Meghan McDougall (Orangeville, Ontario)
Brett McIntosh (London, Ontario)                                        
Jenna Hague (Burlington, Ontario)
Matt Lemay (Waterloo, Ontario)                                           
Yoorim Kang (Toronto, Ontario)
Taewon Kim (Richmond Hill, Ontario)                                 
Stephanie Tucker (Orangeville, Ontario)
Shyamal Nagindas (Aurora, Ontario)                         
Maya Parsons (Whitby, Ontario)
Coaches: Mike Kelly, Jon Roy, Cathy Sherk & Mary Ann Lapointe