Ben and Nick Update on the BICK Junior Golf Tour

Hoping to carry their good play from Stop 3 back on July 19 at Chippewa Creek, both Ben and Nick were optimistic of moving up the rankings given that Stop 4 was being held on their home course of Flamborough Golf Course on Thursday July 29. Weather was phenomenal but below average putting countered Nick's home course advantage as he shot a very disappointing 82, good for 24th and dropping him 3 spots to 25th for the tour to date. Ben shot an 81 which was good for 20th and maintaining him at 24th for the the tour.

Stop 5 of the tour moved to the Burlington area at Lowville Golf Club on Tuesday August 3.  The scenery with the backdrop of  the Niagara escarpment was spectacular  ... unfortunately that was not the case with Nick's game.  A promising +4 for the first nine withered away in the heat and humidity to a final 87.  The score ranked 31st for the round; Nick falls to 27th for the tour with 335 points.  Perhaps the previous 3 days of the Club Championships had their deterioating effects.  On the other hand, Ben shot a fantastic 79, good for 14th for the round which moved him to 22nd for the tour with 400 points.

Based on prior years' average of 640 points to make the Top 15 Exempt list, both Nick and Ben would need a tournament win at one of the remaining two stops or a couple of top 7 finishes in order to make the Exempt list for 2011.

Two days later, the 6th stop on the tour moved to the Deerfield Golf Course in Oakville.  Nick shot a satisfactory 81 which was good enough for 18th on the day but is still mired 27th for the tour to date with 419 points.  Meanwhile Ben was just not on at all and faltered to a 100 for the day and dropped to a 26th for the tour to date with 424 points.  However, they are both still respectively 9th and 10th on the rookies standings.

Both Nick and Ben are virtually tied with about 420 pints and will need a top 7 finish in the last stop at Dundas Valley in order to crack the Top 20 for the tour.  A Top 15 Tour finish might now be a stretch to reach.  A top 7 placing typically gets about 140-150 points and that will get both Nick and Ben close to a more realistic Top 20 Tour finish (531 points in 2009 and 618 points in 2008).  As a point of interest for encouragement, current tour leader Nic Ross finished with 470 points in 2009 playing as a 14.6 year old.  The result was good for 3rd in rookies, 24th for the tour and captured the last exempt spot for 2010 (top 15 after over-aged graduates).  In other words, 9 of the top 24 players that year were 17 yeats old.