First-timer Crawley wins tour opener

A relative unknown coming in, Haylee Crawley surprised the field during Monday's Unico Primo Junior Golf Tour opener at Seven Lakes winning the junior girls division.

Source: Jarrod Smith

"I’m really excited about the win," said the 15-year old Chatham-Kent golfer. "I definitely wasn’t expecting it considering it’s my first year on the tour and my first stop."

Golfing out of Maple City Country Club Crawley has a strong start using a chip for birdie on the second hole to finish with a 78. Alyssa Cowling finished second with an 81 while Ella Harris was third at 83. "I was on the front fringe of the green and I hit a bump and run." Crawley told Powerplay Sports.

Crawley travelled to Windsor during the off-season to train at Swing Factory with former Big Break winner David Byrne. "I had a lot of improvement after starting lessons with a new coach," Crawley said in praise of Byrne who finished 3rd in back to back years on the tour in 2005 and 2006. "I was just thinking about doing the tour for fun not expecting to win anything."

On the junior boys side, Cale Marontate shot a nifty 67 to beat Kingsville's Lucas DeLorenzi (70) and Jack Dupuis (73). University of Windsor golfer Kennedy Fremlin won the collegiate girls division with an 81 while Kevin Tiechroeb of Kingsville finished with an ever par-71 to take the collegiate boys side.

A highlight of the day was seeing Aleksei Hnidei sink a hole-in-one.

Source: Jarrod Smith

The tour resumes in Leamington at Erie Shores Friday.