The final round of the Triple A Championship gave us one of the best weeks of junior golf we’ve seen. In the boys’ category, ten players went under par and fought for the trophy right to the end. In the girls’ category, the defending champion won again.
When the last putts dropped on Day 3, two names were at the top. One was a champion who did it again. The other was a JFGA student athlete whose first Triple A title had been a long time coming.
Ten players under par, one winner
The boys’ category had a field so strong that the scoreboard alone tells most of the story. All of the top ten finished under par. We can’t remember a Triple A with a leaderboard this deep, and with so many players going low, nobody could afford a mistake.
Ewan Widor kept his head. He opened with a 66 to make his intentions clear. He followed it with a 68, and with the chasing pack still within reach he closed with a 69. That’s a 13-under-par total of 203, and he was never seriously threatened over the three days.
Ewan is no stranger to WAGR-ranked events, but this is his first Triple A win. It didn’t happen by accident. For months he has worked on his strength, his consistency and his performance under pressure. This week he showed what that work has produced.
At JFGA we say “Athlete first, golfer second.” Ewan’s patience and discipline this week were exactly what we mean by that.
Poynton does it again
Winning a Triple A competition is hard. Winning two in a row is much harder. Ashling Poynton has now done it.
She opened with a level-par 72 to settle in, then shot a 70 to go 2 under and move clear. In the final round, with the title at stake, she shot a 67. That gave her a 7-under-par total of 209 and her second straight title.
Ashling had to earn it. Maria Khristenko finished second and was consistent all week, with rounds of 72, 73 and 71 for a level-par total of 216.
A future JFGA star arrives
The other big story in the girls’ event was Larissa Lang, future student at JFGA. She came through to finish third with rounds of 75, 79 and 73. Her final-day 73 was a strong response after a hard second round.
We’re excited to see what Larissa does next.
Congratulations
Well done to everyone who played. Watching these young athletes play was a pleasure. Congratulations to Ewan and Ashling, and to every player who left something on the course this week.