Lauren Zaretsky captures Ontario Junior Girls Spring Classic
Brantford, ON – While the rain held off for the final round of competition at the Walter Gretzky Municipal Golf Course, players endured 18-holes of humidity and excessive heat in the battle for their name on the W.D. Randolph Millage Trophy. In the early 90s, Randy Millage started the Junior Spring Classic events to showcase the best players in Ontario. Initially an invitation only event taking the top 40 boys’ and top 20 girls in the previous year’s Order of Merit, the Spring Classic gave them an opportunity to get a jump on the competition south of the border.
Maintaining the lead through afternoon temperatures near 31 degrees and a humidex of 40, the low round score of the day and champion of the 2021 Ontario Junior (U19) Girls’ Spring Classic is Lauren Zaretsky (Ladies’ GC of Toronto/ Maple Downs G&CC). With a final score of 7-under (209), Zaretsky played skillfully to put her 10-strokes ahead of silver finalist, Alessandra Nagayo (Public Player). Climbing twelve positions in round two, Nagayo had another good showing of 72 to push her ahead of Ashley Lafontaine (Royal Ottawa GC). In round one, Lafontaine teed off in less than 24-hours following her runner-up win of the 2021 Ontario Women’s Match Play Championship, and was able to climb the leaderboard to capture bronze.
During her award speech, Zaretsky respectfully dedicated the win to her grandparents. “I’d like to dedicate this win to my grandparents, especially my grandfather who is fighting cancer. He is my biggest supporter and motivator to keep working hard and to never give up without a fight.” After three rounds of competition, Zaretsky felt that “the course was in great shape. It was a little windy the second day, but overall, loved the course. My game was in good shape, as I was driving the ball well and putting good besides a few short game errors. I wasn’t really paying attention to the lead, I was just really in the moment to finish well.”
With the modified championship schedule, an Ontario Juvenile (U17) Girls’ Champion was awarded in addition. Michelle Xing finished the tournament with a score of 222, to land her the 2021 Ontario Juvenile Girls’ Champion title. Low rounds of the three qualifier events, Shaunna Liu (Station Creek GC), Zhana Navato-Brethour (Weston G&CC), and Joline Truong (Trafalgar G&CC), were also recognized.
Golf Ontario would like to thank the players, staff, and volunteers for their support of the Ontario Junior (U19) Girls’ Spring Classic Championship. To Walter Gretzky Municipal Golf Course, City of Brantford, Jeff Moore (Business Manager of Golf Operations), and all their hard-working staff, thank you for being gracious hosts on such a well-conditioned course. A big thank you to the volunteers, as you are extremely valuable and we appreciate the time you take out of your week to assist. Lastly, a huge thank you to our sponsors and partners; Adidas, Taylor Made, Golf Talk Canada, Play Golf Myrtle Beach, Humber College, HUB International, BioSteel, Golf Genius, Modern Golf, Dormie, Durham Artificial Grass, Foresight Sports Canada, Baka, Nikon, Solo Golf, and Sport Travel. We are grateful for your continued support.
To view the leaderboards from the 2021 Ontario Junior (U19) Girls’ Spring Classic Championship, visit our Golf Genius page. For media coverage, please visit the Golf Ontario Facebook page to view our photo albums.
