SFU golfer and Kelowna native John Mlikotic didn’t get off to the start he wanted in the final round of the NCAA Super Regional Tournament in Austin, Texas last week.
A double-bogey on the opening hole of the final round of the regionals seemed put Mlikotic and his team even further out of contention as it was vying for one of six team spots in the NCAA championship tournament.
But the third year SFU golfer and Immaculata High School graduate put the double behind him and started rolling en route to what he called the best round of his life.
Mlikotic birdied six of his final 12 holes to card a 68.
It was the best round of any golfer throughout the entire tournament and keyed an SFU team comeback that saw them pass the sixth place team heading into the final round and grab the final spot in the NCAA Championships. It’s SFU’s first appearance in the NCAA Championships in just its second year of eligibility.
“It was good to finish strong, I went out on the first hole and double bogeyed,” said Mlikotic. “I was a little discouraged but I stayed focused and took one shot at a time. I was able to stay bogey free after the first hole. I was able to make a couple birdies on seven and eight and then to cap it off with a 20 foot putt from the fringe for birdie was great. I’d say it was the best round of my life.”
The NCAA Championships take place May 26 through May 28, when 30 teams and an additional six student athletes tee-it-up at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas, for the team and individual championship honors.
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Central Okanagan teams swept the top three places at the Okanagan Valley AAA high school golf championships Monday at the Penticton Golf and Country Club.
The KSS Owls A squad took first overall with a 307 score, KSS B was second at 321, while the Mt. Boucherie Bears took third at 330.
KSS and Mt. Boucherie will both be representing the Okanagan at the B.C. high school golf championships from May 26 to 28 in Squamish.
The top individual results were:
• 1st—Jack Gilchrist, KSS 71
• 2nd—McKenna Lesiuk, KSS 74 (and top female of the tournament)
• 3rd Nick Jones, KSS 75
Closest to the pin contest:
Nick Corman, OKM
McKenna Lesiuk, KSS
Jack Gilchrist, KSS
Longest Drive:
McKenna Lesiuk , KSS
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The Okanagan Humane Society is hosting a golf tournament at Sunset Ranch on June 6, raising money to help low income families afford to spay or neuter their pets.
Last year the society received over 900 applications for spay/neuter financial assistance from low income families and were able to help 771 of those families. As of the end of April of this year the group had already received over 300 applications.
The golf tournament is a major fundraiser that helps the society control the pet population.
The society has no shelter or staff but still manages to adopt out in excess of 170 kittens and cats every year. The cats and kittens are fostered in homes, mostly at the society’s own expense. More often than not these unaltered pets produce more kittens than homes are available for, therefore they become the basis of new colonies of unwanted and forgotten felines.
The group hopes to raise enough money with the golf tournament to help 100 low income families spay/neuter their pets and are asking people to sign up to help them reach their goal. Sign up for the Texas Scramble at Sunset Ranch on June 6 at 1 p.m. (registration is at noon) to help lower the pet overpopulation today.
Entry forms are available at all Total Pet Stores or online at www.okanaganhumanesociety.ca.
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Salmon Arm’s Jesse Crowe fired a 69 on the Okangan Golf Club’s Quail Course on Tuesday May 6, winning the second event in the Interior PGA tour this year, a pro-am at the Quail.
Crowe cashed a $1,000 cheque for his first place showing, one better than Brian McDonald of Fairview and three bettern than five players who finished T-3 including Job Kadin (Gallagher’s), Dean Claggett (Two Eagles), Miles Palahniuk (Sunset Ranch) Ian Henson (Tobiano) and Jamie Stevens (Kelowna Golf and Country Club).
The next event on the IPGA tour is June 9 at Gallagher’s Canyon.
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The Okanagan Golf Club’s Molson/Granville Island Tour is two weeks into its season and the recreational golf tour has seen its fair share of low rounds and great shots interspersed with double-bogeys and the dreaded other.
Here are the top 10 point standings after the week 1:
Brian Ritchat
Kelly Quist
Dale Olson
Mark Revie
Dustin Andrusiak
Doug Janzen
Monte Lough
Logan Lampert
Jonathan Shewchuk
Scott Hiller
