Tyson Tour Crowns 2024 Champs

by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com
Photos: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com
Above Photo (L-R) Logan Woodiwiss, Avyanna Lai, Cole Grant, Ben Grant

The Junior Tyson Tour (est. 1968) – Canada’s oldest junior golf tour – ended its 2024 season today with the Sunningdale Golf and Country Club-hosted Tour Invitational, and it didn’t disappoint with some familiar faces topping the leaderboard.

Taking top honours as overall champion and Junior Boys champ was Strathroy’s Logan Woodiwiss, also the winner at this season’s Thames Valley Golf Club stop (the first round of the two-round Les Thomas Memorial Tournament), and at the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club and West Haven Golf and Country Club tourneys.

Woodiwiss, who turns 17 next week, and another Tyson Tour standout, Ben Hudson, 17, (read his story here) both work with golf coach Mitch Sutton, who captured back-to-back Canadian Junior Boys golf championships in 2008 and ’09. Both are all-around athletes who have set goals of playing professional golf.

“I set my expectations high,” Woodiwiss explained, “and I work hard to achieve them. Competing against Ben and pushing each other definitely makes both of us better golfers. We always want to beat each other, and it’s fun having friendly competition.”

Two Mooretown brothers – Juvenile Boys division winner Ben Grant, and Bantam Boys winner Cole Grant – collected their hardware together today at Sunningdale. Ben won the Tarandowah Golfers Club tourney and was in contention all season long, while Cole won at Highland CC, Sarnia G&CC (where he was the overall tournament champ at even par), and Fanshawe GC (where he won the Les Thomas Bantam title).

Both brothers play hockey and, like Hudson, only took up golf a few years ago. Rookie Tyson Tour competitors, both said they like the “competitiveness” and “intensity” of tournament golf. With a taste of Tyson Tour golf, both said they can’t wait for the 2025 season to begin. And, they’re both now considering golf scholarships to help pay for their post-secondary school education.

Ben Grant hits his an approach shot today at Sunningdale G&CC

Girls division champ Avyanna Lai, 10, of St. Thomas Golf and Country Club claimed her impressive sixth tournament of the season today. Her only runner-up finish came at Sarnia where this season’s runner up Avalina Flick, 12, of Highland captured the second of her two wins this year. Lai’s older sister, Andrea, won back-to-back Tyson Tour Girls title in 2022 and ’23. Today, she finished 13th at the Ontario Juvenile U17 Girls Championship.

Flick, who works with retired long-time Highland head golf pro Mike Silver, said along with the great friendship enjoyed with Lai comes incredible competitiveness. “We do push each other, although it depends on the day, and on the course we’re playing. We really want to win!” said Flick, who recently captured Highland’s women’s club championship.

Both girls said another season of Junior Tyson Tour golf with just a handful of girls competing can be attested to three things: many young female athletes would rather play team sports; some are afraid to try tournament golf; and girls’ sports don’t get as much attention as boys’ sports.

Attracting girls to the tour in ’25 is one of many goals which the tour committee is eyeing. This was a transitional year for the Tyson Tour, with a comprehensive website launched including tournament scoreboards and a social media presence. LondonOntarioGolf.com provided media coverage and photography – visit our social media platforms (see bottom right of page) for photos from this year’s tournaments.

Special shout out to long-time Sunningdale head golf pro Jason Wyatt and his team for hosting a highly-successful event today, and to the entire Tyson Tour committee for upping its game in ’24.

Promoting the tour during the off-season will be important to its growth. Watch LondonOntarioGolf.com’s 2024 Junior Tyson Tour Year in Review, posted in mid-September.

For the complete leaderboard from today’s Invitational Championship, visit juniortysontour.com.

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Award-winning print and broadcast journalist Jeffrey Reed has covered sports in Southwestern Ontario since 1980. Reach him at jeff@londonontariogolf.com.