Photo (L-R): Girls champion Andrea Lai, overall co-champ Owen Henry, ovreall co-champ John Orlebar, Bantam champ Grayson Carter

Reed On The Greens, by Jeffrey Reed
August 31, 2022

As far as the calendar goes, 2022 was not a milestone year for the 1968-established Junior Tyson Tour, Canada’s oldest, continuous loop for junior golfers. But the tour’s 53rd campaign was certainly its most important, coming off a two-year absence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sad thing is, scores of youngsters missed out on the final two years of their Tyson Tour eligibility, thanks to the two-year absence. With too many questions surrounding the pandemic and protocol requirements too demanding for tournament organizers, the Tyson Tour committee, headed by City of London municipal golf director Steve Bennett, took the safe route and cancelled the 2020 and ’21 seasons.

“When we cancelled our 2020 schedule – the first time the Tour was forced to postpone a season – none of us predicted that we would again have to cancel the entire season in 2021,” said Bennett. “But with so much uncertainty having surrounding the presence of COVID-19 variants in 2021, the Junior Tyson Tour committee continued to operate – as it does today – in the best interest of our junior golfers and all of our partners, including local golf clubs, volunteers and sponsors.”

Overall co-champs (L-R) John Orlebar and Owen Henry.

But the Tyson Tour roared back – albeit under a truncated schedule – this summer, and ended on a high note at the August 24 season-ending Sunningdale Tour Championship.

In the spirit of the game, Bennett ruled that instead of playing extra holes in order to break a tie for the Junior and overall championship, he would present the title to both John Orlebar, who captured the Juvenile championship in 2019, and Owen Henry.

Both finished with a season total of 154 points after the championship round. Henry posted a 77 at Sunningdale, while Orlebar shot 79. Joey Parkhill also posted a 77 and finished alone in third spot overall at 153.5 points, just a half point behind the two winners.

The low round of the day came from fourth-place finisher Cohen Belore, who shot 73.

Grayson Carter won the Bantam title. Girls division champ Andrea Lai led wire-to-wire in points this season and captured the championship at Sunningdale with a round of 81. She recently captured the Ontario Girls Peewee championship.

“There were fewer events this year, so there was more of an opportunity for a tie,” Bennett said of the deadlock for top spot following the Sunningdale round. “I made the decision to award the overall championship to both of the competitors, in the spirit of the game.”

This year, from July 11 to August 15, the tour offered just five regular-season tournaments – at West Haven G&CC, Highland CC, Fanshawe GC, St. Thomas G&CC and Thames Valley GC.

Each of the regular stops was limited to a total field of 72 golfers – there was full enrollment this year. All six events, including the Tour Championship, offered a format of regular tee times. The five regular-season tournaments allowed for: 20 Bantam Boys (ages 10-13); 25 Juvenile Boys (ages 14-16); 15 Junior Boys (ages 17-18); and 12 Girls Division golfers (ages 12-18). When any of the divisions were not full for any of the regular stops, then that allowed for extra openings in the other divisions during those individual events.

There were are eight girls and 64 boys (28 Bantam, 21 Juvenile and 15 Junior) enrolled this year.

The junior golfers saw their best three-of-five tournament scores and points count towards the march to the Tour Championship. That season-ending event was to include 21 golfers total: the top six boys in each division; and the top three girls.

Girls champ Andrea Lai

But this year, there was no winner declared in the Juvenile division. After the five regular-season stops, the top two golfers – Cameron Wanlin and Lucas Rogers – opted to golf at competing events. Wanlin finished T29 at Golf Ontario’s U17 Championship at Smugglers Glen GC, while Rogers captured the boys’ 14-15 division at the Southwestern Ontario Optimist district golf tournament at Erie Shores G&CC.

There was also a scoring discrepancy as Colin Wright (82), Hector Zarate (82) and Gabriel Alexi Turno (92) finished at the 18th green at Sunningdale. Thus, Bennett decided to not award a bursary prize to a Juvenile finisher this year.

“There was an issue with scoring, followed by a discussion amongst the three golfers,” Bennett explained. “And with the top two golfers following our five regular-season events not in the field, I then decided to not award the Juvenile bursary.

“These youngsters have many more years ahead of them in golf, and they must learn about the integrity of the game,” Bennett continued. “They must learn how to score. I was not going to award a bursary with that conflict after their round. Integrity is what makes the Tyson Tour what it is.”

Bennett made the right call, but it was a troubling one for him as he thought about how Juveniles golfing in 2019 lost out on their final Tyson Tour eligibility in 2020 and ’21. Said Bennett, “Those golfers ages 15 and 16 in 2019 played themselves right out of it during the pandemic. Over three years, we have lost a generation.”

In 1968, former London Free Press sports writer, Bev Tyrrell, established the Junior Tyson Tour which borrows its name from the Ty in Tyrrell, and the son part from his twin boys, Tim and Tom. For more than half a century, the Junior Tyson Tour has provided junior golfers in Southwestern Ontario with an opportunity to compete in a tournament setting, while learning life’s lessons through golf. It’s the oldest tour in Canada with organized competitive golf for kids, and includes amongst its past winners 2003 Masters Tournament champion Mike Weir.

The annual Les Thomas Memorial Tournament, this year held August 15 at Thames Valley Golf Club, was reduced to one day instead of the traditional two-day event at the City of London’s Thames Valley and Fanshawe golf clubs. First staged in 1981, the tourney is named in honour of the former Golf Ontario director and commissioner of London’s Public Utilities Commission in the 1970s. Thomas was a big backer of junior golf in London and area. Weir captured the event – when it was a match-play tournament – in 1986 and ’87.

Steve Bennett with the 2020 London Ontario Golf Heart Award

Henry captured this year’s Les Thomas event at Thames Valley – only fitting, said Bennett, since the youngster also recorded the low score at the tour’s Fanshawe stop two weeks earlier.

Bennett, the 2020 London Ontario Golf Heart Award winner who will retire from his local muni golf post after this season, said Mother Nature cooperated this Tyson Tour season, but added he hopes Lady Luck shines on Canada’s oldest, continuous golf tour moving forward.

“Overall tour attendance is down,” said Bennett during his annual post-season address. “Kids have so many other things going on today. And with parents back to regular schedules and back in the office, it has made for a difficult time. Plus, times are different – no longer do all of the kids stick around after each event to grab a bite to eat, maybe practice their putting and attend the trophy presentations.

“It’s also getting tougher to secure golf courses for our tournaments,” Bennett explained. “I want to remain optimistic, but will there even be a Tyson Tour in the near future? I certainly hope so. There were some good signs – lots of Bantam and Juvenile competitors. We’ll work to get more into the system in 2023. And we’ll consider holding events at smaller golf course operations where there isn’t necessarily a PGA of Canada professional on staff (a standard the Tyson Tour has always worked hard to include).”

Bennett estimated that overall, play at Southwestern Ontario public and semi-private golf courses is down 10 to 15 per cent this season, now that COVID restrictions have loosened significantly. But with golf’s resurgence over the past two years, it is still in a very healthy state.

But just as the local golf industry cannot afford to be complacent, the Junior Tyson Tour, too, must be proactive as it looks to the future. Bennett will continue his search for a successor to hold the reigns as Tyson Tour convenor. West Haven’s Scott Loosley was to have transitioned into the role this season, but Bennett said that did not come to fruition.

“We’re still in a good place, but we have a lot of work to do in order to prepare for an even stronger 2023,” Bennett said. “The Tour has awarded more than $100,000 in bursaries, including bursaries from Canada Life in 2019, and most recently support from the Golf and Club Management Program at Fanshawe College in London.

“We’ll build on that as we bolster enrollment and continue to build relationships with local golf courses. After 53 seasons, the future looks bright.”

–30–

Award-winning journalist Jeffrey Reed has covered the golf scene in Southwestern Ontario since 1980. He’s the author of, The Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, Celebrating 100 Years of Seniors Golf 1918-2018. Reach him at jeff@londonontariosports.com.