2014 HHJGT President's Message

I became President of this wonderful Junior Tour at the start of our 2014 season and I can't begin to tell you how amazing the experience has been thus far.  As a tour player from 1995-1998 and now in my current position, I feel it's a duty of mine to ensure the HHJGT sustains the vision it was built upon and continue to grow for years to come. We enabled some great features over the past two seasons and has now become the foundation to keep our Tour relevant in an ever changing world of technology and trends.

We have built and established a nice web presence that saw 13,305 visits to the site from January 1, 2014 through to November 1, 2014.  4,614 of them were unique or first time visits.  Our hhjgt.com saw 50,638 page views during that time period and the site has seen nearly 100,000 page views since January 1, 2013.  Our Annual Qualifying Day drew 504 visits on tournament day while Tour Stop #2 at Glendale had the highest this season with 510 visits.  With presence on Twitter and Facebook and our live scoring, we continue to deliver results and Tour happenings in real time.  This has been a wonderful addition for all our Tour members, parents, and friends of the HHJGT.

On the golf course this season our talent was shining bright and surpassed many expectations.  Gregg Goddard not only defended his Junior Champion crown but did it in convincing fashion.  His round of 66 at Rattlesnake Point Copperhead was brilliant as he made an 8 footer for par on the final hole to beat Callum Biehn by a single shot. That win came in Tour Stop #6 and was one of two wins on the season en route to becoming our 2014 Junior Champion. 

Our Bantam Division was competitive throughout the season as Marcus Khaw won all four events he played.  However, it was Garnet Delsey that played a complete schedule and amassed enough points to capture the Bantam title over Matthew Flood.  

Alyssa DiMarcantonio whom was our 2013 season breakout story continued to impress in 2014 as she won 5 out of 6 events played.  But even with that dominance Elanna Lachaine-Demarchi was our overall winner with 2 wins over 7 Tour Stops and compiled enough points to move ahead of DiMarcantonio.  Our Board feels participation should be rewarded and this was certainly the case in all three divisions.

The HHJGT kept the streak alive in the Ontario Junior Tours Championship for the Humber Cup as we won our fourth straight Junior Division title.  The HHJGT hosted the event this season at Hidden Lake Golf Club and we sent two junior teams, one bantam team and one girls team. We were well represented and we congratulate all the teams for competing hard during such a competitive event. 

We continue to strive in making our HHJGT experience better for all members.  The Tour made a commitment to new signage.  This gave us some wonderful presence at each venue.  Our Volunteers were available to ensure all Tour policies were being adhered to during the Tour Stops.  Clublink Corporation was very gracious in giving us a full slate of their properties as they wish to continue their involvement in local junior golf.  These upgrades are what we feel is a step in creating a long term relationship with our current Tour members and the new players joining.

I wish to thank Mitchell and Abbott Group on their gracious donation during the season and those anonymous Tour donors we continue to have each year. A special thank you to all our Volunteers and Board Members as without them a strong HHJGT would not exist.  Titleist continues to give us support year after year, in which we're very grateful for.  Clublink donated a package of prizes that we raffled off and was a big hit at our Final Banquet.  Finally, thank you to all our players and the parents that continue to support the HHJGT.  You're all amazing.

On behalf of our Board of DIrectors, I want to wish all our graduating players success in their careers and to those returning for 2015, we can't wait to see you in June.  

 
Sincerely,

Jim Kenesky 
President - Hamilton Halton Junior Golf Tour