Magog, Que —Henry Dao and Léonie Tavares won their respective divisions to claim the NextGen Quebec Championship, fueled by JOURNIE Rewards at the Club de golf Venise in Magog, Que.
The 54-hole stroke play competition marked the fifth tournament in the NextGen Championships and featured a starting field of 140 male and female golfers.
Dao from Laprairie, Que., shot a final round 73 to finish atop of the leaderboard after maintaining the lead throughout the tournament to secure the NextGen Quebec Championship and a spot in the Canadian Junior Boys Championship.
“First off, I always drive well so that really helped me. I always had inside foot wedges to attack the pin and I did that well and sunk my putts. I needed to putt well and that’s been my weakness, but it has been better this week which really helped me.” Said Dao.
After opening the tournament with 4-under, 68, Dao maintained his lead shooting a 5-under, 67 on Wednesday and finished the tournament at 8-under to secure his win. “This is really a confidence booster, I’ve kind of been in the slumps and not playing my best but I’ve been working with my new coach and it’s been working really well. This is a really good result for me and my family who encourage me,” Dao added.
Tavares from St-Jerome, Que., finished round three shooting a 4-under 68 to hold off Carlee Meilleur to secure her win by one stroke.
Tavares opened the final round tied for fourth and made her way back up the leaderboard to make a come back to earn the NextGen Quebec Championship. “This means a lot to me because I worked a lot for this tournament. This weekend was really tough for me because I worked a lot of hours and I wanted to have a great tournament and play under par and it worked and I’m very happy,” Tavares said.
Tavares added “I’m going to work on my short game so my putting can be more precise and my irons are going to be better. I practiced this morning and it was great, so was my third round.”
In the Junior Boys division, the top eight players earn exemptions into the 2023 Canadian Junior Boys Championship, August 14-17, at North Bay Golf and Country Club Ltd. in North Bay, Ont.
| 1 | Henry Dao (Laprairie, Que.) |
| T2 | Nicholas Girard (Boucherville, Que.) |
| T2 | Thomas Lemay (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) |
| T4 | Chase Jerome (Ottawa, Que.) |
| T4 | Lucas Cardozo (Blainvillier, Que.) |
| T6 | Carter O’Brien (Spencerville Ont.) |
| T6 | Thomas Grenier (Theftford Mines, Que.) |
| T6 | Nicholas Colton (Bathust, NB.) |
The top eight players in the Junior Girls division have earned exemptions into the 2023 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, July 24-27, at Hampton Golf Course in Hampton, N.B.
| 1 | Léonie Tavares(St-Jerome, Que.) |
| 2 | Carlee Meilleur (Lansdowne, Ont.) |
| 3 | Keira Hou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) |
| 4 | Anne-Sophie Bourgaukt (Gatineau, Que.) |
| T5 | Justine Emond (St-Jerome, Que.) |
| T5 | Mackenzie Cloutier (Mirabel, Que.) |
| 7 | Clara Ding (White Rock, BC) |
| 8 | Sadie Wu (Toronto, Ont.) |
The next stop in NextGen Championships, fueled by JOURNIE Rewards will be at the Avondale Golf Club in Charlottetown, P.E.I., for the NextGen Atlantic Championship from July 17-20. For the full results of the NextGen Quebec Championship click here.
About the NextGen Championships, fueled by JOURNIE Rewards
The NextGen Championships, fueled by JOURNIE Rewards is a high-performance junior golf series which totals eight competitions. From May to July, six championships will take place across Canada where the region’s best junior golfers will compete to earn exemptions into their respective 2023 national championships. Two additional Fall Series events will be hosted to close the season. NextGen Championships provide junior players an opportunity to develop and showcase their skills at the highest level of tournament golf.