Eastern Michigan Athletics
Ross Leads the Way at Ontario Amateur
7/11/2007 4:52:03 PM | Men's Golf
Hill, Ross, McCauley and Burke qualify for prestigious event
(The Golf Association of Ontario contributed to this story)
ESSEX, Onatrio -- Eastern Michigan University junior golfer Christopher Ross (Dundas, Ontario-Parkside) leads the way after an opening round 64 at the 2007 Investors Group Ontario Amateur at Sutton Creek Golf and Country Club. Ross, who teed off in the unfavorable afternoon draw fired seven birdies and one eagle on his way to a seven under par round of 64, matching the course record set Bob Panasik back in 1997. Ross’ round this afternoon was an unbelievable feat under the conditions he faced.
Other EMU golfers in the field include senior Graham Hill (Brights Grove, Ontario-Northern Collegiate (Indiana (Pa.)), junior Adam McCauley (Oakville, Ontario-T.A. Blakelocke (Univ. of Toronto)) and sophomore Cam Burke (Baden, Ontario-Waterloo Secondary).
The story of the afternoon draw was the wind which kept the majority of the field at bay. The wind was very strong all afternoon, which greatly affected the ball flight of all players. Matt Hill of Bright’s Grove was the only player other than Ross to break par in the afternoon with a three under 68.
The morning draw, which was played under much better conditions, featured a number of players under par. Among those players was the local favorite David Byrne of Essex who fired a four under par 67 to sit in sole possession of second place. The morning also featured Matt Hoffman of Thornhill who sits tied with Hill in third at three under par and MacKenzie Hughes of Dundas who sits in fifth at two under par.
Ross who was the runner up at the 2007 Men’s Match Play Championship earlier this summer at Lake Joseph Club in Port Carling, Ontario. In fact it was Byrne who beat Ross in the finals of the event but now trails Ross by three strokes going into round two tomorrow of this event.
The round two morning draw will begin Wednesday morning at 7:30am with Ross and Hill teeing off at 8:20am. The afternoon draw will begin at 12:30pm with Byrne teeing off at 1:30pm, Hoffman teeing off at 1:40pm and Hughes teeing off at 1:30pm.
The Investors Group Ontario Amateur Championship is restricted to GAO members only carrying an 8.4 handicap factor of less. With more than 700 entries, the final field will be paired down to 156 all seeking the top prize for Ontario’s amateur golfers. Qualifying for the Ontario Amateur took place May 28, June 4 and June 6 hosted by twelve venues across the province.
