By Larry Moko
Colton Cheeseman fired the low score at all four of the scheduled tournaments this season to power his St. Thomas More Knights to the 2024 Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic team golf championship.
The competition, involving players from eight city high schools, concluded at the King’s Forest layout Monday with Cheeseman carding a par 72.
Along with teammates Marco DiFrancesco , Grady Aussem and Jordan Dejussel, Cheeseman punched his ticket to advance to the Oct. 9 Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference final at Piper’s Heath in Milton.
It was the second consecutive city title for the Knights.
Joining the Knights’ foursome at GHAC will be individual qualifiers Jett Metaxas of the Bishop Ryan Celtics (open) and Jackson Palmer of the St. Mary Crusaders (high school).
Other GHAC representatives from the HWCDSB include the Bishop Ryan girls’ team – city champion Sierra Kowalyshyn, Emily Haldenby, Mary Monaghan and Madisyn Riley.
“Everyone tried so hard and did a great job for us this year,” More coach Rebecca Young said. “We had two returning players and two new players. I’m happy and proud of the team.”
Veterans Cheeseman and DiFrancesco are both Grade 10 students.
“I think we’ve improved a lot,” DiFrancesco said of his fellow returnee. “You could tell by our scores.
“Our team had a big lead going into today and we kept going. I didn’t have my best stuff today (83, after previous rounds of 78, 73 and 78) but Colton definitely bailed us out.”
Cheeseman began the high school campaign last month with a 66 at Chedoke.
“I was making some putts that day and my ball striking was good,” Cheeseman said. “We did pretty well at GHAC last year but we can improve this year.”
Said HWCDSB golf convenor Giuseppe Pontillo: “It seems like (Cheeseman) is on a mission to do well at GHAC. He’s playing with more confidence. He’s picking up where he left off last year.”
Cheeseman’s had the second-lowest score at GHAC last year (77) but failed to advance to OFSAA in the open division.
Cheeseman, DiFrancesco and Metaxas all have experience on the Hamilton-Halton Junior Golf Tour. At this summer’s seven-stop event, Cheeseman won twice and finished first in the junior points standing while DiFrancesco ended up 12th out of 38 entrants.
The Hamilton-Halton tour is for competitive golfers age 10-18.
“I won bantam last year and again as a first-year junior this year,” Cheeseman said. “It’s pretty cool to go back to back.”
Metaxas, also a Grade 10 student, shot a final- round 74 Monday to advance as the best non-member-of-the-winning-team in the open category. Excluding Cheeseman, he was the only player to have four rounds in the 70s. Last year, Metaxas earned top high school honours at GHAC with a 79 and participated in the OFSAA tournament.
Palmer carded a final-round 76 Monday to finish fifth overall. His three-round 235 total was low among high school entrants.
St. Mary came second overall in team points, while Bishop Ryan placed third.
The OFSAA boys’ golf championship tournament is scheduled for Oct. 16-17 at Hollinger Golf Club in Timmins. On the same dates, the OFSAA girls’ golf festival takes place at the Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym RFB Sport Photography
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