Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Tuesday, July 01, 2008
13-year-old tees it up with older boys, wins
 William Leaf, winner of the boys 16-18 age group, watches his ball dip in and back out of the hole Monday at Cedar Valley Golf Course in Winona during the Winona Area Junior Golf Tournament. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
Every year, William Leaf gets a little better, but every year, he’s still just a little guy.
Leaf is 13 years old, yet he won the boys 16-18 age bracket of the 11th Annual Winona Area Junior Golf Championship.
Leaf carded a 115 over 27 holes at Cedar Valley Golf Course, beating out Justin Ewert (119) and Matt Beyerstedt (119), who are both 17.
“We’re used to it,” said Ewert, who is Leaf’s teammate on the Winona High golf team.
Leaf, who golfed up an age group last year and took second in the 14-15 bracket, played the humble card very well after Monday’s tournament.
“I don’t beat them all the time,” he said. “I just hit the irons really well today.”
Ewert and Beyerstedt were tied after 27 holes and needed a playoff to determine second place — Ewert got a par on the first playoff hole, the 10th,to edge Beyerstedt.
There were two other playoffs on the day.
One was for first place in the boys 14-15 bracket between Cordie Walker, Frank Wychgram and Cory Strom, who all finished with 81s over 18 holes.
Walker came away the winner, while Wychgram took second. The three needed just one playoff hole, taking a 4, 5 and 6.
The other playoff was for second place at the 9-and-under bracket. Matt Turner, who is 7, won with a 34 over nine holes, while Thomas Hennessy beat out Nick Hansen for second place with a par on the first playoff hole.
On the girls side, the battle for first place in the 15-18 bracket was between three future college golfers.
Becker, Minn., native Cassandra Johanns came away the winner with an 85.
Onalaska’s Emily Swift, who won last year’s tournament, took second with an 88, while Windom, Minn., native Casey Christensen scored an 89 to tie for third with Ashley Jackson.
Both Johanns and Christensen will be playing golf at Winona State next season, while Swift will golf for UW-Eau Claire.
Johanns, who went to state and took third in the Mississippi Eight Conference tournament last spring, never played Cedar Valley before Monday, but figured she’d be in for a good round after she birdied the first hole.
“I had a good front nine,” she said of her 38 on the front, “but on the back nine I couldn’t putt.”
Johanns wasn’t a big fan of Cedar Valley’s narrow fairways, despite her drive being the best part of her game — kind of.
“When my drive is on, it’s pretty strong,” she said, “but it just comes and goes.”
Justine Schultz won the 9-and-under bracket with a 43. Maria Appicelli (54) and Jenny Stageberg (57) came in second and third.
Stewartville’s Blair Honsey won the 12-14 bracket with a 42. Lewiston’s Kaitlyn Hennessy was second (46) and Caledonia’s Jennifer El was third (48).
Mackayla Olsen won the 10-11 bracket with a 38.
Rounding out the boys winners, Winona’s Sam Streukens won the 10-12 bracket (47), Drew Fakler was second (48) and Lewiston’s Alex Lindeman was third (52).
“It’s been his goal all year to break 50,” tournament director Pete Kuklinski said. “And he did it today with a 47 and won by one stroke.”
Onalaska’s Joel Preeshl won the 13-year-old bracket with an 85. Winona’s Logan Ellinghuysen was second (89) and Daniel Becker (90) was third.
All stories copyright 2000 - 2006 Winona Daily News and other attributed sources.