Picton’ s Cameron Pero came out of the gates hot and never looked back as he ran away with the recent Next Gen East Golf Canada Junior event recently held at Hollinger Country Club in Timmins Ontario.
Braving difficult conditions that increased the difficulty of an already difficult course, Pero was able to pull away with a first round score of 70 followed with a pair of 72’s that gave him a final score of +1, three strokes ahead of his nearest competitor.
This Next Gen event is considered one of the Top Five Junior events in Canada and attracted some quality players including a number of Team Ontario and Team Canada junior players that composed the field of 65 golfers.
Reports from the event spoke of the difficulty of the conditions and the course itself being very challenging with numerous elevated tees and blind shots that challenged this very talented field and took a number of golfers out of their comfort zones.
In his closing remarks after the victory Pero said that he was“ physically and emotionally drained”, which spoke volumes of the level of composure he was able to maintain throughout this challenging event.
Pero has had an up and down summer with strong rounds mixed in with some disappointing results where he played well but his play did not translate to the scorecard due to small errors or bad luck.
Recent NCAA scholarship interest in Pero clearly has made a difference in his confidence level as was demonstrated with this terrific result. Reports from the course were that Pero was solid throughout and was very efficient on the green which traditionally has been the kink in his armour of skills.
Always known as a long and accurate hitter, Pero was able to limit himself to only one missed putt inside 5 feet which led to him going so low in this very talented field.
Another local standout Kendrick Webster of the Black Bear Golf Club finished tied for 52nd. Webster has had a good summer and played well but struggled at this particular event, as did a number of the top players in Eastern Canada.
Congrats to Cameron and best of luck to both Cameron and Kendrick as they close out the junior golf season with a couple of key Golf Canada events in October.