EAST AURORA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Despite the weather, the 70th International Junior Masters went as smoothly as expected.
The tournament began with 74 boy golfers and eight girls. Friday afternoon was the final round of match play. For the boys, the format consisted of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze for those who didn't qualify for the Championship flight.
WINNERS:
Championship Flight: Harry Takis
Platinum: Tyler Berkman
Gold: Mataeo Payan
Silver: Lundon Hadley
Bronze: R.J. Delisanti
Girl's Flight: Menglu Zhu
The main event that every golfer hopes to reach is the Championship flight. The girls only have one championship flight on the final day.
"Match play is totally different than medal play," said director Jeff Kamien.
This year's 2023 Boys Division Champion is Harry Takis from Australia. The first Australian to win the tournament.
"I won the Singapore Junior last year but haven't quite won in America until this week," said Takis.
Niagara Wheatfield's R.J. Delisanti didn't leave empty-handed. After competing in the IJM three times, the 17-year-old won the Bronze flight. Delisanti was the only golfer from Western New York still playing in the final rounds.
"So, next year, we're hoping to get into the Championship flight, compete a little bit more. It was a lot of fun," said Delisanti.
In this girl's division, Menglu Zhu, originally from China, was crowned this year's champion. She came back to defeat the No. 1 seed, Alexa Phung.
"I had a really positive attitude to keep me going. I just found the momentum on the back nine," said Zhu. I'm grateful to have the win."
