AGA Junior Tournament of Champions goes to Ostroski, Powell

  The AGA/GAP Lawler Junior Tour Series — Tournament of Champions is a two-day, 36-hole stroke play event. Winners of a Lawler Junior Tour Series event, in addition to those who ranked high in scoring average/finish, make up the field. The event started in 1999.

Boys’ Division
  After jumpstarting his final round with an eagle, Irem Country Club’s Brett Ostroski claimed the AGA/GAP Lawler Junior Tour Series — Tournament of Champions after rounds of 71 and 74 at Fox Hill Country Club (par 71, 6,136 yards) and Huntsville Golf Club (par 72, 6,130 yards), respectively.

  Ostroski stuffed a 7-iron from 185 yards to 15 feet to make a 3 on No. 1 (par 5, 453 yards). The first-round leader, Shane Angle, carded a triple bogey on the same hole so Ostroski quickly found himself back in contention.

  But then Ostroski gave back the eagle with a double bogey on No. 4 (par 4, 320 yards) after finding the greenside bunker with his pitching wedge from 142 yards. He went on to three-putt.

  “Making a double on one of the shorter holes definitely woke me up,” said Ostroski, 16, of Shavertown, Pa. “After that, I was just focusing on making pars.”

  He made 13 consecutive pars to win the event by two shots. Ostroski won an AGA/GAP Lawler Junior Tour Series event at Irem on June 19 with a 73, gaining him entry into the event.

  “It’s pretty cool to win the Junior Tournament of Champions,” said Ostroski, an incoming junior at Dallas High School. “My fellow clubmate at Irem, Logan Paczewski, won the tournament last year so it is nice to be able to keep the trophy at the club. Since he will be my teammate at Dallas High School this fall, it’s really neat.”

Girls’ Division
  At age 12, Gwendolyn Powell became the youngest winner in the history of the event’s Girls’ Division. She carded a pair of 83s at Fox Hill (par 71, 5,587 yards) and Huntsville (par 71, 4,831 yards) for a three-stroke victory over defending champion Jessica Mcclellan of Freeland, Pa.

  “It feels awesome,” Powell, of Madison Township, Pa., said. “I felt like playing it safe on the last hole because I knew that I was winning [at that point]. My drive was a little right, so I played it safe into the fairway and didn’t play any crazy shots.” Powell carded a double bogey on No. 18.

  During the final round at Huntsville, Powell, an incoming seventh grader at North Pocono Middle School, came close to her first career ace. She stopped a 7-iron inches from the No. 15 (par 3, 139 yards) jar. Powell’s win marked another steppingstone in a successful summer. She carded her lowest round ever, a 77 at Bucknell Golf Club, earlier this year.

  Aside from golf, Powell’s interests include cross country, track, piano, violin and dance.

Anthracite Golf Association
The Anthracite Golf Association merged with the Golf Association of Philadelphia in 2018. Anthracite, an organization founded in 1951, promotes golf in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region. At the height of its growth, Anthracite included 46 Member Clubs in 18 counties.

Golf Association of Philadelphia
Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The Association’s 260 Full Member Clubs and 75,000 individual members are spread across Eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.