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Caleb Occhino, Natalie Wasik, Andrew Pickhardt, and Elise Brady were crowned BDGA Junior Stroke Play champions last week at Willowbrook Golf Course. 

For Wasik and Brady, it was their second BDGA title of the summer. Occhino and Pickhardt each picked up their first career BDGA wins. 

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BOYS’ JUNIOR (18U) DIVISION

Caleb Occhino, of East Aurora CC, battled back from down four strokes after the first round to claim his first BDGA title. The deficit would’ve been larger had it not been for two important birdies on 16 and 17 to close round one four-over at T9. Dylan Brooks (Transit Valley CC), Padraic Schamberger (Cloverbank CC), and Braden Lee (Transit Valley CC) shared the lead at even par. Occhino had fallen to Lee in the Junior Match Play final earlier this summer.

Occhino started day two with a point to prove. He birdied the first two holes, a par 4 and a par 3. He balanced out two front-nine bogeys with two additional birdies. Occhino birdied the 10th hole and proceeded to take the lead with four straight pars. With four holes left, he birdied two of them to cap off a final round of 67 (five-under) and finishing the tournament at one-under. 

Occhino’s final round was the only round under par in his field and helped him win by three strokes. Brooks took home runner-up and went two-under for the championship. East Aurora CC members Connor Jackson and Cole Jones tied for third place at three over. Ryan Kelly (Tri-County CC) finished in fifth at five-over.

GIRLS’ JUNIOR (18U) DIVISION

Natalie Wasik, of Lockport Town & Country Club, defended her title as Junior Stroke Play champion. On the first day, she was slightly bested by Junior Match Play champion Claire Brady (East Aurora CC) who shot 67 (five-under) while Wasik settled for 68.

Wasik took the tournament lead early on in the second round after she birdied hole 1 while Brady bogeyed hole 3. She extended her lead to two shots with a birdie on 9. Three more birdies on the back nine gave her the lead going into the home stretch. 

Wasik then double-bogeyed the 17th hole with Brady making a birdie as the gap dwindled from five strokes to two. On the final hole of the championship, both players bogeyed and Wasik officially won the tournament at six-under with a final round of 70 (two-under). Brady finished in second at four-over with a final round of 73 (one-over). Isabella Sieracki (NYSGA eClub - Western NY) was the third-place finisher. 

BOYS’ SUB-JUNIOR (14U) DIVISION

Andrew Pickhardt, of NYSGA eClub - Western NY, built a six-shot lead after round one by posting a score of 77 (five-over). He looked to be in the clear after starting his second round with a birdie. Pickhardt then recorded a double, triple, and quadruple bogey on the front-nine but was still ahead by five shots. 

On the back-nine, Jameson Finn (NYSGA eClub - Western NY) charged ahead with two birdies while not squandering worse than bogey. Pickhardt led by two strokes with three holes left but Finn’s second birdie made the lead just one. Pickhardt proceeded to triple bogey the 17th hole and turned a one-shot lead to a one-shot deficit as Finn picked up a bogey. On the 18th hole, a Pickhardt par and bogey from Finn meant both players finished the tournament at 23-over. 

Pickhardt would go onto win the first playoff hole and pick up his first BDGA title with rounds of 77 and 90. Finn (84, 83) was the runnerup. Hudson Prynn (NYSGA eClub - Western NY) finished in third at 25-over. 

GIRLS’ 9-HOLE DIVISION 

Elise Brady, of East Aurora Country Club, was named the Girls’ 9-hole division winner after posting rounds of 43 and 41. Brady took down Nora Boeing to claim her second BDGA win of the summer. She won the BDGA 14U Junior Matchplay Championship earlier this month at Sheridan Park. 

Brady’s older sister, Claire, had won the previous two championships in this division.