Junior Tyson Tour
by Tiffany Trownson

Whether the youngsters competing on the Junior Tyson Tour win or lose, the Tour offers a great learning experience within a competitive arena.

While some of the most recognizable names in Canadian golf, including Mike Weir and Matt Hill, have played on the Tour, it’s also responsible for developing a current crop of young females who appear ready to elevate their games.

Woodstock’s Dachelle Frey finished 18th in the girls’ division in 2007, 19th in 2008 and 11th in 2009. Frey also won the 2009 Les Thomas Memorial Tournament. She shot 265 over three rounds, defeating overall point champion Danielle Szela by 17 strokes in that tournament. The 18-year-old parlayed her Tyson Tour experience into high school success. Frey participated in three Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association championships and faced some of the same competition she did on the London-based Tyson Tour.

"(The Tyson Tour) does give us a lot of experience," she told the Woodstock Sentinel-Review. "If you play well or you don’t play well, you’re at least learning something."

Seaforth’s Robin Doig won the overall girls’ Tyson Tour championship in 2008. That same year she finished seventh at OFSAA. She was fourth in 2009 and ended the 2010 provincial high school championship in a three-way tie for first.

Both Frey and Doig will undoubtedly accept golf scholarships in the near future, and both can say their careers started on the Tyson Tour.

"The tour is a place people can learn to play, get tournament experience and enhance their competitive spirit,” Tyson Tour organizer Andy Shaw said.

The Junior Tyson Tour has been a staple in London, Ontario since it began in 1968. Created by London Free Press reporter Bev Tyrell, the name Tyson is derived from Tyrell's last name, and the word ‘sons’ from his hope that his twin boys would one day play on the tour. Originally a boys’ only tour, however, the Junior Tyson Tour has included females since the mid-1980s. The problem, according to Shaw, is if girls do not start playing before the age of 12, they won't start at all.

Some years, female participation on the Tour has been as low as zero to 10 or 12 girls. However, in recent years, numbers have risen to been between 30 and 50.

"Girls want to play with other girls," Shaw said, adding there is a need for more female teachers. Shaw admitted the Junior Tyson Tour is "consistently” trying to increase "female involvement." Overall, the increase in female players on the Junior Tyson Tour has helped total membership balloon to more than 500. The 2010 champions, with point totals, include: Derek Hinchcliffe (Junior 297.5), Austin Lehman (Juvenile 293.5), Austin Kemp (Bantam 299), and Mackenzie Butzer (Girls 296.5).
For more information on the Junior Tyson Tour, visit www.juniortysontour.com.

Tiffany Trownson is a member of the Class of 2011, Corporate Communication and Public Relations post-graduate program at Fanshawe College of Applied Arts & Technology in London, Ontario.

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