7 days ago
Vincent Palladino Jr. tops field at Northern Ontario Men's Amateur
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Vincent Palladino may not yet have joined his father in capturing the Idylwylde Invitational, but the Northern Ontario Men's Amateur is not a bad place to start.
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The 21-year-old son of the most decorated champion in Invite history joined his dad in the NGA record books this past weekend, recording a three-stroke win over the trio of Alex Fowke, Will Hindemit and Cole Thompson as the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club played host to four GOA qualifying events.
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An even par round of 72 has moved Palladino Jr. along to the Ontario Men's Amateur Championship, taking place at Deerhurst Highlands Golf Course from June 25 to 28.
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'This is one of the first rounds where I've had a score that I felt I kind of stole from the golf course,' said Palladino, who plans to return for one more year of OUA varsity golf at Laurentian University come the fall.
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'There were some solid chips and some really good putts that kept me even today.'
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Just three months ago, even participating in this event was a huge question mark as Palladino underwent shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, with initial speculation leaning towards a four-month recovery period.
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'It was pretty cool winning it after not knowing if I would even play three months ago,' he admitted.
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With that history serving as the lead in to the Northern Men's Amateur, it only made sense that Palladino reverted to a very core approach as he stepped up to hit his first shot on Saturday.
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'Honestly, I just committed to my process and whatever happened from there, happened,' he said. 'It's all about not getting ahead of yourself, not thinking about the end result before it's even started.'
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'Everyone starts a tournament with the hopes of winning but you've got to do that by hitting the first shot off the tee, and then the second one, and so on,' Palladino noted.
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Palladino will lead six qualifiers from the tournament into action at Deerhurst, all of which then leads into his hopes of cracking what should be a formidable Idylwylde Ryder Cup roster this summer.
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In other divisional play, Sault Ste. Marie native and former Idylwylde Invitational champion Don Martone (74) earned a one-stroke victory in the senior men's division, edging out Todd Crowder (75), with John Kusnierczyk (77) also in hot pursuit.
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The mid-amateur crown went to Kingston native and former Detroit Mercy Titans golfer Eric Macrow, getting the better of John Glynn on a playoff hole. Both players wrapped up play at eighteen with even par scores of 72, with Frank Kuchar and Matthew Thomas tied for third at 74.
