TOYOTA CITY, JAPAN – Corey Conners didn’t let the snug surroundings cramp his style.
After being cooped up in three different airplanes for a combined 17 hours, Conners and his Team Canada teammates found their Japanese accommodations to be a bit smaller than back home.
“Once we got to the hotel, the rooms were really small. It was kind of like sleeping in your bathroom,” Conners joked.
Small spaces aside, the golfing prodigy from Listowel went on to record a four-round total score of 10 under par, landing him in a three-way tie for top individual honours at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup 2010.
Twelve countries qualified for the prestigious five-day event, sending their best four golfers under the age of 19 to Toyota City in Japan.
Conners finished tied with Japan’s Yosuke Asaji and Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark for the Maruyama Cup.
“It feels really good. It didn’t really kick in when I was there, but I’m realizing now that it’s a good accomplishment,” noted Conners, who returned home on Saturday, June 19 after a plane ride he said felt like it took a week.
Combined with teammates Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. and Toronto residents Richard Jung and Albin Choi, Canada finished in a three-way tie for third.
The group’s 15-under total was identical to Denmark and Thailand – just one stroke back of the United States for silver – and after the countback tiebreaker was calculated, Canada earned the bronze medal.
That the Canadians were able to bring home a medal after an opening round total of plus-three was remarkable.
“We knew we were kind of behind after the first day, but the coaches told us keep working hard. We knew we had a good enough game to compete with any of the teams,” said the 18-year-old headed for NCAA D-1 competition next fall at Kent State University.
Japan crushed the field with a total of 30-under to take gold.
Conners shot an opening round 73 on the par 71 Chukyo Golf Club’s Ishino Course, playing alongside Taihei Sato and Horacio Carbonetti.
“I wasn’t driving the ball very well in the first round so I didn’t score as well as I would have liked,” he said.
Partners Thomas Sorensen and Franco Valencia watched him shoot a 70 in round two, but the best was yet to come. Conners shot a remarkable 65 in the third round, the lowest of the entire field that day.
Needing just 31 strokes to sneak through the first nine holes, he was in line for a spectacular score if he just stayed focused.
“I didn’t really think about shooting a really low score, I just thought about continually making birdies on the back nine,” he explained. “I wasn’t too worried about my (total) score, just to get as low a score as possible on each hole.”
Hitting 17 greens in regulation certainly helped the cause.
His putting set him apart that day.
The putter gave him confidence to the point where he concentrated on chipping the ball onto the middle of most greens regardless of pin location.
On the final day of competition, Conners continued his strong play with a 66. Asaji was the only golfer to top him that day with a stellar 65.
Bjerregaard had a chance to clinch the individual title but he shot a 70, so all three finished with 274 strokes in total.
Canadian coach Henry Brunton told the World Cup public relations staff that Conners was a star, propelling the team up the leader board with his 11-under performance over the final 36 holes of play.
“(Brunton’s) a really distinguished person in Canadian golf, so I’m pretty proud to hear that,” Conners said.
The next big tournament on his schedule is the GAO’s Investors Group Ontario Amateur Championship set for July 6-9 in Sudbury. Originally his goal was to finish in the top-10 but now expectations may be raised.
Later in the month is the junior and juvenile boys’ championship at his hometown Listowel Golf Club, but there’s a chance he won’t be in attendance if he manages to earn a berth at the RBC Canadian Open through a last-minute qualifier.