By Kim J. Harmon

The 10-week junior golf program at Rock Ridge Country Club came to a satisfying conclusion on Tuesday at the Leo Allen Junior Club Championships – satisfying especially for Emily DeMarco, Meredith Schechter, Jaime Walsh, Ben Gersten and Matt Nicoll who captured all the individual titles.

DeMarco won the girls’ 9-hole title with a spiffy round of 58 while Patricia Culligan came in second at 61. Schechter, meanwhile, took the girls’ 18-hole title.

Walsh won the boys’ 9-hole title with a sharp round of 43 while Brian Kriedberg finished second at 54. Nicoll captured the 16-and-under boys’ 18-hole title with a nice round of 89 while Bob Kriedberg came in second at an even 100. Ben Gersten, meanwhile, took the 12-and-under boys’ 18-hole title with a 101 as Drew Taylor came in second.

More than 50 golfers took to the course on Tuesday – some as young as four years of age – to celebrate the ending of a successful summer program. Every week, the golfers would gather at the course for a one-hour clinic and open play and enjoyed a so-called Dream Week event where they drilled for two hours on the basics of golf before open play.

“This is a nice project for our country club,” said PGA professional Bill Flood, who commended the work of his assistant, Jeff Sobieraj. “The members have been very supportive and it just works great for the kids.”

Flood said the summer program had as many as 90 kids participate. And the nice thing, he added, is that those players who have gone through the program return later to serve as counselors and help out the younger athletes.