Most names belong to kids from bigger schools and bigger towns.
Buffalo-based locations such East Amherst, Hamburg and Williamsville.
Two of those names, however, hail from the Big 30 area, a pair of towns separated essentially by a short drive down Route 219. And those two happen to be the ones atop the Western New York PGA Junior Golf Tour leaderboard.
The WNYPGA youth circuit, according to the organization’s website, provides an opportunity and atmosphere for juniors to enjoy “the camaraderie, friendship and sportsmanship of competitive golf at a series of premier venues throughout the Western New York Section of the PGA of America.”
Players in all divisions compete in a season-long points race to qualify for the season-ending Junior Golf Tour Championship.
And so far, a little more than halfway through the regular schedule, Bradford’s Spencer Cornelius and Allegany’s Michael Davis have shown the way in their age group … by a sizable margin.
Cornelius sits atop the 16-18 division, having won five of the six tournaments he’s entered while adding a fourth-place finish in the other. Davis is currently second in the same bracket, logging three seconds, a tie for first and two fourths (at the same events) while also tying for 16th among 31 golfers at the WNYPGA Junior Golf “56” Showcase at Glen Oaks GC in East Amherst on June 26.
Together they’re Nos. 1 and 2 in the eldest junior division, with 280 and 220.5 points, respectively, 25.5 points ahead of the No. 3 placeholder. And they hold that advantage despite not playing in three of the circuit’s last five tournaments.
Undoubtedly, they’re two of the best golfers in the Big 30.
Cornelius, who recently finished his sophomore year at Bradford, has guided the Owls to three-straight District 9 team titles, earning medalist honors last fall. Davis, a rising senior, took third in CCAA East II in the spring of 2019 and made the initial cut at the Section 6 Championship before placing 20th overall.
Outside of their school colors, they’ve each fared well in the local Penn-York Junior Golf League and other events. Cornelius finished second in the final Division I point standings last summer. Davis won the 12th Annual Betty Bergreen Junior Match Play Championship days later.
And they’ve continued to score at the same high level on the WNY Junior Tour.
The two opened play by finishing 1-2 at one of the circuit’s local stops, Pennhills Club, with a 76 (plus-6) and 78, respectively. They did the same at Downing (where Cornelius fired a 1-under 71) and in their most recent event, at Willowbrook GC in Lockport, N.Y., where Cornelius won with a 4-over 75 and Davis was second with a 79. In between, the former also prevailed at Lake View CC and Holiday Valley while Davis tied for the title at Conewango Valley CC.
The tour continues with a post-holiday stop at Greystone GC in Walworth on Sunday and concludes at the Kahkwa Club in Erie on July 30 before the Tour Championship Aug. 3-4. In between, the pair will look to solidify its place in the tour standings. But they’re not the only two local golfers participating this summer.
Olean’s Marina Heister currently sits tied-for-second in the girls’ 16-18 division with a pair of first-place finishes in her only tournament appearances — with an impressive plus-1 72 at Holiday Valley and 10-over 85 at Shorewood CC. Former Big 30 standouts Connor Alfieri (Smethport) and Sean Campbell (Allegany-Limestone) have also been playing, as part of the college division.
