Hazelmere Golf Course was host to a bounty of talented young golfers last week, as the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour teed off Aug. 29 and 30.
The tournament featured more than 60 golfers from around the province, ranging in age from 12 to 19, including several from White Rock and Surrey.
In the boys 13 and under division, 12-year-old Jae Wook Lee of Langley took the top spot, shooting an impressive 72 and 73 throughout two rounds on the par-72 course. Roy Kang of North Vancouver and Edward Chen of Burnaby rounded out the top three of the division, with final tallies of plus-two and plus-15, respectively.
In the boys 14-16 division, Oscar Baek of Coquitlam placed first with three-above-par, Surrey’s Edward Metcalfe – playing on his home course – swung a total of plus-five and Lucas Gatto of Burnaby followed up with a tally of plus-six.
Also in that division were Surrey golfers Ian Kim (7th place), Jordan Emerman (9th) and Colton Dorion (10th), Kris Gibb (tie for 20th), Cole McKinnon (20th), Andrew Metcalf (tie for 22nd) and Marcus Brown (26th) as well as White Rock’s Devin Kelly (17th), and Shaylen Buis (22nd).
The boys 17-19 division saw a trio of Langley golfers – Ryan Saran, Callum Robinson and Dylan Reichelt – take the top three spots, with cumulative scores of 149, 151 and 153.
Colin Hargrove and Ryan Brown, both of Surrey, came in 9th and 20th place, respectively.
In the girls division,in which golfers ranged in age from 13 to 18, Kelowna’s Madison Kapchinsky, 17, shot an outstanding five-under-par second round to take the top spot with a plus-three total.
Second place went to Brooklyn Kraakman of Deroche, and Surrey’s Michelle Kim came in third with rounds of 76 and 79.
Surrey’s Ashley Omidi ended the two-day tournament in 9th place, and Jisue Song, also from Surrey, finished 15th. White Rock’s Emma Nelson rounded out the local contingent at the tournament with a 12th place finish.
With the local tournament wrapped up, players are now awaiting notice of qualification for the Maple Leaf Junior National Tour Championship, set to take place in Orlando, Fla. Nov. 18 to 20.