Skip to content

Junior golfers set to tee off

Morgan Creek to host national tournament next week
83370whiterockCdnJrGolf-Vollmer-01
Morgan Creek Golf Course director of golf Wayne Vollmer speaks at a press event Monday.

The future of Canadian golf is coming to South Surrey next week, when the Canadian Junior Boys Amateur Championship tees off at Morgan Creek Golf Course.

The South Surrey course will host the national tournament beginning Monday with the opening ceremonies, and the first golfers will begin play Tuesday morning. The four-round tournament wraps up Friday.

“We here at Morgan Creek are very proud to be a part of (the junior championships),” director of golf, Wayne Vollmer, said at a press event Monday.

“We’ve always had a commitment to junior golf development – it’s the backbone of the future of the game in this country.”

Helping to develop the country’s top young talents, and also encouraging youth to take up the sport, is a major reason Morgan Creek applied to host the event, said Vollmer, himself a former Canadian junior champion in 1963.

“To grow the game, we need to get the kids involved,” he said.

“The friends, the experiences you have in life – for me, it’s all because of golf. It’s a great game.”

For next week’s event, the course – a 6,967-yard par 72 layout – will play between 6,700 and 7,000 yards, Vollmer said.

“The course is at its championship best… the rough will be challenging, so hitting the fairways and greens will be a must, or par will be difficult to make.”

Among those who’ll tee off are Edmonton’s Wilson Bateman, 17, who is a two-time winner of the CN Future Links Tour, and also the 2011 Alberta junior boys champ; Pitt Meadows’ Kevin Kwon, and South Surrey’s Adam Svensson.

Svensson’s resume is impressive – he has won back-to-back B.C. junior boys championships, and is also the 2010 B.C. men’s amateur championship title-holder.

“Adam’s just a super player. He’s likely the number-one or number-two seed in this tournament,” Vollmer said.

Next week’s tournament comes at a good time for organizers, as excitement surrounding the next wave of Canadian golfers is as high as it’s ever been, after 23-year-old Abbotsford golfer Adam Hadwin wowed crowds en route to a fourth-place finish at the RBC Canadian Open last week at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

Hadwin’s father, Gerry, is a teaching pro at Morgan Creek, and Adam is the course’s official touring pro.

“You can understand why we’re so proud of him here,” Vollmer said.