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Canada's #1 Junior Golf Tour

Canada's #1 Junior Golf Tour

The Road to College Golf, run exclusively by PGA Professionals

Press Release

March 16, 2008
McCleery GC • Vancouver, BC

For Immediate Release — March 17, 2008

Hale the King at McCleery on MJT

Vancouver, B.C. – The Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) opened its 10th anniversary season with the Canaccord Capital City Series, held at McCleery Golf Club in Vancouver in cold and wet conditions. Notwithstanding the weather, a fine field of young golfers turned out to compete in four divisions, and exemptions into the World Youth Team Challenge in Illinois, USA, were open to certain age categories.

Aaron Hale of Maple Ridge, BC, shot an excellent 71 considering the less than perfect conditions to claim low overall score and the Boys 17 and up division title. "It means the world to me (to win), best win of my career," said Hale. "The highlight was my birdie on 15 when Ryan Brooks was making a charge." Brooks, of Pitt Meadows, B.C., settled for runner-up in the division with a 73, and third place went to John Koo of Langley, B.C. (78).

Porsche Campbell of Vancouver won the Girls division in style with a 74, edging former MJT Cleveland Golf Player of the Year Jennifer Yang of Coquitlam, B.C., by two strokes. “This win shows what I can do and what I have achieved and also makes me want to shoot even better than what I did today in such bad conditions,” said Campbell, who is starting her fifth season on the MJT. "The steady improvement by Porsche over the past four years is testament to our mandate," says Murray Poje, Executive Director of the MJT, "and her goal of becoming a two handicap is on track." Third place among the girls went to newcomer Valentina Trillo of Port Moody, B.C. (80).

Jun Ho Lee of Port Coquitlam fired 76 to win the Boys 14-16 division over both Mike Belle of Burnaby, B.C., and Brian Jung of Maple Ridge, who tied with scores of 78. "Playing on the MJT helps me to deal with pressure and I try to do my best in every tournament,” said Lee, adding, “it means a lot to win the first event of the year; it will give me confidence."

Kevin Kwon of Coquitlam began his season as he ended the last one, cruising to victory once again amongst Boys 13 and under with a score of 76. New member Edward Li of Vancouver shot 87 to place second in the division, and Kenny Zhou of Richmond, B.C., came third with a score of 93.

Nine-year-old Christopher Ballesteros of Vancouver shot 88 from the red tees to qualify for his age division in the World Youth Team Challenge (WYTC) at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Illinois this June. As qualifying continues, more finalists for exemptions into the WYTC will be shortlisted from both this tournament and others on the MJT schedule.

The divisional winners in the Mr. Lube Long Drive Competition were Edward Li, Jun Ho Lee, Michael Wawryk of Delta, B.C., and Krista Fenniak of Fort McMurray, AB. The Sundog Skills competition divisional winners were Teagan Casper of North Vancouver, Harrison Clegg of Langley, B.C., Ryan Lloyd of Maple Ridge and Ji-Hyun An of Coquitlam.

The one-day MJT Canaccord Capital City Series continues on March 21st at Fraserview Golf Club in Vancouver, and the MJT launches it’s multi-day schedule on March 24th and 25th with the HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc. Classic at Morgan Creek Golf Club in Surrey, a qualifier for the Future Collegiate World Tour’s National Championship in Florida this May. For more information or to register, please visit www.maplejt.com or call 1-877-859-4653.

About the MJT
As a not-for-profit association, the national Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) presented by Boston Pizza is Canada’s only national junior tour run exclusively by Canadian PGA Professionals. The program helps develop Canada's junior golfers, offering clinics, tournaments, international competitions and more. From free introductory clinics sponsored by Ford to the major CPGA Zone-sponsored junior championships, the MJT aims to develop champions, in golf and in life. For more information please visit www.maplejt.com.

About Canaccord Capital
Through its principal subsidiaries, Canaccord Capital Inc. (CCI) is a leading independent full service investment dealer in Canada with capital markets operations in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Canaccord Capital is publicly traded on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), operated by the London Stock Exchange. Canaccord has operations in two of the principal segments of the securities industry: private client services and capital markets. Together, these operations offer a wide range of complementary investment products, brokerage services and investment banking services to Canaccord's private, institutional and corporate clients. For more information, visit www.canaccordcapital.com.

Contact:
Elaine Denton
Marketing & PR, MJT
T: 1-877-943-1645
Email: edenton@maplejt.com