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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

July 28-29, 2014
Kelowna, BC

Junior golfers on fire at MJT Ford Series in Kelowna Two Eagles Golf Club Team wins $500 in Interclub Competition

Kelowna, BC – (July 30, 2014) – Searing temperatures up to 40 degrees Celcius seemed to bring out some scorching scores during the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s Ford Series in Kelowna, BC, this past week, where a full field of competitive junior golfers battled for division titles as well as for a team interclub victory at The Harvest Golf Club on July 28th and 29th.

A team from Two Eagles Golf Club in Kelowna (Kristian Oppenheim, Tanner Marshall and Nik Federko) took down Penticton Golf Club’s team (Kurtis Fontinha, Zach Gardner and Haley Hewer) by one shot in the MJT Interclub Competition, earning a $500 donation towards the junior golf program at their facility.

Two 17-year-old juniors from Coldstream, BC, fired two stellar rounds to tie for the low overall individual lead at a 140 four-under-par total score. Austin Bosquet shot 71, 69 to match up with Matthew Kreutz’s 68, 72, forcing a playoff where Bosquet made a brilliant 20 foot sliding putt on the first playoff hole to win his first MJT Junior Boys 17-19 title. “The win feels very good, it’s a huge relief,” he said. Third place in the division went to Lionel Taylor, 18, of Kelowna, who carded a one-under-par total of 70, 73 (143).          

Another first-time division winner, Connor Atkinson, 15, of Bow, WA, won the MJT Juvenile Boys 15-16 title with fine scores of 70, 74 (144), attributing his victory to Bob Rotella’s book, ‘Golf is not a game of perfect.’ Atkinson said, “Reading it on the way here really helped me with my mental game.” Four strokes back in second place was Mac Gourdine, 15, of Coldstream (73, 75=148) and one stroke back of Gourdine was Kelowna’s Brandon Whistle, 16, who came third (71, 78=149).       

Charles Kim, 14, of Surrey, BC, hit 16 greens to come from behind and fire his lowest tournament score ever, winning the MJT Bantam Boys 14 and under division with excellent rounds of 74, 68 (142). “Kristian (Oppenheim) and I were tied through 16; I am so pumped to win,” said Kim. Runner-up Kristian Oppenheim, 14, of Kelowna, played solid golf (73, 72=145), edging third place finisher Raymond Li, 23, of Vancouver, BC (72, 74=146).    

It was a record-setting fourth MJT Girls Division title in this event for Kelowna’s Madison Kapchinsky, 19, who blazed her way into the lead with a final round of 69 (74, 69=143), defeating Haley Hewer, 17, of Penticton, BC (72-73=145), by two. “Haley challenged me a lot, but I kept my head up. Haley is awesome to golf with,” said Kapchinsky. “My personal highlight is winning this four times. It feels amazing, this is my second last MJT tournament and I’m going to miss it.” There was a tie for third spot among the Girls at 154 total score between Rachelle Nielsen, 17, of Summerland, BC (82, 72) and Jessica Claggett, 19, of Kelowna, (77, 77)

Divisional winners of the Mr. Lube Long Drive Competition were Kapchinsky, Kim (Northview G&CC), Marcus Apchin (Kelowna G&CC) of Kelowna, and Scott Kerr (Marine Drive GC) of Vancouver. Sundog Eyewear Closest-to-the-Pin Competition winners were Kapchinsky, Oppenheim (Two Eagles GC), Matt Campbell (Calgary G&CC) of Calgary, AB, and Steven Lee (Kelowna G&CC) of Kelowna. Golf Town Comeback Awards went to Nielsen (Summerland G&CC), Quentin Murphy (Gallaghers Canyon GC) of Kelowna, Rowan Froese (Sun Rivers GC) of Kamloops, BC, and Cole Baldigara (The Harvest GC) of Kelowna.

Detailed highlights of the MJT Ford Series at The Harvest Golf Club can be found here

The next Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour stop in British Columbia is the MJT Ford Series at Predator Ridge Golf Resort in Vernon on August 11th and 12th.  For more information please visit www.maplejt.com or call 1-877-859-4653.

About the MJT: The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour presented by Boston Pizza is Canada’s number-one played Junior Golf Tour as well as the only national junior tour run exclusively by PGA of Canada Professionals and the ‘Road to College Golf’ in Canada. The organization is generously supported by Boston Pizza and Premier Partners Cleveland Golf, Srixon, Ford, Mr. Lube, Golf Town and Travel Underwriters, in addition to valued Tournament and Product Partners. The MJT hosts more than 60 events across Canada, including free Ford Go Golf Junior Clinics, the MJT Mini Tour for 7-12 year olds, and multi-day events for competitive players which also qualify juniors for international competitions. The program offers annual awards, scholarships, and frequent player incentives to help reward player's performance and participation throughout each season. MJT alumni include many Professional Tour players and Canadian PGA Professionals, as well as Canadian Amateur, National and Provincial Junior Champions. The MJT aims to develop champions, in golf and in life, promoting the game from grassroots through to provincial, national, university and professional level. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Elaine Denton, MJT edenton@maplejt.com 1-877-859-GOLF  www.maplejt.com.