Canada's #1 Junior Golf Tour

June 17-18, 2017
Caledon, ON

Oomen-Danckert and Harjai shortlisted for MJT Team Canada to Australia

Caledon, ON. (June 19, 2017) – An eventful weekend of golf on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour saw a rain delay on day one at Osprey Valley Golf Club in Caledon, and then rain throughout day two kids with a storm finally preventing the Girls U-19 and Boys U-17 divisions from finishing all 18 holes. Scoring in these two divisions had to be based on the greatest amount of holes played by all, and the two winners, Sukriti Harjai and Ranen Oomen-Danckert both ended up being shortlisted for MJT Team Canada to Australia.

Sukriti Harjai, 17, of Niagara Falls, ON, shot 80-60=140 to win her second MJT 15-18 Girls title in as many starts by 10 shots over Natasha Stasiuk, 18, of Oakville, ON, in the weather-shortened round event, securing the shortlisted spot to represent Canada in the Jack Newton International Junior Classic to be played in New South Wales, Australia this fall.  “I feel pretty good, I did not play as well as I hoped both days, but it feels good to get the win,” she said. “The best thing about my game today was hitting my woods and hybrids well, and the course was a 10 out of 10 – it was awesome playing here besides the rain.”

Ranen Oomen-Danckert, 16, of Mono, ON, shot 72-55=127 to also win by 10 strokes over Ben Bauer, 15, of Hawkesville, ON, and claim his first MJT Juvenile Boys 15-16 title and a shortlisted spot to Australia. Oomen-Danckert said about his rain-shortened win, “It feels good, I’ve put a lot of hard work into my game, and it is exciting to see that work paying off. I felt like I could go at any pin and hole the green, and I really enjoyed the course.”

In a deep field of MJT U15 Girls, Brooke Rivers, 12, of Brampton, ON, shot 75-77=152 to defeat runner-up Morgan Rutledge, 14, of Melancthon, ON. “I had an excellent time and made many new friends,” said Rivers afterwards. “I heard (MJT) was a lot of fun, and play excellent courses. Osprey Valley was in great condition and I really hit my drives well which helped my game.”

In the MJT Junior Boys 17-18 division, John Burghardt, 18, of Oakville, ON, shot 73,75=148 to beat Griffin MacVicar, 18, of Barrie, ON.  Burghardt said the win felt, “great, I really enjoyed the competition, and had a lot of fun. I didn’t have my A-Game but I recovered well and stayed patient.”

The MJT Bantam Boys 13-14 winner was Tyler May, 13, of Fergus, ON, after he shot 76-77=153 to edge Kayden White, 14 of Kitchener, ON. “I felt good about how I was playing. My putting was the best part of my game,” May said afterwards.

Andre Zhu, 10, of Richmond Hill, ON, shot 70-74=144 to win the MJT Peewee Boys division over Matthew Javier, 10 of Toronto, ON. Zhu credited his driver: “Both rounds I hit all the fairways except one, so it was 27/28 fairways.”

And finally, in the new MJT Collegiate Men’s 19-23 division, Bradley Byers, 19, of Oakville, ON shot 77-74=151 to beat Colin Churchill, 20, of Caledonia, ON.

In addition to the division champions featured above, overall event highlights are posted on the MJT website HERE, showing winners of the Miura ‘Respect the Game’ Award, PLYR Long Drive, PLYR Closest-to-the-Pin and Golf Town Performance Awards.

The next two Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour stops in Ontario are the MJT Ontario Series at Galt Country Club in Cambridge, June 24 and 25, followed by the MJT-PGA of Ontario Junior Championship presented by Freedom 55 Financial at Forest City National Golf Club in London on July 1 and 2. For more information or to register, 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 presented nationally by Boston Pizza and supported by valued Premier, Tournament and Product Partners. The MJT hosts more than 70 events across Canada, including free Ford Go Golf Junior Clinics, the MJT Mini Tour for 7-12 year olds, the Collegiate Tour for 19-23 year olds, and multi-day events for competitive players aged 11 to 18 which are also qualifiers 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 PGA of Canada 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. For more information on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, please visit www.maplejt.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Hood, Manager of Marketing & Administration, Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour chood@maplejt.com 1-877-859-GOLF  www.maplejt.com.