Canada's #1 Junior Golf Tour

August 26, 2023
Brooklin, ON

Wang and Kim shoot low overall in MJT Mini Tour’s Whispering Ridge stop

The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, Canada’s number one-played junior tour, wrapped up the Ontario circuit for the MJT Mini Tour at Whispering Ridge Golf Club in Brooklin this past weekend, with 83 juniors competing in either the two-day Junior Tour (19U) event on August 26-27, or the one-day Mini Tour (12U) event on August 26.  Results of the Mini Tour stop, the last one before the upcoming MJT Mini Tour National Championship in British Columbia, are highlighted here.

A perfect day greeted the young players as they competed in five age divisions for great prizes and MJT Order of Merit points.  The MJT Girls 11-12 winner, Grace (HyunYi) Kim of Burlington, and MJT Boys 11-12 winner, Bruce Wang of Markham, were Low Overall for Girls and Boys respectively.  Other highlights included Lanai Park winning her fifth MJT 8U Girls title in style, Sophia Noh of Richmond Hill taking her fourth MJT Girls 9-10 title, and Derek Zhao of Maple winning for the second time in MJT Boys 9-10. Top finisher scores with quotes from each division winner are noted below, while Closest to the Pin winners are posted on the MJT website here.

The Whispering Ridge stop brings to a close another successful season for 12U MJT players in Ontario. Early Bird memberships for 2024 will be available in December. More information on Canada’s number one-played Junior Golf Tour, as well as results of the MJT Mini Tour National Championship in British Columbia, August 31 – September 1, can be viewed online at www.maplejt.com.

MJT Girls 8U: Whispering Ridge: Par 65, Ydg 3902, Slope/Rating 0/0.0

1 Lanai Park, Oakville, ON, F, 7                                                                          40-45 (85)

2 Cassandra Smith, Brampton, ON, F, 8                                                          53-48 (101)

3 Islay Oh, Toronto, ON, F, 7                                                                               53-54 (107)

Lanai Park, 7, of Oakville, ON, continued her dominance in the MJT Girls 8U Division with another win, her fifth of the season.  “I felt very confident coming down the stretch,” said Park.  “It feels great to win, I wish there were more MJT tournaments.”

MJT Girls 9-10: Whispering Ridge: Par 65, Ydg 3902, Slope/Rating 0/0.0

1 Sophia Noh, Richmond Hill, ON, F, 9                                                            36-38 (74)

2 Annie Wang, Newmarket, ON, F, 10                                                            37-45 (82)

3 Sophia Chen, Markham, ON, F, 9                                                                  44-41 (85)

Sophia Noh, 9, of Richmond Hill, ON, carded an impressive 74 to win the MJT Girls 9-10 Division title for her fourth win of the year.  “It feels good to win today,” said Noh.  “Coming down the stretch, I was just trying to make pars.”

MJT Girls 11-12: Whispering Ridge: Par 65, Ydg 4434, Slope/Rating 0/0.0

1 Grace (HyunYi) Kim, Burlington, ON, F, 11                                                   37-38 (75)

The MJT Girls 11-12 Division and Low Overall title went to Grace (HyunYi) Kim, 11, of Burlington, who posted a remarkable 75 on the tricky Whispering Ridge track.  “It feels pretty good to win as this is my last tournament of the season,” said Kim. 

MJT Boys 9-10: Whispering Ridge: Par 65, Ydg 4434, Slope/Rating 0/0.0

1 Derek Zhao, Maple, ON, M, 9                                                                          39-39 (78)

2 Niklas Zierik, Collingwood, ON, M, 10                                                          43-36 (79)

3 Jax Vescan, Mississauga, ON, M, 9                                                                42-38 (80)

Derek Zhao, 9, of Maple, ON, posted back-to-back 39’s to edge out hard charging Niklas Zierik and win the MJT Boys 9-10 Division for his second title of the season.  “I feel happy to win but I fee like I was not at my best,” said Zhao.  “My goal was to have bogey as my worst score today.”

MJT Boys 11-12: Whispering Ridge: Par 65, Ydg 4646, Slope/Rating 0/0.0

1 Bruce Wang, Markham, ON, M, 11                                                               34-36 (70)

2 Cooper Eisen, North York, ON, M, 12                                                          41-37 (78)

3 Thomas Tsepelis, Whitby, ON, M, 12                                                           39-46 (85)

The MJT Boys 11-12 Division title and Low Overall honours went to 11-year-old Bruce Wang of Markham, ON, who posted the low round of the day for his second win of the season.  “It feels very good to win,” said Wang.  “Every single shot was important out there today.”

About the MJT: The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour 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 supported by valued Premier, Tournament and Product Partners. The MJT hosts 100 events across Canada, including free Ford Go Golf Junior Clinics, the MJT Mini Tour for 12U and multi-day events for competitive players aged 11-19 which also offer qualifiers for international tournaments. The program has annual awards, scholarships and incentives to help reward 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 the provincial, national, university and professional levels.

Media Contact: 

Trent Matson, tmatson@maplejt.com Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour

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