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Canada's #1 Junior Golf Tour
The Road to College Golf, run exclusively by PGA ProfessionalsPress Release
September 18-19, 2004
Crown Isle GC, Courtenay, BC (Vancouver Island)
Courtenay, BC ? Four outstanding junior golfers were crowned national champions in their divisions at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay, British Columbia, this past weekend, in the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour?s Boston Pizza National Tour Championship.
The high quality field of competitive young golfers in the season-ending event, who came from six different regions (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Washington State) had to qualify through the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour?s 28-event season for exemption.
Thirteen year old Riley Wheeldon of Comox, BC, carded an incredible 8-under par final round of 64 to finish at 10-under-par for the tournament, capturing the low overall tournament score and the MJT National Champion title in the Boys 13 & under division.
Wheeldon, who shot 70-64 (134) on the 72 par, platinum rated golf course, said it was ?amazing? to win. ?This is the biggest tournament of the year on the Tour. My putting was key ? I only made one bogey (today) and nine birdies. I birdied 15,16 and 17, which gave me a cushion of one stroke over Jonnie (Motomochi) going into the 18th. I?ve never won a tournament that Jonnie?s been in and I knew, coming down the stretch, he would be giving it all he?s got. ?
Motomochi, who is the Boys 13 and under Cleveland Player of the Year on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, had to settle for second place despite posting sub-par rounds on both days with 67-68=135.
Conrado Paderes of Vancouver closed with his best round on the Tour to date and placed third with scores of 75-70=145, while Austin Steinberger of Selkirk, Manitoba placed fourth (75-73=148).
The MJT National Champion for Boys 14-16 was Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. with a 71-70=141 total score, five strokes better than his Team Canada playing partner, Mitchell Fox from Okotoks, Alberta (72-74=146). Both boys recently competed on Team Canada in the Canada versus Ireland Junior Challenge Cup matches.
Tied for third place in this division was Connor Elekes of Calgary, Alberta (74-74=148) and Joon Heui Lee of Vancouver, who had the first day lead with a 69 but finished at 148.
Hadwin felt he played decently but not well enough to win. ?I was two strokes back going into the final round, but I?ve been in that situation before so wasn?t nervous, ?said Hadwin. ?It was close until the 7th hole then Joon started struggling and I continued to hit straight, get the ball on the green and make par. It?s a good win to end the year, there are good players here so to come out on top feels nice.?
The Boys 17 and up MJT National Champion was Scott Genoway from Calgary, Alberta, another long-time participant on the Tour, who shot back-to-back under-par rounds of 70 for a 140 total score and his first division title on the Tour.
?I?m pretty excited. I guess I hit 17 greens in regulation both days and only had three bogeys the whole tournament,? said Genoway. ?This was a good event to win - there was good competition and I had a lot of fun.?
Two strokes back was local Graeme Welsh from Comox who shot a consistent 71-71=142 for second place while third place went to Brandon Markiw of Sherwood Park, Alberta (70-73=143). Fourth place finisher Devin Carrey of South Surrey, BC, aced the 7th hole to finish with a 145 total score.
As the Tour Champions, Wheeldon, Hadwin and Genoway receive exemptions to the Mission Hills Invitational on the Future Collegiate World Tour (FCWT) that will be held December 18 & 19, 2004 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA. The FCWT is the second largest junior golf organization in the United States and partner with the MJT.
Caroline Kim of Port Coquitlam, B.C., posted scores of 70-75=145 to capture the Girls MJT National Champion title and an invitation to the FCWT?s Bayonet and Black Horse Junior Golf Invitational, March 4-6, 2005 in Seaside, CA.
?Despite the wet conditions the course was in good enough shape and I had a five stroke lead going into the second round,? said Kim. ?To have two good scores was one of my goals so it feels really good actually.?
Julie Kim of Vancouver took second place with 79-74=153 while Ahnna Kim?s consistent scores of 83-83=166 took third place. Fourth place was a three-way tie between Kristina Gargaro (Port Moody), Pamela Burneski (Surrey) and Nari Kim (South Surrey).
In the provincial team element during the Tour Championship, British Columbia lost a three-year stronghold on the MJT Team Challenge Cup by one point to Alberta.
A number of special awards were presented at the Championship, including the $1,000 Cleveland Golf Canada Scholarship Award to Todd Hutcheson of Ingersoll, Ontario; and the Cleveland Golf Players of the Year Awards for the lowest stroke average in each age group to Jonnie Motomochi, White Rock, BC in Boys 13 and under; Will Porter of Cranbrook, BC in Boys 14-16; Josh Taylor of Abbotsford, BC in Boys 17 & up; and Sue Kim of Langley in the Girls division.
In addition, the Callaway Golf Ironman Awards for the boys and girls in each province who participated in the most events this season went to the following players :
BRITISH COLUMBIA: Kevin Lawrence, Michael Lawrence, Nari Kim
ALBERTA: Brendan Farris, Kylie Barros
SASKATCHEWAN: Dallas Mengel
MANITOBA: Austin Steinberger
ONTARIO: Michael Murray
The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, presented by Boston Pizza across Canada, plans to roll out its seventh season of events starting in March 2005. The tour, which is run exclusively by Canadian Golf Professionals and is endorsed by PGA Tour veterans Dave Barr and Ray Stewart, hosts tournaments for boys and girls ages 10 through 23. For more information please visit www.maplejt.com or call 1-877-859-GOLF.