Vernon’s Ryan Vest cracked the top-20 at the B.C. Junior Men’s Golf Championships at Fairwinds Golf Club at Nanoose Bay, on Vancouver Island.
Vest, golfing out of Predator Ridge, finished tied for 18th at +18, after rounds of 81-77-70-74 for a 302 title. He was 19 shots back of the winner, Brycen Ko of Richmond, who golfs out of Vancouver’s Shaughnessy course. Ko was the only golfer in the final field of 55 under par at -1.
Vest was the only golfer from the North Okanagan contingent to make the 36-hole cut.
READ MORE: Vest moves into world rankings
Braeden Cooper from Predator missed the final 36 holes by one shot, finishing with rounds of 84-76 for a score of 160, 18-over par.
Braxton McDonald of the Vernon Golf Club shots rounds of 82-83 (+23) and clubmate Austin Armanin had rounds of 84-87 for +29.
At the Junior Women’s event, also held at Nanoose Bay, Kendra Jones-Munk of the Vernon Golf Club missed the cuts with consecutive rounds of 89 (+36).
Vancouver’s Angela Zhang of Shaughnessy won the tournament at +14.
Vest and McDonald head to Pemberton for the 117th annual B.C. Men’s Amateur Championship starting Tuesday at the Big Sky Golf Course.
They’ll be joined in the field by Vernon’s Brandon Chai, who golfs out of the Okanagan Golf Club in Kelowna, Jeff Kober of Vernon and Jarrett McNeal of Spallumcheen Golf and Country Club.
Armstrong’s Emily Bardock, golfing out of the Chilliwack Golf Club, is the lone North Okanagan entrant in the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship which starts Tuesday in Nanaimo.
* The Boston Pizza-presented Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT)’s 2019 BC circuit features two events in the beautiful Okanagan area during the month of July, and young golfers ages 11 through 23 are encouraged to come and try out Canada’s number one-played junior tour at either or both stops.
First up is the MJT Ford Series at Okanagan Golf Club in Kelowna, July 18 and 19, featuring 36 holes of competition, seven divisions, and the chance to qualify for MJT Team Canada to Australia for the 2019 JNJG International Junior Classic. Entry fees include green fees, TaylorMade tee gifts, great prizes, refreshments and the chance to win a new Ford EcoSport with a hole-in-one. The deadline to enter for this event is July 15.
The second tournament is the MJT BC Series presented by PLYR Golf at Vernon’s Predator Ridge Golf Resort July 22 and 23, which has a qualifier for spots on Team West to the 2019 National Team Challenge in Niagara Falls. The deadline to enter for this event is July 19.
Registration for all events is on the MJT website.
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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