An impressive display of young golfing talent took place at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour Odlum Brown Classic at Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey.
And part of that impressive talent is Vernon’s Ryan Vest of Predator Ridge, who recorded his third straight top-two finish in the Bantam Boys Division.
From August 6 to 8, the Boston Pizza-presented Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour hosted an elite, 126 player, wait-listed field, for a three-day event which included a cut to 77 players after two rounds. The tournament featured a shotgun start for the first two rounds on the Canal course at Northview and ended with the final round on the Ridge course.
“This is a marquee event on the MJT calendar,” said MJT tournament director Chris Hood. “We always have a big field with the top provincial players and the atmosphere is great.”
READ MORE: Vest from Vernon victorious on home course
Justin Bjornson, of Surrey, completed a comeback to capture the Bantam Boys Championship in a playoff over Vest. The 13-year-old MJT veteran-champion played consistently under par all tournament long, shooting scores of 71, 70, and 71 (212) to tie for the lead with Vest, 13, who had also fired fantastic scores totaling 212 (66, 69, 77).
Bjornson, who was down by six shots going into the final round, whittled away at the lead and eventually forced a playoff where he chipped-in for birdie to win.
“I feel fantastic to win such a prestigious event in front of my friends and family,” he said. “I was grinding all day in the third round and it feels amazing to be able to finish it off, especially in such dramatic fashion.”
Coming in a tie for third place was 13-year-old, Luke Metcalf, from Redhill, UK, with scores of 74, 77, and 73 (224) and 14-year-old, Terry (Yutai) Xie, of Surrey, with scores of 68, 78, and 78 (224).
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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